The Works of William Cowper: His Life and Letters, Volume 6Saunders & Otley, 1835 |
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Page xxxix
... suitable to our own taste , and congenial to our own disposition ... Think how we should relish a painting in which there was no regard to colours , proportions , or xl any of the physical laws of nature ; where POETRY OF COWPER . xxxix.
... suitable to our own taste , and congenial to our own disposition ... Think how we should relish a painting in which there was no regard to colours , proportions , or xl any of the physical laws of nature ; where POETRY OF COWPER . xxxix.
Page xl
... laws of nature ; where the eyes and ears of animals were placed in their shoulders ; where the sky was green , and the grass crimson . " Such distortions and anoma- lies would not be less offensive in poetry than in the sister art . And ...
... laws of nature ; where the eyes and ears of animals were placed in their shoulders ; where the sky was green , and the grass crimson . " Such distortions and anoma- lies would not be less offensive in poetry than in the sister art . And ...
Page xliv
... law of our nature , and will endeavour to analyze and to delineate their own feelings , if they mean to reach those of others . Unhappily , the noble author of this canon in philosophy and literature had no very profitable picture of ...
... law of our nature , and will endeavour to analyze and to delineate their own feelings , if they mean to reach those of others . Unhappily , the noble author of this canon in philosophy and literature had no very profitable picture of ...
Page 8
... , if authority grow wanton , woe To him that treads upon his free - born toe ; One step beyond the boundary of the laws Fires him at once in Freedom's glorious cause . Thus proud Prerogative , not much rever'd , Is seldom 8 TABLE TALK .
... , if authority grow wanton , woe To him that treads upon his free - born toe ; One step beyond the boundary of the laws Fires him at once in Freedom's glorious cause . Thus proud Prerogative , not much rever'd , Is seldom 8 TABLE TALK .
Page 11
... laws apply the needful curb , To guard the peace that riot would disturb ; And Liberty , preserved from wild excess , Shall raise no feuds for armies to suppress . When Tumult lately burst his prison door , And set plebeian thousands in ...
... laws apply the needful curb , To guard the peace that riot would disturb ; And Liberty , preserved from wild excess , Shall raise no feuds for armies to suppress . When Tumult lately burst his prison door , And set plebeian thousands in ...
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Common terms and phrases
beauty beneath bids blasphemy blest boast breath call'd cause Charity charms Cowper delight divine dream e'en earth effeminacy eyes fair fancy fear feel fire folly fools form'd frown genius give glory God's golden ear grace Greece hand happy hast heart Heaven heavenly honour hope hour human kindled labour land learn'd light lust lyre mankind mercy Mighty winds mind muse Naiads nature never o'er once peace perhaps Pharisee pity pleasure poems poet poet's poetical poetry praise pride proud prove racter rapture religion Rome rude sacred satire scene scorn scorn'd Scripture shame shine sight skies slave smile song soul sound Stamp'd stand stream sublime sweet tardy taste teach telescopic eye thee theme thine thou thought thousand toil tongue tremble trifler true truth Twas verse VIRG virtue waste WILLIAM COWPER wisdom wonder youth zeal
Popular passages
Page xlvii - Thou bounteous Giver of all good, Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown ! Give what thou caust, without thee we are poor ; And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away ! " In like manner the Millennium of Cowper is at least not inferior to the Messiah of Pope.
Page 224 - Stand, never overlooked, our favourite elms, That screen the herdsman's solitary hut ; While far beyond, and overthwart the stream, That, as with molten glass, inlays the vale, The sloping land recedes into the clouds ; Displaying on its varied side the grace Of hedge-row beauties numberless, square tower, Tall spire, from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear ; Groves, heaths, and smoking villages remote.
Page 206 - Tis easy to resign a toilsome place, But not to manage leisure with a grace ; Absence of occupation is not rest, A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.
Page xx - I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.
Page xlviii - One song employs all nations; and all cry, ' Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!' The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy; Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round.
Page 249 - OH for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumour of oppression and deceit, Of unsuccessful or successful war, Might never reach me more.
Page 208 - Nor those of learn'd philologists, who chase A panting syllable through time and space, Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark, To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's ark...
Page xlii - The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown : No traveller ever reached that blest abode, Who found not thorns and briars in his road.
Page 210 - I praise the Frenchman,* his remark was shrewd — How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude ! But grant me still a friend in my retreat, Whom I may whisper— solitude is sweet.
Page 256 - Suspend the effect or heal it ? Has not God Still wrought by means since first he made the world, And did he not of old employ his means To drown it ? What is his creation less Than a capacious reservoir of means Formed for his use, and ready at his will...