WIST Quotations

Cowper, William -- “Charity,” l. 159 (1782)

Dave — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 14:43:30 +0000

Grief is itself a med’cine.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
“Charity,” l. 159 (1782)

Cowper, William -- “Hope, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile”

Dave — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 00:28:12 +0000

Absence from whom we love is worse than death,
And frustrate hope severer than despair.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
“Hope, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile”
(Source)

Cowper, William -- “Love Abused,” letter to Mary Unwin (27 Jul 1780)

Dave — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:03:58 +0000

What is there in the vale of life
Half so delightful as a wife,
When friendship, love, and peace combine
To stamp the marriage bond divine?

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
“Love Abused,” letter to Mary Unwin (27 Jul 1780)

Cowper, William -- “Winter Walk at Noon,” l. 560ff, The Task, Book 6 (1785)

Dave — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 15:25:34 +0000

I would not enter on my list of friends,
(Though graced with polish’d manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
“Winter Walk at Noon,” l. 560ff, The Task, Book 6 (1785)
(Source)

Cowper, William -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Freedom has a thousand charms to show that slaves, howe’er contented, cannot know.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
(Attributed)

Cowper, William -- The Task, 3.326 (1785)

Dave — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:53:13 +0000

Detested sport,
That owes its pleasures to another’s pain,
That feeds upon the sobs and dying shrieks
Of harmless nature, dumb, but yet endued
With eloquence, that agonies inspire,
Of silent tears and heart-distending sighs!

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
The Task, 3.326 (1785)

On hunting.

Cowper, William -- The Task, 6.123 (1785)

Dave — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 14:50:05 +0000

Nature is but a name for an effect,
Whose cause is God.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
The Task, 6.123 (1785)

Cowper, William -- The Task, Book 3 “The Garden,” l. 261ff (1785)

Dave — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 17:47:04 +0000

All flesh is grass, and all its glory fades
Like the fair flower dishevell’d in the wind;
Riches have wings, and grandeur is a dream;
The man we celebrate must find a tomb,
And we that worship him, ignoble graves.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
The Task, Book 3 “The Garden,” l. 261ff (1785)
(Source)

Cowper, William -- The Task, Book 3, l. 187 (1785)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Exactness is the sublimity of fools.

[L’exactitude est le sublime des sots.]

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
The Task, Book 3, l. 187 (1785)

Cowper, William -- The Task, Book 3, l. 41 (1785)

Dave — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:06:22 +0000

Domestic happiness, thou only bliss
Of Paradise that has surviv’d the fall!

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
The Task, Book 3, l. 41 (1785)

Cowper, William -- The Task, Book 5 “The Winter Morning Walk,” l. 529ff (1785)

Dave — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 16:18:45 +0000

All has its date below; the fatal hour
Was register’d in Heav’n ere time began.
We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works
Die too.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
The Task, Book 5 “The Winter Morning Walk,” l. 529ff (1785)
(Source)