Olney Hymn 38: Looking Upwards In A Storm by William Cowper
God of my life, to Thee I call, Afflicted at Thy feet I fall; When the great water-floods prevail, Leave not my trembling heart to fail! Friend of the friendless and the faint, Where should I lodge my deep complaint, Where but with Thee, whose open door Invites the helpless and the poor! Did ever […]
Olney Hymn 36: Afflictions Sanctified By The Word by William Cowper
Oh how I love Thy holy Word, Thy gracious covenant, O Lord! It guides me in the peaceful way; I think upon it all the day. What are the mines of shining wealth, The strength of youth, the bloom of health! What are all joys compared with those Thine everlasting Word bestows! Long unafflicted, undismay’d, […]
Olney Hymn 34: The Waiting Soul by William Cowper
Breathe from the gentle south, O Lord, And cheer me from the north; Blow on the treasures of thy word, And call the spices forth! I wish, Thou knowest, to be resign’d, And wait with patient hope; But hope delay’d fatigues the mind, And drinks the spirits up. Help me to reach the distant goal; […]
Olney Hymn 33: Seeking The Beloved by William Cowper
To those who love the Lord I speak; Is my Beloved near? The Bridegroom of my soul I seek, Oh! when will He appear? Though once a man of grief and shame, Yet now He fills a throne, And bears the greatest, sweetest name, That earth or heaven have known. Grace flies before, and love […]
Olney Hymn 32: The Shining Light by William Cowper
My former hopes are fled, My terror now begins; I feel, alas! that I am dead In trespasses and sins. Ah, whither shall I fly? I hear the thunder roar; The Law proclaims Destruction nigh, And Vengeance at the door. When I review my ways, I dread impending doom: But sure a friendly whisper says, […]
Olney Hymn 31: On The Death Of A Minister by William Cowper
His master taken from his head, Elisha saw him go; And in desponding accents said, “Ah, what must Israel do?” But he forgot the Lord who lifts The beggar to the throne; Nor knew that all Elijah’s gifts Would soon be made his own. What! when a Paul has run his course, Or when Apollos […]
Olney Hymn 30: The Light And Glory Of The Word by William Cowper
The Spirit breathes upon the word, And brings the truth to sight; Precepts and promises afford A sanctifying light. A glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun; It gives a light to every age, It gives, but borrows none. The hand that gave it still supplies The gracious light and heat; His truths […]
Olney Hymn 3: Jehovah-Rophi: I Am the Lord That Healeth Thee by William Cowper
Heal us, Emmanuel! here we are, Waiting to feel Thy touch: Deep-wounded souls to Thee repair And, Saviour, we are such. Our faith is feeble, we confess, We faintly trust Thy word; But wilt Thou pity us the less? Be that far from Thee, Lord! Remember him who once applied, With trembling, for relief; “Lord, […]
Olney Hymn 29: Exhortation To Prayer by William Cowper
What various hindrances we meet In coming to a mercy seat! Yet who that knows the worth of prayer, But wishes to be often there? Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw, Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, Gives exercise to faith and love, Brings every blessing from above. Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; Prayer […]
Olney Hymn 28: Jesus Hasting To Suffer by William Cowper
The Saviour, what a noble flame Was kindled in his breast, When hasting to Jerusalem, He march’d before the rest. Good will to men, and zeal for God, His every thought engross; He longs to be baptized with blood, He pants to reach the cross! With all His suffering full in view, And woes to […]
Olney Hymn 27: Welcome To The Table by William Cowper
This is the feast of heavenly wine, And God invites to sup; The juices of the living Vine Were press’d to fill the cup. Oh! bless the Saviour, ye that eat, With royal dainties fed; Not heaven affords a costlier treat, For Jesus is the bread. The vile, the lost, He calls to them; Ye […]
Olney Hymn 26: On Opening A Place For Social Prayer by William Cowper
Jesus! where’er Thy people meet, There they behold Thy mercy seat; Where’er they seek Thee, Thou art found, And every place is hallow’d ground. For Thou, within no walls confined, Inhabitest the humble mind; Such ever bring Thee where they come And going, take Thee to their home. Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few! Thy […]
Olney Hymn 24: Prayer For Children by William Cowper
Gracious Lord, our children see, By Thy mercy we are free; But shall these, alas! remain Subjects still of Satan’s reign? Israel’s young ones, when of old Pharaoh threaten’d to withhold, Then Thy messenger said, “No; Let the children also go!” When the angel of the Lord, Drawing forth his dreadful sword, Slew with an […]
Olney Hymn 23: Pleading For And With Youth by William Cowper
