The Task, Table Talk, and Other Poems, of William Cowper: With Critical Observations of Various Authors on His Genius and Character, and Notes Critical and Illustrative |
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Page 21
... thing beyond the most trifling speci- mens of his art . A few light and agreeable poems , two hymns written at Huntingdon , with about sixty others composed at Olney , are almost the only known poetical productions of his pen between ...
... thing beyond the most trifling speci- mens of his art . A few light and agreeable poems , two hymns written at Huntingdon , with about sixty others composed at Olney , are almost the only known poetical productions of his pen between ...
Page 30
... thing that he writes . No author surprises us more frequently with rapid turns and unexpected coincidences . The mock sublime is one of his favorite implements ; and he employs it with almost unrivalled success . There is also a deli ...
... thing that he writes . No author surprises us more frequently with rapid turns and unexpected coincidences . The mock sublime is one of his favorite implements ; and he employs it with almost unrivalled success . There is also a deli ...
Page 32
... thing that it is ' contrary to nature , ' denotes censure and disgust on the part of the speaker ; as the epithet ' natural ' intimates an agreeable quality , and seems , for the most part , to imply that a thing is as it ought to be ...
... thing that it is ' contrary to nature , ' denotes censure and disgust on the part of the speaker ; as the epithet ' natural ' intimates an agreeable quality , and seems , for the most part , to imply that a thing is as it ought to be ...
Page 39
... things ; some that may be useful , and some that , for aught I know , may be very divert- ing . I am merry , that I may decoy people into my company ; and grave , that they may be the better for it . Now and then I put on the garb of a ...
... things ; some that may be useful , and some that , for aught I know , may be very divert- ing . I am merry , that I may decoy people into my company ; and grave , that they may be the better for it . Now and then I put on the garb of a ...
Page 40
... thing attractive in this personal strain where it does not amount to ego- tism , and he thus gained many admirers who never would have been interested by poetry alone . The religious character of his writings was also a recommendation ...
... thing attractive in this personal strain where it does not amount to ego- tism , and he thus gained many admirers who never would have been interested by poetry alone . The religious character of his writings was also a recommendation ...
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The Task, Table Talk, and Other Poems of William Cowper William Cowper,James Robert Boyd No preview available - 2022 |
Common terms and phrases
admirable ancient ancient Greece ancient Rome beauty beneath book of Judges breath cause character charms Cowper delight divine dream e'en earth England English fair fame fancy feel flowers folly genius give glory grace hand happy heart Heaven honor Hugh Miller human Iliad John Newton king Lady liberty live London Lord lyre manners Milton mind moral muse nature Nebaioth never Night Thoughts North American Review o'er Olney once Paradise Lost peace perhaps pleasure poem poet poet's poetical poetry Pope praise proud reader rural sacred satire says scene seems sense smile song soul Southey stream sublime sweet Task taste thee theme thine things Thomas Campbell thou thought toil trees truth Unwin verse Vincent Bourne virtue walk Westminster Abbey winter wisdom wonder worth write
Popular passages
Page 409 - For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh : how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God...
Page 75 - Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison.
Page 225 - Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray Had in her sober livery all things clad : Silence accompanied ; for beast and bird, They to their grassy couch, these to their nests, Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale ; She all night long her amorous descant sung...
Page 138 - 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 266 - Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow : and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
Page 418 - Twas my distress that brought thee low My Mary ! Thy needles, once a shining store, For my sake restless heretofore, Now rust disused, and shine no more ; My Mary ! For though thou gladly wouldst fulfil The same kind office for me still, Thy sight now seconds not thy will My Mary...
Page 305 - The forms with which He sprinkles all the earth. Happy who walks with him ! whom what he finds Of flavour or of scent in fruit or flower, Or what he views of beautiful or grand In nature, from the broad, majestic oak To the green blade that twinkles in the sun, Prompts with remembrance of a present God.
Page 14 - Well spent in such a strife, may earn indeed, And for a time ensure, to his loved land The sweets of liberty and equal laws ; But martyrs struggle for a brighter prize, And win it with more pain. Their blood is shed In confirmation of the noblest claim, Our claim to feed upon immortal truth, To walk with God, to be divinely free, To soar, and to anticipate the skies.
Page 127 - Here Reynolds is laid, and, to tell you my mind, He has not left a wiser or better behind; His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand; His manners were gentle, complying, and bland; Still born to improve us in every part, His pencil our faces, his manners our heart...
Page 284 - With those whose mansions glitter in his sight, Calls the delightful scenery all his own. His are the mountains, and the valleys his, And the resplendent rivers. His to enjoy With a propriety that none can feel, But who, with filial confidence inspired, Can lift to Heaven an unpresumptuous eye, And smiling say —