View source for William Cowper

{{Short description|English poet and hymnodist (1731–1800)}}
{{About|the poet|other people with the same name|William Cowper (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name   = William Cowper
| image     = William Cowper by Lemuel Francis Abbott.jpg
| caption     = A 1792 portrait by [[Lemuel Francis Abbott]]<ref>{{Citation | first = Lemuel Francis | last = Abbott | type = portrait | title = Cowper | author-link = Lemuel Francis Abbott | year = 1792}}</ref>
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=yes|1731|11|26}}
| birth_place = [[Berkhamsted]], [[Hertfordshire]], England
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1800|4|25|1731|11|26|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[East Dereham]], [[Norfolk]], England
| education      = [[Westminster School]]
| occupation     = Poet
| parents        =}}
'''William Cowper''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|uː|p|ər}} {{respell|KOO|pər}}; {{OldStyleDate|26 November|1731|15 November}}&nbsp;– 25 April 1800<ref name="1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Calendar">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1911 |title=Calendar |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |url=https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Calendar&oldid=11321076 |editor-last=Chisholm |editor-first=Hugh |editor-link=Hugh Chisholm |edition=11th |volume=4 |language=en-GB}}</ref>) was 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".<ref name="poetsgraves.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/cowper.htm|title=William CowperDereham Norfolk|last=Cameron|website=poetsgraves.co.uk}}</ref>

After being institutionalised for insanity, Cowper found refuge in a fervent [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] Christianity.  He continued to suffer doubt about his salvation and, after a dream in 1773, believed that he was doomed to [[Damnation#Christianity|eternal damnation]]. He recovered, and went on to write more religious hymns.

His religious sentiment and association with [[John Newton]] (who wrote the hymn "[[Amazing Grace]]") led 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 [[Abolitionism|Abolitionist campaign]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/campaignforabolition/abolitionbackground/biogs/greatcampaigners.html|title=Abolitionist campaigners|website=bl.uk|access-date=28 April 2015|archive-date=26 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626222131/http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/campaignforabolition/abolitionbackground/biogs/greatcampaigners.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Cowper wrote a poem called "[[The Negro's Complaint]]" (1788) which rapidly became very famous, and was often quoted by [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] during the 20th-century [[civil rights movement]].<ref>{{Citation | title = The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr: Threshold of a new decade | first = Martin Luther Jr. | last = King | editor1-first = Clayborne | editor1-last = Carson | editor2-first = Peter | editor2-last = Holloran | editor3-first = Ralph | editor3-last = Luker | editor4-first = Penny A | editor4-last = Russell| display-editors = 3}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Citation | title = Abolition background | contribution = Great campaigners | publisher = BL | place = UK | contribution-url = http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/campaignforabolition/abolitionbackground/biogs/greatcampaigners.html | access-date = 28 April 2015 | archive-date = 26 June 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200626222131/http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/campaignforabolition/abolitionbackground/biogs/greatcampaigners.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Cowper w.jpg|thumb|William Cowper]]
Cowper was born in [[Berkhamsted]], [[Hertfordshire]], where his father John Cowper was [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of the [[Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted|Church of St Peter]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=117054#tr59 |title=Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714 |year=1891 |volume= |pages=338–365 |chapter=Abannan-Kyte |access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPc5AAAAcAAJ|title=The Life of William Cowper, Esq|last=Taylor|first=Thomas|date=1835|publisher=Seeley|language=en}}</ref> His father's sister was the poet [[Judith Madan]]. His mother was Ann née Donne. He and his brother John were the only two of seven children to live past infancy. Ann died giving birth to John on 7 November 1737. His mother's death at such an early age troubled William deeply and was the subject of his poem "[[On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture]]", written more than fifty years later. He grew close to her family in his early years. He was particularly close with her brother Robert and his wife Harriot. They instilled in young William a love of reading and gave him some of his first books – [[John Bunyan]]'s ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]'' and [[John Gay]]'s ''Fables.''

