It is strange to realise that Cowper very much overlapped with all the Romantic poets. Indeed Southey, possibly the least inspired of them, published a Life & Collected Works of Cowper. He exhibits the faintest elements of ideas and traits which were to blossom in Wordsworth, the approach to the personal, the importance of the unimportant things in life, the baring of the soul and a sense of religion. But Cowper is very cosy, comfortable. He never surprises or inspires. The regularity of his met...

It is strange to realise that Cowper very much overlapped with all the Romantic poets. Indeed Southey, possibly the least inspired of them, published a Life & Collected Works of Cowper. He exhibits the faintest elements of ideas and traits which were to blossom in Wordsworth, the approach to the personal, the importance of the unimportant things in life, the baring of the soul and a sense of religion. But Cowper is very cosy, comfortable. He never surprises or inspires. The regularity of his met...

It is strange to realise that Cowper very much overlapped with all the Romantic poets. Indeed Southey, possibly the least inspired of them, published a Life & Collected Works of Cowper. He exhibits the faintest elements of ideas and traits which were to blossom in Wordsworth, the approach to the personal, the importance of the unimportant things in life, the baring of the soul and a sense of religion. But Cowper is very cosy, comfortable. He never surprises or inspires. The regularity of his met...

cowper seems a decent fellow. he is anti-slavery and pro-bunny. he even sustains a certain vigor in something like Yardley Oak. but to imagine that he presages the Romantics, especially compared to a contemporary like GRAY, is a bit excessive.

Full of sentiment, free of sentimentality. Rightly rescued from the obscurity of his contemporaries.

Full of sentiment, free of sentimentality. Rightly rescued from the obscurity of his contemporaries.

I’m learning to love poetry, having recently been won round to Johns Clare and Keats but I was nervous about reading, not a few poems at a time, but a whole book. What was especially nerve-wracking was the fact that I had not heard of William Cowper, to the extent I didn’t even know how to pronounce his name (‘Cooper’). At the beginning of this selection there is an introduction that consists of a short biography of the writer and short appreciation of his qualities as a poet and a general under...

Pastoral poetry at its finest.

Pastoral poetry at its finest.

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,As if he grew there, house and allTogether.Within that house secure he hides,When danger imminent betidesOf storm, or other harm besidesOf weather.Give but his horns the slightest touch,His self-collecting power is such,He shrinks into his house, with muchDispleasure.Where’er he dwells, he dwells alone,Except himself has chattels none,Well satisfied to be his ownWhole treasure.Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,Nor

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,As if he grew there, house and allTogether.Within that house secure he hides,When danger imminent betidesOf storm, or other harm besidesOf weather.Give but his horns the slightest touch,His self-collecting power is such,He shrinks into his house, with muchDispleasure.Where’er he dwells, he dwells alone,Except himself has chattels none,Well satisfied to be his ownWhole treasure.Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,Nor

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,As if he grew there, house and allTogether.Within that house secure he hides,When danger imminent betidesOf storm, or other harm besidesOf weather.Give but his horns the slightest touch,His self-collecting power is such,He shrinks into his house, with muchDispleasure.Where’er he dwells, he dwells alone,Except himself has chattels none,Well satisfied to be his ownWhole treasure.Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,Nor

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,As if he grew there, house and allTogether.Within that house secure he hides,When danger imminent betidesOf storm, or other harm besidesOf weather.Give but his horns the slightest touch,His self-collecting power is such,He shrinks into his house, with muchDispleasure.Where’er he dwells, he dwells alone,Except himself has chattels none,Well satisfied to be his ownWhole treasure.Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,Nor

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,As if he grew there, house and allTogether.Within that house secure he hides,When danger imminent betidesOf storm, or other harm besidesOf weather.Give but his horns the slightest touch,His self-collecting power is such,He shrinks into his house, with muchDispleasure.Where’er he dwells, he dwells alone,Except himself has chattels none,Well satisfied to be his ownWhole treasure.Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,Nor

·William Cowper, Selected Poems (ed. Nick Rhodes), Carcanet 2003·William Cowper, The Centenary Letters (ed. Simon Malpas), Carcanet 2000Cowper is more or less ignored now except by specialists, but at one time he was considered one of the greatest poets of his age. Perhaps this isn't saying much (there weren't a lot of great poets in the late eighteenth century), but still, his neglect is a shame: unlike some forgotten names, Cowper actually seems rather well suited to modern sensibilities. He w...

·William Cowper, Selected Poems (ed. Nick Rhodes), Carcanet 2003·William Cowper, The Centenary Letters (ed. Simon Malpas), Carcanet 2000Cowper is more or less ignored now except by specialists, but at one time he was considered one of the greatest poets of his age. Perhaps this isn't saying much (there weren't a lot of great poets in the late eighteenth century), but still, his neglect is a shame: unlike some forgotten names, Cowper actually seems rather well suited to modern sensibilities. He w...

Reading Cowper for the first time, I was struck with how absolutely readable his poems are, even though they were written over 200 years ago. For the most part, his language does not show its age, and could be written by a popular poet or songwriter even today. Some lines are absolutely perfect, such as in "Retirement" when he says, "The good we never miss we rarely prize."Walking with God from his Olney Hymns is a pure master work, as well as "To the Nightingale" and "Verses Supposed to be Writ...

Reading Cowper for the first time, I was struck with how absolutely readable his poems are, even though they were written over 200 years ago. For the most part, his language does not show its age, and could be written by a popular poet or songwriter even today. Some lines are absolutely perfect, such as in "Retirement" when he says, "The good we never miss we rarely prize."Walking with God from his Olney Hymns is a pure master work, as well as "To the Nightingale" and "Verses Supposed to be Writ...

Reading Cowper for the first time, I was struck with how absolutely readable his poems are, even though they were written over 200 years ago. For the most part, his language does not show its age, and could be written by a popular poet or songwriter even today. Some lines are absolutely perfect, such as in "Retirement" when he says, "The good we never miss we rarely prize."Walking with God from his Olney Hymns is a pure master work, as well as "To the Nightingale" and "Verses Supposed to be Writ...