Sin has undone our wretched race; But Jesus has restored, And brought the sinner face to face With his forgiving Lord. This we repeat from year to year And press upon our youth; Lord, give them an attentive ear, Lord, save them by Thy truth! Blessings upon the rising race! Make this a happy hour, […]
Olney Hymn 22: Prayer For A Blessing In The Young by William Cowper
Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth The gift of saving grace; And let the seed of sacred truth Fall in a fruitful place. Grace is a plant, where’er it grows, Of pure and heav’nly root; But fairest in the youngest shows, And yields the sweetest fruit; Ye careless ones, O hear betimes The voice of […]
Lines Addressed To Dr. Darwin, Author Of The ‘Botanic Garden.’ by William Cowper
Two Poets, (poets, by report, Not oft so well agree,) Sweet harmonist of Flora’s court! Conspire to honour thee. They best can judge a poet’s worth, Who oft themselves have known The pangs of a poetic birth By labours of their own. We therefore pleased extol thy song, Though various yet complete, Rich in embellishment […]
Joy In Martyrdom by William Cowper
Sweet tenants of this grove! Who sing without design, A song of artless love, In unison with mine: These echoing shades return Full many a note of ours, That wise ones cannot learn, With all their boasted powers. O thou! whose sacred charms These hearts so seldom love, Although thy beauty warms And blesses all […]
Invitation To The Redbreast by William Cowper
Sweet bird, whom the winter constrains– And seldom another it can– To seek a retreat while he reigns In the well-shelter’d dwellings of man, Who never can seem to intrude, Though in all places equally free, Come oft as the season is rude, Thou art sure to be welcome to me. At sight of the […]
Inscription For The Tomb Of Mr. Hamilton by William Cowper
Pause here, and think; a monitory rhyme Demands one moment of thy fleeting time. Consult life’s silent clock, thy bounding vein; Seems it to say –“Health here has long to reign?” Hast thou the vigour of thy youth? an eye That beams delight? a heart untaught to sigh? Yet fear! Youth ofttimes healthful and at […]
Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1791 by William Cowper
Reader! behold a monument That asks no sigh or tear, Though it perpetuate the event Of a great burial here. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry. Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic […]
Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1790 by William Cowper
Other stones the era tell, When some feeble mortal fell; I stand here to date the birth Of these hardy sons of earth. Which shall longest brave the sky, Storm and frost — these oaks or I? Pass an age or two away, I must moulder and decay; But the years that crumble me Shall […]
Inscription For A Moss-House In The Shrubbery At Weston by William Cowper
Here, free from riot’s hated noise, Be mine, ye calmer, purer joys, A book or friend bestows; Far from the storms that shake the great, Contentment’s gale shall fan my seat, And sweeten my repose. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster […]
Inscription For A Hermitage In The Author’s Garden by William Cowper
This cabin, Mary, in my sight appears, Built as it has been in our waning years, A rest afforded to our weary feet, Preliminary to–the last retreat. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry. Poetry […]
In Seditionem Horrendam, Corruptelis Gallicus Ut Fertue, Londini Nuper Exortam by William Cowper
Perfida, crudelis, victa et lymphata furore, Non armis, laurum Gallia fraude petit. Venalem pretio plebem conducit, et urit Undique privatas patriciasque domos. Nequicquam conata suâ, fœdissima sperat Posse tamen nostrâ nos superare manu. Gallia, vana struis! Precibus nunc utere! Vinces, Nam mites timidis supplicibusque sumus. TRANSLATION. False, cruel, disappointed, stung to the heart, France quits […]
In Memory Of The Late John Thornton, Esq. by William Cowper
Poets attempt the noblest task they can, Praising the Author of all good in man, And, next, commemorating Worthies lost, The dead in whom that good abounded most. Thee, therefore, of commercial fame, but more Famed for thy probity from shore to shore; Thee, Thornton! worthy in some page to shine, As honest and more […]
In A Letter To C. P. Esq. In Imitation Of Shakspeare by William Cowper
Trust me the meed of praise, dealt thriftily From the nice scale of judgement, honours more Than does the lavish and o’erbearing tide Of profuse courtesy. Not all the gems Of India’s richest soil at random spread O’er the gay vesture of some glittering dame, Give such alluring vantage to the person, As the scant […]
In A Letter To C. P. Esq. Ill With The Rheumatism by William Cowper