Cowper was first enrolled in [[Westminster School]] in April 1742 after moving from school to school for a number of years.  He had begun to study [[Latin]] at a young age, and was an eager scholar of Latin for the rest of his life. Older children bullied Cowper through many of his younger years. At Westminster School he studied under the headmaster John Nicoll. At the time, Westminster School was popular amongst families belonging to [[Whigs (British political party)|England's Whig political party]]. Many intelligent boys from families of a lower social status also attended, however. Cowper made lifelong friends from Westminster. He read through the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'', which ignited his lifelong scholarship and love for [[Homer]]'s epics.  He grew skilled at the interpretation and translation of Latin, an ability he put to use for the rest of his life. He was skilled in the composition of Latin as well and wrote many verses of his own.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cowper |first=William |author-link=William Cowper |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MdC1mybLiQC&pg=PA8 |title=William Cowper: Selected Poems |date=20 November 2003 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-96941-3 |editor-last=Rhodes |editor-first=Nick |edition=1st |series=Fyfield Books |location=[[New York City]] |publication-date=1931 |page=8 |language=en |oclc=56206058 |ol=7497985M |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

==Career==
After education at Westminster School, Cowper was articled to Mr Chapman, solicitor, of [[Ely Place]], [[Holborn]], to be trained for a career in law. During this time, he spent his leisure at the home of his uncle Bob Cowper, where he fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry. But as James Croft, who in 1825 first published the poems Cowper addressed to Theodora, wrote, "her father, from an idea that the union of persons so nearly related was improper, refused to accede to the wishes of his daughter and nephew".  This refusal left Cowper distraught. He had his first severe attack of [[Depression (mood)|depression]]/[[Mental disorder|mental illness]], referred to at the time as melancholy.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The restoration and the eighteenth century|last=Price, Martin|date=1973|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-501614-9|location=New York|oclc=2341106}}</ref>

In 1763, he was offered a Clerkship of Journals in the [[House of Lords]], but broke under the strain of the approaching examination; he experienced a worse period of [[depression (mood)|depression]] and [[insanity]].  At this time he tried three times to commit [[suicide]] and was sent to [[Nathaniel Cotton]]'s asylum at [[St. Albans|St Albans]] for recovery. His poem beginning "Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion" (sometimes referred to as "Sapphics") was written in the aftermath of his suicide attempt.

After recovering, he settled at [[Huntingdon]] with a retired clergyman named Morley Unwin and his wife [[Mary Unwin|Mary]]. Cowper grew to be on such good terms with the Unwin family that he went to live in their house, and moved with them to [[Olney, Buckinghamshire|Olney]]. There he met [[curate]] [[John Newton]], a former captain of slave ships who had devoted his life to [[The gospel|the Christian gospel]]. Not long afterwards, Morley Unwin was killed in a fall from his horse; Cowper continued to live in the Unwin home and became greatly attached to the widow [[Mary Unwin]].

At Olney, Newton invited Cowper to contribute to a [[hymnbook]] that he was compiling. The resulting volume, known as ''Olney Hymns,'' was not published until 1779 but includes hymns such as "Praise for the Fountain Opened" (beginning "[[There is a fountain filled with blood|There is a fountain fill'd with blood]]")<ref>{{cite web|last= Cowper |first= William |title= There Is a Fountain |year= 1772 |access-date= 2018-02-01 |website= [[Hymnary.org]] |type= hymn |url= https://hymnary.org/text/there_is_a_fountain_filled_with_blood_dr}}</ref> and "Light Shining out of Darkness" (beginning "[[God Moves in a Mysterious Way]]"), which remain some of Cowper's most familiar verses. Several of Cowper's hymns, as well as others originally published in the ''Olney Hymns,'' are today preserved in the ''[[Sacred Harp]],'' which also collects [[shape note]] songs.

In 1773, Cowper experienced an attack of insanity, imagining not only that he was eternally condemned to [[Damnation|hell]], but that God was commanding him to make a sacrifice of his own life. Mary Unwin took care of him with great devotion, and after a year he began to recover. In 1779, after Newton had moved from Olney to London, Cowper started to write poetry again. Mary Unwin, wanting to keep Cowper's mind occupied, suggested that he write on the subject of ''The Progress of Error.'' After writing a satire of this name, he wrote seven others. These poems were collected and published in 1782 under the title ''Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.''

