Restoration & Augustan

William Cowper

1731–1800

William Cowper (1731–1800) wrote from a life shadowed by recurring breakdowns and religious despair, retired to the Buckinghamshire village of Olney under the care of friends.

His comic ballad John Gilpin made him briefly famous, but his lasting achievement is The Task, a long meditative poem on rural retirement, and the Olney Hymns he wrote with John Newton, including “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.”

Major Works (1)

The Task — Meditative poem, 1785

Poems (409)

The Diverting History of John Gilpin
An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq.
To Mary
The Castaway
Light Shining Out of Darkness
On the Loss of the Royal George
Table Talk
The Progress of Error
Truth
Expostulation
Hope
Charity
Conversation
Retirement
Tirocinium; or, A Review of Schools
The Yearly Distress, or Tithing Time at Stock in Essex
Sonnet, Addressed to Henry Cowper, Esq.
Lines Addressed to Dr. Darwin, Author of "The Botanic Garden"
On Mrs. Montagu's Feather-Hangings
Verses, Supposed to Be Written by Alexander Selkirk, During His Solitary Abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez
On Observing Some Names of Little Note Recorded in the Biographia Britannica
Report of an Adjudged Case, Not to Be Found in Any of the Books
On the Promotion of Edward Thurlow, Esq. To the Lord High Chancellorship of England
Ode to Peace
Human Frailty
The Modern Patriot
On the Burning of Lord Mansfield's Library, Together with His MSS. By the Mob, in the Month of June, 1780
On the Same (Lord Mansfield's Library)
The Love of the World Reproved; or, Hypocrisy Detected
On the Death of Mrs. (Now Lady) Throckmorton's Bullfinch
The Rose
The Doves
A Fable (The Raven)
Ode to Apollo. On an Inkglass Almost Dried in the Sun
A Comparison
Another Comparison, Addressed to a Young Lady
The Poet's New Year's Gift. To Mrs. (Now Lady) Throckmorton
Pairing Time Anticipated. A Fable
The Dog and the Water Lily. No Fable
The Winter Nosegay
The Poet, the Oyster, and Sensitive Plant
The Shrubbery. Written in a Time of Affliction
Mutual Forbearance Necessary to the Happiness of the Married State
The Negro's Complaint
Pity for Poor Africans
The Morning Dream
The Nightingale and Glowworm
An Epistle to an Afflicted Protestant Lady in France
To the Rev. W. Cawthorne Unwin
To the Reverend Mr. Newton, an Invitation into the Country
Catharina. Addressed to Miss Stapleton, (Now Mrs. Courtney.)
The Moralizer Corrected. A Tale
The Faithful Bird
The Needless Alarm. A Tale
Boadicea. An Ode
Heroism
On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture out of Norfolk, the Gift of My Cousin, Ann Bodham
Friendship
On a Mischievous Bull, Which the Owner of Him Sold at the Author's Instance
Annus Memorabilis, 1789. Written in Commemoration of His Majesty's Happy Recovery
Hymn, for the Use of the Sunday School at Olney
Stanzas, Subjoined to the Yearly Bill of Mortality of the Parish of All-Saints, Northampton, Anno Domini 1787
Stanzas, on a Similar Occasion, for the Year 1788
Stanzas, on a Similar Occasion, for the Year 1789
Stanzas, on a Similar Occasion, for the Year 1790
Stanzas, on a Similar Occasion, for the Year 1792
Stanzas, on a Similar Occasion, for the Year 1793
On a Goldfinch, Starved to Death in His Cage
The Pine-Apple and the Bee
Verses Written at Bath, on Finding the Heel of a Shoe
An Ode, on Reading Richardson's History of Sir Charles Grandison
An Epistle to Robert Lloyd, Esq.
A Tale, Founded on a Fact, Which Happened in January, 1779
To the Rev. Mr. Newton, on His Return from Ramsgate
Love Abused
A Poetical Epistle to Lady Austen
