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William Cowper
216 quotes
“Thy morning bounties ere I left my home, The biscuit, or confectionary plum.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of Norfolk", l. 60 (1798)
“Me howling winds drive devious, tempest-tossed, Sails ripped, seams op'ning wide, and compass lost.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of Norfolk", l. 102 (1798)
“Oh that those lips had language! Life has pass'd With me but roughly since I heard thee last.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of Norfolk" (1798)
“The son of parents pass'd into the skies.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of Norfolk" (1798)
“Misery still delights to trace Its semblance in another's case.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Castaway" (1799)
“No voice divine the storm allay'd, No light propitious shone; When, snatch'd from all effectual aid, We perish'd, each alone; But I beneath a rougher sea, And whelmed in deeper gulphs than he.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Castaway", l. 61 (1799)
“Oh! for a closer walk with God, A calm and heav'nly frame; A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb!”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still! But they have left an aching void The world can never fill.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skill, He treasures up his bright designs, And works his sovereign will.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread, Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a fountain fill'd with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins; And sinners, plung'd beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hark, my soul! it is the Lord; 'Tis thy (Saviour, hear his word; Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee: "Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Glory, built On selfish principles, is shame and guilt.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is base in kind, and born to be a slave.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As if the world and they were hand and glove.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Admirals extolled for standing still, Or doing nothing with a deal of skill.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thus happiness depends, as Nature shows, Less on exterior things than most suppose.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom has a thousand charms to show, That slaves, howe'er contented, never know.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Stamps God's own name upon a lie just made, To turn a penny in the way of trade.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I play with syllables and sport in song.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Manner is all in all, whate'er is writ, The substitute for genius, sense, and wit.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard: To carry nature lengths unknown before, To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Elegant as simplicity, and warm As ecstasy.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Low ambition and the thirst of praise.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But he (his musical finesse was such, So nice his ear, so delicate his touch) Made poetry a mere mechanic art, And ev'ry warbler has his tune by heart.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nature, exerting an unwearied power, Forms, opens, and gives scent to every flower; Spreads the fresh verdure of the field, and leads The dancing Naiads through the dewy meads.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lights of the world, and stars of human race.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, laugh or mourn with me the rueful jest, A cassock’d huntsman and a fiddling priest!”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Himself a wanderer from the narrow way, His silly sheep, what wonder if they stray?”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remorse, the fatal egg by Pleasure laid.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone, And hides the ruin that it feeds upon; So sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin’s rotten trunk, concealing its defects.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How much a dunce that has been sent to roam Excels a dunce that has been kept at home.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How shall I speak thee, or thy power address, Thou god of our idolatry, the Press? By thee religion, liberty, and laws, Exert their influence and advance their cause: By thee worse plagues than Pharaoh’s land befell, Diffused, make Earth the vestibule of Hell; Thou fountain, at which drink the good and wise, Thou ever-bubbling spring of endless lies; Like Eden’s dread probationary tree, Knowledge of good and evil is from thee!”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest, Till half mankind were like himself possess'd.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Laugh at all you trembled at before.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tis hard if all is false that I advance, A fool must now and then be right by chance.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He would not, with a peremptory tone, Assert the nose upon his face his own.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A moral, sensible, and well-bred man Will not affront me, and no other can.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A tale should be judicious, clear, succinct; The language plain, and incidents well link’d; Tell not as new what ev’ry body knows; And, new or old, still hasten to a close.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The pipe, with solemn interposing puff, Makes half a sentence at a time enough; The dozing sages drop the drowsy strain, Then pause, and puff—and speak, and pause again.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pernicious weed! whose scent the fair annoys, Unfriendly to society's chief joys, Thy worst effect is banishing for hours The sex whose presence civilizes ours.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I cannot talk with civet in the room, A fine puss-gentleman that's all perfume.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The solemn fop; significant and budge; A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His wit invites you by his looks to come, But when you knock it never is at home.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I pity bashful men, who feel the pain Of fancied scorn and undeserved disdain, And bear the marks upon a blushing face, Of needless shame, and self-impos'd disgrace.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) said by 1800 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source