[[File:Johann Heinrich Füssli 035.jpg|thumb|Crazy Kate, illustration for Cowper's ''The Task'' by [[Henry Fuseli]] (1806–1807).]]
In 1781, Cowper met a sophisticated and charming widow named Lady Austen, who inspired new poetry. Cowper himself tells of the genesis of what some have considered his most substantial work, ''[[The Task (poem)|The Task]],'' in his "Advertisement" to the original edition of 1785:
<blockquote>...a lady, fond of [[blank verse]], demanded a poem of that kind from the author, and gave him the SOFA for a subject. He obeyed; and, having much leisure, connected another subject with it; and, pursuing the train of thought to which his situation and turn of mind led him, brought forth at length, instead of the trifle which he at first intended, a serious affair{{snd}}a Volume!</blockquote>
In the same volume Cowper also printed "[[The Diverting History of John Gilpin]]", a notable piece of comic verse. [[G. K. Chesterton]], in ''Orthodoxy'', later credited the writing of "John Gilpin" with saving Cowper from becoming completely insane.<ref>To be precise, Chesterton was making, in Chapter 2 of ''Orthodoxy'' [http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/ortho14.txt], the point that contrary to some assumptions poetry does not make men mad, but if anything logic does. He then takes the example of Cowper: "only one great English poet went mad, Cowper. And he was definitely driven mad by logic, by the [...] logic of predestination. Poetry was not the disease, but the medicine; poetry partly kept him in health. [...] He was damned by John Calvin; he was almost saved by John Gilpin."</ref>
[[File:Harriett Hesketh born Cowper.jpg|right|thumb|[[Harriett Hesketh]] by Francis Coates]]
Cowper and Mary Unwin moved to [[Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire]], in 1786, having become close to his cousin [[Harriett Hesketh]] (Theodora's sister).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=James William |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-13124 |title=Hesketh [née Cowper], Harriet, Lady Hesketh (bap. 1733, d. 1807), cousin and intimate friend of the poet William Cowper |date=23 September 2004 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=Online |volume=1 |location=[[Oxford]] |language=en-GB |doi=10.1093/REF:ODNB/13124}}</ref> During this period he started his translations of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'' into [[blank verse]]. His versions (published in 1791) were the most significant English renderings of these [[Epic poetry|epic poems]] since those of [[Alexander Pope]] earlier in the century. Later critics have faulted Cowper's Homer for being too much in the mould of [[John Milton]].<ref>{{citation|year=1866|last=Blackie|first=John Stuart|title=Homer and the Iliad|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Edmonston and Douglas|page=139|oclc=4731357|quote=[...] we have had great poets, like Cowper, who do not seem to have been able to distinguish between the tone of Milton and the tone of Homer.}}</ref>

In 1789, Cowper befriended a cousin, [[John Johnson (clergyman)|Dr John Johnson]], a Norfolk clergyman, and in 1795 Cowper and Mary moved to [[Norfolk]] to be near him and his sister Catharine. They originally stayed at [[North Tuddenham]], then at Dunham Lodge near [[Swaffham]], and then [[Mundesley]] before finally settling in [[East Dereham]] (all places in [[Norfolk]]) with the Johnsons, after Mary Unwin became paralysed.<ref>Catharine Bodham Johnson, Introduction to ''Letters of Lady Hesketh to the Rev. John Johnson LL.D.'' (1901), pp. 5–8</ref>

Mary Unwin died in 1796, plunging Cowper into a gloom from which he never fully recovered. He did continue to revise his Homer for a second edition of his translation. Aside from writing the powerful and bleak poem "The Castaway", he penned some English translations of Greek verse and translated some of the ''Fables'' of [[John Gay]] into Latin.

==Death and memorials==
[[File:St Nicholas Church, Dereham, Norfolk - Window - geograph.org.uk - 1084704.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Stained-glass window depicting Cowper in St Nicholas's Church, [[Dereham|East Dereham]], Norfolk]]
Cowper was seized with [[edema]], or dropsy, in the spring of 1800 and died on 25 April. He is buried in the chapel of [[St Thomas of Canterbury]], St Nicholas's Church in East Dereham, and a [[stained-glass]] window there commemorates his life.<ref name="poetsgraves.co.uk"/>