The Colubriad
Song. On Peace
Song
Verses Selected from an Occasional Poem Entitled "Valediction."
Epitaph on Dr. Johnson
To Miss C----, on Her Birthday
Gratitude. Addressed to Lady Hesketh
Lines Composed for a Memorial of Ashley Cowper, Esq. Immediately After His Death, by His Nephew William of Weston
On the Queen's Visit to London. The Night of the Seventeenth of March, 1789
The Cock-Fighter's Garland
To Warren Hastings, Esq. By an Old Schoolfellow of His at Westminster
To Mrs. Throckmorton, on Her Beautiful Transcript of Horace's Ode, "Ad Librum Suum."
To the Immortal Memory of the Halibut, on Which I Dined This Day, Monday, April 26, 1784
Inscription for a Stone Erected at the Sowing of a Grove of Oaks at Chillington, the Seat of T. Giffard, Esq. 1790
Another Inscription for a Stone at Chillington
To Mrs. King
In Memory of the Late John Thornton, Esq.
The Four Ages
The Retired Cat
The Judgment of the Poets
Yardley Oak
To the Nightingale, Which the Author Heard Sing on New Year's Day
Lines Written in an Album of Miss Patty More's, Sister of Hannah More
Sonnet to William Wilberforce, Esq.
Epigram Printed in the Northampton Mercury
To Dr. Austin, of Cecil Street, London
Catharina: The Second Part: On Her Marriage to George Courtenay, Esq.
Epitaph on Fop, a Dog Belonging to Lady Throckmorton
Sonnet to George Romney, Esq. On His Picture of Me in Crayons
Mary and John
Epitaph on Mr. Chester, of Chicheley
To My Cousin, Anne Bodham
Inscription for a Hermitage in the Author's Garden
To Mrs. Unwin
To John Johnson, Esq.
To a Young Friend
On a Spaniel, Called Beau, Killing a Young Bird
Beau's Reply
To William Hayley, Esq.
Answer (to Stanzas by Miss Catharine Fanshawe)
On Flaxman's Penelope
To the Spanish Admiral Count Gravina
Inscription for the Tomb of Mr. Hamilton
Epitaph on a Hare
Epitaphium Alterum
A Tale (The Chaffinch's Nest)
To Sir Joshua Reynolds
On the Author of Letters on Literature
The Distressed Travellers; or, Labour in Vain
Stanzas on the Late Indecent Liberties Taken with the Remains of Milton, Anno 1790
To the Rev. William Bull
Epitaph on Mrs. M. Higgins, of Weston
Sonnet to a Young Lady on Her Birth-Day
On a Mistake in His Translation of Homer
On the Benefit Received by His Majesty from Sea-Bathing in the Year 1789
Addressed to Miss ---- on Reading the Prayer for Indifference
From a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Newton, Late Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth
The Flatting Mill. An Illustration
Epitaph on a Free but Tame Redbreast, a Favourite of Miss Sally Hurdis
Sonnet, Addressed to William Hayley, Esq.
An Epitaph
On Receiving Hayley's Picture
On a Plant of Virgin's Bower. Designed to Cover a Garden-Seat
On Receiving Heyne's Virgil from Mr. Hayley
Lines Addressed to Miss Theodora Jane Cowper
To the Same (Miss Theodora Jane Cowper)
Lines on a Sleeping Infant
Lines
Inscription for a Moss-House in the Shrubbery at Weston
Lines on the Death of Sir William Russel
On the High Price of Fish
To Mrs. Newton
Verses Printed by Himself on a Flood at Olney
Extract from a Sunday-School Hymn
On the Receipt of a Hamper
On the Neglect of Homer
Walking with God
Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord Will Provide
Jehovah-Rophi. I Am the Lord That Healeth Thee
Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner
Jehovah-Shalom. The Lord Send Peace
Wisdom
Vanity of the World
O Lord, I Will Praise Thee
The Contrite Heart
The Future Peace and Glory of the Church
Jehovah Our Righteousness
Ephraim Repenting
The Covenant
Jehovah-Shammah
Praise for the Fountain Opened
The Sower
The House of Prayer
