204 Famous Quotes by William Cowper
11/26/1731 - 4/25/1800
Also Known As:
Cowper, William
Professions:
Information:
About William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. 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. He was a nephew of the poet Judith Madan.
Although after being institutionalised for insanity in the period 1763-65, Cowper found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity, the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns, he often experienced doubt and after a dream in 1773 believed that he was doomed to eternal damnation. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered. His poem "Light Shining out of Darkness" gave the English language the idiom "God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform."
England with all thy faults, I love thee still--
My country! and, while yet a nook is left
Where English minds and manners may be found,
Shall be constrained to love thee.
England
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Task (bk. II, l. 206)
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Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free;
They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
Slavery
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Task (bk. II, l. 40)
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Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees,
Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze.
Spring
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Tirocinium (l. 43)
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Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,
Live till to-morrow, will have pass'd away.
Day
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Needless Alarm (l. 132)
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O Winter! ruler of the inverted year,
. . . .
I crown thee king of intimate delights,
Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness,
And all the comforts that the lowly roof
Of undisturb'd Retirement, and the hours
Of long uninterrupted evening, know.
Winter
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Task (bk. IV, l. 120)
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Dream after dream ensues;
And still they dream that they shall still succeed;
And still are disappointed.
Dreams
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Task (bk. III, l. 127)
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And prate and preach about what others prove,
As if the world and they were hand and glove.
Hypocrisy
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Table Talk (l. 173)
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What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.
Memory
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Walking with God
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. . . thieves at home must hang; but he that puts
Into his overgorged and bloated purse
The wealth of Indian provinces, escapes.
Corruption
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Task (bk. I, l. 736)
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Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts.
It's what you do with what you have left.
Loss
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: The Retired Cat (l. 95)
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The earth was made so various, that the mind of desultory man, studious of change, and pleased with novelty, might be indulged.
Novelty
Quotes, by William Cowper
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But conversation, choose what theme we may,
And chiefly when religion leads the way,
Should flow, like waters after summer show'rs,
Not as if raised by mere mechanic powers.
Conversation
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Conversation (l. 703)
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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.
Meditation
Quotes, by William Cowper
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Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,
Live till to-morrow, will have pass'd away.
Proverbs
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Needless Alarm (l. 132)
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The man that hails you Tom or Jack,
And proves by thumps upon your back
How he esteems your merit,
Is such a friend, that one had need
Be very much his friend indeed
To pardon or to bear it.
Proverbs
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: On Friendship (169)
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How much a dunce that has been sent to roam
Excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
Proverbs
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Progress of Error (l. 410)
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Dress drains our cellar dry,
And keeps our larder lean; puts out our fires
And introduces hunger, frost, and woe,
Where peace and hospitality might reign.
Proverbs
Quotes, by William Cowper , Source: Task (bk. II, l. 614)
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