Cowper, << KOO puhr or KOW puhr, >> William (1731-1800), was an English poet. He wrote simple poems about nature and rural domestic life. These poems became forerunners of the works of the English Romantic poets of the early 1800’s. They anticipated the Romantics in their themes and in shunning the stilted language of many poets of Cowper’s time. He also was one of the great English letter writers.
Cowper was born on Nov. 26, 1731, in Great Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, near London. A shy, gentle man, he suffered frequent attacks of spiritual despair. In 1765, Cowper went to live in Huntington with the family of Morley Unwin, a clergyman. Beginning in 1767, after Unwin’s death, he lived in the country under the tender care of Mary Unwin and her children and John Newton, a minister.
During his healthy periods, Cowper wrote many great hymns. The Olney Hymns (1779), written with Newton, includes the famous “Oh! for a Closer Walk with God” and “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.”
Much of the charm of Cowper’s poetry comes from his gracious, kindly personality. Cowper also had a good sense of humor. His comic masterpiece is the merry ballad “The Diverting History of John Gilpin” (1782). Cowper was angered by the inhumanity shown in people’s dealings with one another. “Minds are never to be sold!” he declared in his antislavery poem, “The Negro’s Complaint.” But Cowper typically wrote quiet, descriptive, thoughtful poems about nature and daily life. He liked tame, not wild nature. “Yardley Oak” (1791) does not describe the oak but the nostalgic feelings it arouses in the poet. This focus on the poet’s emotional response to nature became a major theme in lyrics of the Romantic poets. His last poem, “The Castaway” (1799), powerfully evokes feelings of gloom and despair. He died on April 25, 1800.
Cowper’s major work was a 5,000-line poem called The Task (1785). This long, rambling poem was written in blank verse. It describes familiar rural sights and events and shows Cowper’s love of the country and his distaste for city life.
See also February, where a verse by Cowper is included in the Quotations section.