Lovest Thou Me?
Contentment
Old Testament Gospel
Sardis
Prayer for a Blessing on the Young
Pleading for and with Youth
Prayer for Children
Jehovah Jesus
On Opening a Place for Social Prayer
Welcome to the Table
Jesus Hasting to Suffer
Exhortation to Prayer
The Light and Glory of the Word
On the Death of a Minister
The Shining Light
Seeking the Beloved
The Waiting Soul
Welcome Cross
Afflictions Sanctified by the Word
Temptation
Looking Upwards in a Storm
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Peace After a Storm
Mourning and Longing
Self-Acquaintance
Prayer for Patience
Submission
The Happy Change
Retirement (Olney Hymns)
The Hidden Life
Joy and Peace in Believing
True Pleasures
The Christian
Lively Hope and Gracious Fear
For the Poor
My Soul Thirsteth for God
Love Constraining to Obedience
The Heart Healed and Changed by Mercy
Hatred of Sin
The New Convert
True and False Comforts
A Living and a Dead Faith
Abuse of the Gospel
The Narrow Way
Dependence
Not of Works
Praise for Faith
Grace and Providence
I Will Praise the Lord at All Times
Longing to Be with Christ
The Poplar Field
Psalm CXXXVII
Song (No More Shall Hapless Celia's Ears)
A Song (On the Green Margin of the Brook)
Mortals! around your destin'd heads
The Symptoms of Love
An Apology for Not Showing Her What I Had Wrote
Delia, th' unkindest girl on earth
This ev'ning, Delia, you and I
An Attempt at the Manner of Waller
A Song (The Sparkling Eye, the Mantling Cheek)
Upon a Venerable Rival
Written in a Quarrel, the Delivery of It Prevented by a Reconciliation
See where the Thames, the purest stream
How blest the youth whom Fate ordains
Ode, Supposed to Be Written on the Marriage of a Friend
On Her Endeavouring to Conceal Her Grief at Parting
Bid adieu, my sad heart, bid adieu to thy peace
R. S. S.
R. S. S., Written in a Fit of Illness
To Delia
Hope, like the short-liv'd ray that gleams awhile
An Ode, Secundum Artem
Lines Written During a Period of Insanity
A Song of Mercy and Judgment
On the Trial of Admiral Keppel
An Address to the Mob on Occasion of the Late Riot at the House of Sir Hugh Palliser
The Bee and the Pine-Apple
The Lily and the Rose
A Reflection on the Foregoing Ode
Anti-Thelyphthora. A Tale, in Verse
A Card
To a Lady Who Wore a Lock of His Hair Set with Diamonds
The Valediction
Lines Sent with Two Cockscombs to Miss Green
Sweet Meat Has Sour Sauce; or, The Slave-Trader in the Dumps
Lines Written on a Window-Shutter at Weston
Letter in Verse
In a Letter to C. P., Esq., Ill with the Rheumatism
In a Letter to the Same, in Imitation of Shakespeare
A Thunder Storm
Riddle
Tom Raban
Methinks I see thee decently array'd
On Madan's Answer to Newton's Comments on Thelyphthora
On a Review Condemning Thelyphthora
Let Banister now lend his aid
Against Interested Love
Fragment (He Came to Him in the Extasy of Pray'r)
One parson, one poet, one belman, one crier
Lines Written on a Page of the Monthly Review, Which Had Spoken of Mr. Newton's Opinions as Cant
Impromptu on Writing a Letter Without Having Anything to Say
It is a maxim of much weight
To a Young Lady Who Stole a Pen from the Prince of Wales's Standish
Away goes Sussex William with his pack
To Sir John Fenn
On Thurlow
On His Portrait
On His Approaching Visit to Hayley
On Hayley's Portrait
Thanks for a Gift of Pheasants
My pens are all split, and my ink-glass is dry
An epigram is but a feeble thing
Ah brother Poet! send me of your shade
Epigrams on His Garden Shed
On a Letter of Miss Fanshawe
The Nativity
God Neither Known nor Loved by the World
The Swallow
The Triumph of Heavenly Love Desired
