Meditative poem · 1785

The Task

A Poem, in Six Books

by William Cowper

Begun as a joke on the subject of a sofa, The Task grew into Cowper’s masterpiece — a long, ruminative blank-verse walk through rural retirement, nature, solitude, and faith.

Contents · 6 parts

• Book I: The Sofaabout 770 lines
• Book II: The Timepieceabout 830 lines
• Book III: The Gardenabout 850 lines
• Book IV: The Winter Eveningabout 800 lines
• Book V: The Winter Morning Walkabout 910 lines
• Book VI: The Winter Walk at Noonabout 1030 lines

Read this work with the Codex →