Grant me the Muse, ye gods! whose humble flight Seeks not the mountain-top’s pernicious height: Who can the tall Parnassian cliff forsake, To visit oft the still Lethean lake; Now her slow pinions brush the silent shore, Now gently skim the unwrinkled waters o’er, There dips her downy plumes, thence upward flies, And sheds soft […]
Hymn For The Use Of The Sunday School At Olney by William Cowper
Hear, Lord, the song of praise and prayer, In heaven thy dwelling-place, From infants, made the public care, And taught to seek thy face! Thanks for thy word and for thy day; And grant us, we implore, Never to waste in sinful play Thy holy Sabbaths more. Thanks that we hear,–but oh! impart To each […]
Hope, Like The Short-lived Ray That Gleams Awhile by William Cowper
Hope, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile Through wintry skies, upon the frozen waste, Cheers e’en the face of misery to a smile; But soon the momentary pleasure’s past. How oft, my Delia, since our last farewell, (Years that have rolled since that distressful hour), Grieved I have said, when most our hopes prevail, […]
Gratitude And Love To God by William Cowper
All are indebted much to thee, But I far more than all, From many a deadly snare set free, And raised from many a fall. Overwhelm me, from above, Daily, with thy boundless love. What bonds of gratitude I feel No language can declare; Beneath the oppressive weight I reel, ‘Tis more than I can […]
Gratitude, Addressed To Lady Hesketh by William Cowper
This cap, that so stately apepars, With ribbon-bound tassel on high, Which seems by the crest that it rears Ambitious of brushing the sky; This cap to my Cousin I owe, She gave it, and gave me beside, Wreathed into an elegant bow, The ribbon with which it was tied. This wheel-footed studying chair, Contrived […]
God Neither Known Nor Loved By The World by William Cowper
Ye linnets, let us try, beneath this grove, Which shall be loudest in our Maker’s praise! In quest of some forlorn retreat I rove, For all the world is blind, and wanders from his ways. That God alone should prop the sinking soul, Fills them with rage against his empire now: I traverse earth in […]
Glory To God Alone by William Cowper
Oh loved! but not enough–though dearer far Than self and its most loved enjoyments are; None duly loves thee, but who, nobly free From sensual objects, finds his all in thee. Glory of God! thou stranger here below, Whom man nor knows, nor feels a wish to know; Our faith and reason are both shocked […]
From The Greek Of Julianus by William Cowper
A Spartan, his companion slain, Alone from battle fled; His mother, kindling with disdain That she had borne him, struck him dead; For courage, and not birth alone, In Sparta, testifies a son! ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the […]
From Menander by William Cowper
Fond youth! who dream’st that hoarded gold Is needful not alone to pay For all thy various items sold, To serve the wants of every day; Bread, vinegar, and oil, and meat, For savory viands season’d high; But somewhat more important yet– I tell thee what it cannot buy. No treasure hadst thou more amass’d […]
Epitaph On Mrs. M. Higgins, Of Weston by William Cowper
Laurels may flourish round the conqueror’s tomb, But happiest they who win the world to come: Believers have a silent field to fight, And their exploits are veiled from human sight. They in some nook, where little known they dwell, Kneel, pray in faith, and rout the hosts of hell; Eternal triumphs crown their toils […]
Epitaph On Johnson by William Cowper
Here Johnson lies, a sage by all allowed, Whom to have bred, may well make England proud; Whose prose was eloquence, by wisdom taught, The graceful vehicle of virtuous thought; Whose verse may claim, grave, masculine and strong, Superior praise to the mere poet’s song; Who many a noble gift from Heaven possessed, And faith […]
Epitaph On Fop, A Dog Belonging To Lady Throckmorton by William Cowper
Though once a puppy, and though Fop by name, Here moulders one whose bones some honour claim; No sycophant, although of spaniel race, And though no hound, a martyr to the chase. Ye squirrels, rabbits, leverets, rejoice! Your haunts no longer echo to his voice; This record of his fate exulting view, He died worn […]
Epitaph On A Free But Tame Redbreast, A Favourite Of Miss Sally Hurdis by William Cowper
These are not dew-drops, these are tears, And tears by Sally shed For absent Robin, who she fears With too much cause, is dead. One morn he came not to her hand As he was wont to come, And, on her finger perched, to stand Picking his breakfast-crumb. Alarmed she called him, and perplext She […]
Epitaph On Mr. Chester Of Chicheley by William Cowper
Tears flow, and cease not, where the good man lies, Till all who know him follow to the skies. Tears therefore fall where Chester’s ashes sleep; Him wife, friends, brothers, children, servants, weep; And justly — few shall ever him transcend As husband, parent, brother, master, friend. ————— The End And that’s the End of […]