In St Peter's Church in [[Berkhamsted]] there are two windows in memory of Cowper: The east window by [[Clayton & Bell]] (1872) depicts Cowper at his writing desk accompanied by his pet hares, and bears the inscription "Salvation to the dying man, And to the rising God" (a line from Cowper's poem "The Saviour, what a noble flame"); and in the north aisle, an [[glass etching|etched glass]] window is inscribed with lines from "Oh! for a closer walk with God" and "The Task". In the same church there is also a memorial tablet to the poet's mother, Ann Cowper.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interactive Guide |url=https://www.stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk/heritage/guide/ |website=stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk |publisher=St Peter's Great Berkhamsted |access-date=8 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Birtchnell |first1=Percy Charles |title=A Short History of Berkhamsted |date=1988 |publisher=Book Stack |isbn=978-1-871372-00-7 |page=24 |language=en}}</ref> Cowper is also commemorated (along with [[George Herbert]]) by another Clayton & Bell stained-glass window in St George's Chapel, [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name = "world and its people">{{cite book |last = Dunton |first = Larkin
  |title = The World and Its People
  |url = https://archive.org/details/worldanditspeop01duntgoog |publisher = Silver, Burdett
  |year = 1896
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/worldanditspeop01duntgoog/page/n41 35]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Commemorations: William Cowper |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/william-cowper |website=westminster-abbey.org |publisher=Westminster Abbey |access-date=8 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1823, Cowper's correspondence was published posthumously from the original letters in the possession of his kinsman John Johnson.<ref>{{cite book|title=Private correspondence of William Cowper, Esq., with several of his most intimate friends, now first published from the originals in the possession of his kinsman, John Johnson|location=London|publisher=H. Colburn|year=1824|edition=2nd|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007686651}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''Private Correspondence of William Cowper''|journal=The Quarterly Review|date=October 1823|volume=30|pages=185–199|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d00153858c;view=1up;seq=195}}</ref>

Near the village of [[Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire]], where Cowper once resided, is a [[folly]] named Cowper's Alcove. The folly was built by the Lord of the Manor of Weston House, a member of the Throckmorton family, in 1753.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm519Y_Cowpers_Alcove_Wood_Lane_Weston_Underwood_Buckinghamshire_UK |title=Cowper's Alcove – Wood Lane, Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire, UK – Best Kept Secrets on |publisher=Waymarking.com |date=2008-10-25 |access-date=2022-05-03}}</ref> Cowper was known to visit there frequently for inspiration for his poetry. The alcove is mentioned in Cowper's "The Task".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3698/3698-h/3698-h.htm|title=The Task, by William Cowper}}</ref> The folly was dedicated to Cowper by the Buckinghamshire county council green belt estate, and a plaque with the verse from "The Task" referencing the alcove was installed.

== Queerness ==
Modern literary scholar Conrad Brunstrom described Cowper's relationships with women and men at this time as [[queer]] and radically anti-[[heteronormative]]. "Not only did Cowper refuse a traditional heterosexual role, he also refused many of the attributes attached to those who were supposed to have refused such a role...making him anti-heteronormative and anti-[[homonormative]] at one and the same time."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brunstrom |first1=Conrad |title='Leaving the Herd': How Queer Was Cowper? |journal=Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies |date=June 2006 |volume=29 |issue=2 |page=158 |doi=10.1111/j.1754-0208.2006.tb00640.x |url=http://eprints.maynoothuniversity.ie/4652/1/CB_leaving%20the%20herd.pdf }}</ref> Cowper's 18th century understanding of his own predicament was that—being "what the world calls an old bachelor"—he was nevertheless "a rational creature", much abused by those who would make sport of him.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cowper |first1=William |title=Complaints of an Old Bachelor |journal=Connoisseur  |date=April 8, 1756  |issue=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oyv09yVQUZAC&pg=PA260 }}</ref>

== Selected works ==

===Poems===

{{div col}}
* [https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/snail-1 The Snail] (1770)
* [https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-winter-nosegay/ The Winter Nosegay] (1777)
* ''[[Olney Hymns]]'' (1778–1779; in collaboration with [[John Newton]])
* ''[[The Diverting History of John Gilpin|John Gilpin]]'' (1782)
* [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50599/epitaph-on-a-hare Epitaph on a Hare] (1782)
* [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-cowper ''Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.''] (1782; Cowper's First Independent Volume)
* [http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/cowper/rose.htm The Rose] (1783)
* ''[[The Task (poem)|The Task]]'' (1785)
* [http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/cowper/morningdream.htm The Morning Dream] (1788)
* [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'' (1791; translations from the [[Greek language|Greek]])
* [http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/cowper/cat.htm The Retired Cat] (1791)
* [http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/cowper/mary2.htm To Mary] (1793)
* [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44027/the-castaway The Castaway] (1803)
* [https://poetryprof.com/the-poplar-field The Poplar-Field] (1785)
* [https://mypoeticside.com/show-classic-poem-6385 ''Lines Written During a Period of Insanity''] (1816)
{{end div col}}

