Derek Bok
American lawyer and college administrator
William Cowper / 26 November 1731- 14 April 1800/ 25 April 1800was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter.
One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside.
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About the William Cowper
William Cowper/ 26 November 1731- 14 April 1800/ 25 April 1800was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter.
One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him “the best modern poet”, whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem “Yardley-Oak”.
After being institutionalised for insanity, Cowper found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity. He continued to suffer doubt about his salvation and, after a dream in 1773, believed that he was doomed to eternal damnation. He recovered, and went on to write more religious hymns.
His religious sentiment and association with John Newtonled to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered, and to the series of Olney Hymns. His poem “Light Shining out of Darkness” gave English the phrase: “God moves in a mysterious way/ His wonders to perform.”
He also wrote a number of anti-slavery poems, and his friendship with Newton, who was an avid anti-slavery campaigner, resulted in Cowper’s being asked to write in support of the Abolitionist campaign. Cowper wrote a poem called “The Negro’s Complaint”which rapidly became very famous, and was often quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. during the 20th-century civil rights movement. He also wrote several other less well-known poems on slavery in the 1780s, many of which attacked the idea that slavery was economically viable.
36 Quotes by William Cowper
- 1.
Reasoning at every step he treads, Man yet mistakes his way, Whilst meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 2.
Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 3.
Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 4.
It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme Rudely appealed to on each trifling theme.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 5.
O, popular applause! what heart of man is proof against thy sweet, seducing charms?
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 6.
A self-made man? Yes, and one who worships his creator.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 7.
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 8.
Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 9.
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 10.
Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little; we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 11.
Glory, built on selfish principles, is shame and guilt.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 12.
Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 13.
The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 14.
No one was ever scolded out of their sins.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 15.
The earth was made so various, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change, And pleased with novelty, might be indulged.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 16.
O solitude, where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 17.
Ceremony leads her bigots forth, prepared to fight for shadows of no worth. While truths, on which eternal things depend, can hardly find a single friend.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 18.
An epigram is but a feeble thing – With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 19.
The dogs did bark, the children screamed, Up flew the windows all; And every soul bawled out, Well done! As loud as he could bawl.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 20.
The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 21.
Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 22.
Absence of occupation is not rest; A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 23.
A fool must now and then be right, by chance.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 24.
Absence of proof is not proof of absence.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 25.
Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 26.
God made the country, and man made the town.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 27.
The darkest day, if you live till tomorrow, will have passed away.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 28.
No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 29.
Thus happiness depends, as nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 30.
Meditation here may think down hours to moments. Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head and learning wiser grow without his books.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 31.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, and frustrates hope severer than despair.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 32.
No wild enthusiast could rest, till half the world like him was possessed.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 33.
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 34.
Remorse, the fatal egg that pleasure laid.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 35.
Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)
- 36.
They whom truth and wisdom lead, can gather honey from a weed.
William CowperEnglish poet and hymnodist (1731-1800)