18th Century
19th Century
A01=William Cowper
Author_William Cowper
Category=DCF
Category=DSBH
Category=DSC
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eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_poetry
Product details
- ISBN 9781857547122
- Weight: 165g
- Dimensions: 134 x 217mm
- Publication Date: 01 Aug 2003
- Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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In this selection, which includes the finest of the short poems and extracts from the longer ones, there is ample evidence of the quality of Cowper's faith and of his eye and ear. There are also indications of how his life, in many ways, tragic and unfulfilled, was sustained by his writing, for he wrote not to expose his misery but to engage in discourse with friends and with the natural world. He has a gift for detailed, delighted perception which makes even known things fresh and amusing. In his illness and distress, he expresses at times a profound gratitude for the simple and clarifing moment of life, its points of stability and love. The poems are personal but in general (with a few harrowi9ng exceptions) avoid confession and introspection. There are few poets of his stature and range so benign, and so memorable. Nick Rhodes provides a biographical and critical introduction to his timely selection.
Born in 1731, the first surviving child of John Cowper, Rector of Berkhamstead and Chaplain to George II, and Anne (nee Donne), who died when he was six; destined for a legal career, he was educated at Westminster and the Middle Temple.In 1763 he suffered a major breakdown.After several attempts at suicide, he was committed to Dr Cotton's 'Collegium lnsanorum' at St Albans,where he experienced an intense religious conversion. In 1765, 'restored to perfect health both of mind and body', he moved in to lodge with the Revd Morley Umwin and his wife, Mary.After the Revd's death, Mary became his companion.In the early 1790s, his mental health deteriorated sharply. A move to Norfolk and the death of Mary left him desolated.He died at East Dereham, on April 25th, 1800.