References:<br>
[https://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/cowper/cowperbib.php ''Selected Works of William Cowper''] <br>
https://www.poetryfoundation.org <br>
https://mypoeticside.com <br>
https://poetryprof.com

==Translations==
{{Further|English translations of Homer#Cowper}}
William Cowper translated Homer's two epic poems: "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey".<ref>{{cite wikisource|first=William|last=Cowper|title=The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer|wslink=The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (Cowper)|year=1791|publisher=J. Johnson|publication-place=London}}</ref> His translations of these ancient Greek classics are considered significant contributions to English literature. Cowper's translations of Homer were part of a broader movement in the 18th and 19th centuries to make classical literature more accessible to English-speaking audiences. While his translations may not be as widely read today as some others, they were influential in their time and contributed to the ongoing appreciation of Homer's works in English-speaking countries.

===Hymns===
William Cowper is represented with fifteen hymns in [[Edwin F. Hatfield]]'s<ref>[https://hymnary.org/person/Hatfield_EFEF Edwin F. Hatfield]</ref> 1872 [[Presbyterian]] opus ''The Church Hymn Book for the Worship of God''.<ref>[https://www.logcollegepress.com/edwin-francis-hatfield-18071883 Edwin Francis Hatfield (1807–1883)]</ref>

{{div col}}
* [https://hymnary.org/text/jesus_whereer_thy_people_meet 127 ''Jesus! where'er thy people meet'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/the_spirit_breathes_upon_the_word 357 ''The Spirit breathes upon the word'']
* [https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1006 450 ''There is a fountain, filled with blood'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/hark_my_soul_it_is_the_lord 790 ''Hark! my soul! it is the Lord'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/to_jesus_the_crown_of_my_hope 856 ''To Jesus, the Crown of my hope'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/far_from_the_world_o_lord_i_flee 871 ''Far from the world, O Lord! I flee'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/my_lord_how_full_of_sweet_content 885 ''My Lord! how full of sweet content'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/what_various_hindrances_we_meet 932 ''What various hindrances we meet'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/o_for_a_closer_walk_with_god 945 ''Oh! for a closer walk with God'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/when_darkness_long_has_veiled_my_mind 965 ''When darkness long has veiled my mind'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/tis_my_happiness_below 1002 '' 'Tis my happiness below'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/o_lord_in_sorrow_i_resign 1009 ''O Lord! in sorrow I resign'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/o_lord_my_best_desires_fulfill 1029 ''O Lord! my best desire fulfill'']
* [https://hymnary.org/text/god_of_my_life_to_thee_i_call 1060 ''God of my life! to thee I call'']
{{end div col}}

References: <br>
https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/william-cowper <br>
https://hymnary.org/person/Cowper_W <br>
https://www.hymnal.net/en/home

==Familiar quotations==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break |width=50%}}
<poem>{{GOD}} moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.</poem>
: {{Citation | title = Olney Hymns | year = 1779 | contribution = Light Shining out of Darkness}}

<poem>There is a fountain fill'd with blood
Drawn from {{Smallcaps | Emmanuel}}'s veins;
And sinners, plung'd beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.</poem>
: {{Citation | title = Olney Hymns | year = 1779 | contribution = Praise for the Fountain Opened}}

<poem>Oh! for a closer walk with {{GOD}},
A calm and heav'nly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!</poem>
: {{Citation | title = Olney Hymns | year = 1779 | contribution = Walking with God}}

God made the country, and man made the town.
: {{Citation | title = The Task | year = 1785 | contribution = The Sofa | volume = I | at = line 749}}

There is a pleasure in poetic pains
<br />Which only poets know.
: {{Citation | title = The Task | year = 1785 | contribution = The Timepiece | volume = II | at = lines 285–286}}

{{col-break|width=50%}}
Variety's the very spice of life,
<br />That gives it all its flavour.
: {{Citation | title = The Task | year = 1785 | contribution = The Timepiece | volume = II | at = lines 606–607}}

<poem>I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.</poem>
: {{Citation | title = Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk | year = 1782 | at = lines 1–4}}