A Figurative Description of the Procedure of Divine Love in Bringing a Soul to the Point of Self-Renunciation and Absolute Acquiescence
A Child of God Longing to See Him Beloved
Aspirations of the Soul After God
Gratitude and Love to God
Happy Solitude--Unhappy Men
Living Water
Truth and Divine Love Rejected by the World
Divine Justice Amiable
The Soul That Loves God Finds Him Everywhere
The Testimony of Divine Adoption
Divine Love Endures No Rival
Self-Diffidence
The Acquiescence of Pure Love
Repose in God
Glory to God Alone
Self-Love and Truth Incompatible
The Love of God the End of Life
Love Faithful in the Absence of the Beloved
Love Pure and Fervent
The Entire Surrender
The Perfect Sacrifice
God Hides His People
The Secrets of Divine Love Are to Be Kept
The Vicissitudes Experienced in the Christian Life
Watching unto God in the Night-Season
Watching unto God in the Night-Season, II
Watching unto God in the Night-Season, III
The Joy of the Cross
Joy in Martyrdom
Simple Trust
The Necessity of Self-Abasement
Love Increased by Suffering
Scenes Favourable to Meditation
The Fifth Satire of the First Book of Horace: A Humorous Description of the Author's Journey from Rome to Brundusium
The Ninth Satire of the First Book of Horace, Adapted to the Present Times: The Description of an Impertinent
Horace. Book I, Ode IX
Horace. Book I, Ode XXXVIII
Horace. Book I, Ode XXXVIII (Another Translation)
Horace. Book II, Ode XVI
Horace. Book the 2nd. Ode the 10th
The Glow-Worm
The Jackdaw
The Cricket
The Parrot
The Thracian
Reciprocal Kindness the Primary Law of Nature
A Manual More Ancient than the Art of Printing and Not to Be Found in Any Catalogue
An Ænigma
Sparrows Self-Domesticated in Trinity College, Cambridge
Familiarity Dangerous
Invitation to the Redbreast
Strada's Nightingale
Ode on the Death of a Lady Who Lived One Hundred Years, and Died on Her Birthday, 1728
The Cause Won
The Silk-Worm
The Innocent Thief
Denner's Old Woman
The Tears of a Painter
The Maze
No Sorrow Peculiar to the Sufferer
The Snail
The Cantab
Translation of the Verses to the Memory of Dr. Lloyd, Spoken at the Westminster Election Next After His Decease
Another Version of the Same
Translation of Epitaph to William Northcot
On the Shortness of Human Life
On One Ignorant and Arrogant
Prudent Simplicity
To a Friend in Distress
When little more than boy in age
Retaliation
Sunset and Sunrise
From the Greek of Julianus
On the Same, by Palladas
An Epitaph (from the Greek)
Another Epitaph (II)
Another Epitaph (III)
Another Epitaph (IV)
By Callimachus
On Miltiades
On an Infant
On a Fowler, by Isidorus
On Niobe
On a Good Man
On a Miser
On a Miser (Another)
On a Miser (A Third)
On Hermocratia
By Heraclides
On Female Inconstancy
On the Reed
To Health
To the Swallow
On the Grasshopper
On a Bath, by Plato
On Pallas Bathing, from a Hymn of Callimachus
From Menander
On Late-Acquired Wealth
On Flatterers
On a True Friend
On Invalids
On the Astrologers
On an Old Woman
To Demosthenis
On a Similar Character
On a Battered Beauty
On an Ugly Fellow
On a Thief
On Envy
On Pedigree, from Epicharmus
By Philemon
By Moschus
Translation of an Epigram of Homer
The Neapolitan John Baptist Manso, Marquis of Villa, to the Englishman John Milton
An Epigram Addressed to the Englishman John Milton, a Poet Worthy of Three Laurels, the Grecian, Latin, and Etruscan, by John Salsillo of Rome
To John Milton
An Ode Addressed to the Illustrious Englishman Mr. John Milton, by Signor Antonio Francini, Gentleman of Florence
On the Inventor of Guns
The Cottager and His Landlord: A Fable
Sonnet I

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