<poem>No voice divine the storm allay'd,
No light propitious shone;
When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,
We perish'd, each alone;
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelmed in deeper gulphs than he.</poem>
: {{Citation | title = The Castaway | year = 1799 | at = lines 61–66}}

<poem>'Tis pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat,
To peep at such a world; to see the stir
Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd;
To hear the roar she sends through all her gates
At a safe distance, where the dying sound
Falls a soft murmur on the uninjur'd ear.</poem>
: {{Citation | title = The Task | year = 1785 | contribution = The Winter Evening | volume = IV | at = lines 88–93}}
{{col-end}}

==See also==
*[[List of abolitionist forerunners]]
*[[Frances Maria Cowper]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* ''The Church Hymn Book for the Worship of God'', 1872, edited by Edwin F. Hatfield. New York and Chicago.

==Sources==
* Harold Child, "William Cowper", in Ward & Trent, ''et al.'' ''The Cambridge History of English and American Literature.'' New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1907–21.  As given at [http://www.bartleby.com/cambridge/ Bartleby.com]. (Some biographical data utilised.)
* [[Humphrey Sumner Milford|H. S. Milford]], [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007585302 ''The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper'']. London: Oxford University Press, 1913. ("Chronological Table" on pp. xxiv–xxx heavily utilised for biographical data.)

==Further reading==
* {{Citation | title = William Cowper: A Biography | first = James | last = King | date = 1986 | publisher = Duke University Press | isbn = 978-0-8223-0513-2 | location = Durham, NC | ref = none | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/williamcowperbio0000king }}.
* Hutchings, Bill (1983). ''The Poetry of William Cowper''. Beckenham: Croom Helm.
* {{Citation | title = Cowper's Poetry: A Critical Study and Reassessment | first = Vincent | last = Newey | date = 1981 | publisher = Liverpool University Press | isbn = 978-0-85323-344-2 | location = Liverpool | ref = none | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/cowperspoetrycri00newe }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1911 |title=Cowper, William |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |url=https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Cowper,_William&oldid=11606401 |editor-last=Chisholm |editor-first=Hugh |editor-link=Hugh Chisholm |edition=11th |volume=7 |pages=349–351 |language=en-GB}}
* ''[[iarchive:townofcowper00wrig/page/n15|The Town of Cowper]]'' by [[Thomas Wright (biographer)|Thomas Wright]] (First Edition. May 1886)
* {{cite book|title=The Stricken Deer: the biography|first1= David|last1= Cecil|year= 1929}} and later editions.
* {{cite book|title=A Portrait of William Cowper: His Own Interpreter in Letters and Poems|first1= Louise B.|last1= Risk|year= 2004}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|William Cowper|s=Author:William Cowper (1731-1800)|wikt=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|d=Q315537|c=Category:William Cowper|n=no}}
* {{Cite DNB|wstitle=Cowper, William (1731-1800)|display=Cowper, William (1731–1800)|volume=12 |pages=394–402}}
* [http://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/authors/pers00269.shtml William Cowper] at the [http://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/ Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=Cowper,+William }}
* {{Librivox author |id=2023}}
* {{NPG name}}
* [http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/cnm/ Cowper and Newton Museum]
* [http://www.thegreatcat.org/cats-enlightenment-part-9-william-cowpers-cat-poems/ William Cowper's Cat Poems]
* [http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/cowper.htm Cowper's Grave]
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [http://essays.quotidiana.org/cowper/ Essays by William Cowper] at [http://essays.quotidiana.org Quotidiana.org]
* [http://www.ccel.org/c/cowper/works/home.html Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper] at [[Christian Classics Ethereal Library|CCEL]]
* {{Cite web |title=William Cowper |url=http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/o/w/cowper_w.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304162016/http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/o/w/cowper_w.htm |archive-date=4 March 2012 |access-date=24 February 2009 |website=HymnTime.com }}
* [http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/cowper01.html Selected Poems at The Poets' Corner]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070716174816/http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poet/79.html Selected Poetry of Cowper at the University of Toronto]
* [http://www.bibliomania.com/Poetry/Cowper/Odyssey Electronic text of Cowper's "Odyssey" translation at bibliomania.com]
* Audio: [http://poemsoutloud.net/blog/archive/gone_but_not_forgotten/ Robert Pinsky reads "Epitaph On A Hare"] by William Cowper (via [http://poemsoutloud.net/ poemsoutloud.net])

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper, William}}
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