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 […]
Epigram : To Leonora Singing At Rome (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Another Leonora once inspir’d Tasso, with fatal love to frenzy fir’d, But how much happier, liv’d he now, were he, Pierced with whatever pangs for love of Thee! Since could he hear that heavenly voice of thine, With Adriana’s lute of sound divine, Fiercer than Pentheus’ tho’ his eye might roll, Or idiot apathy benumb […]
Epigram : To Christina, Queen Of Sweden, With Cromwell’s Picture (Translation) by William Cowper
Christina, maiden of heroic mien! Star of the North! of northern stars the queen! Behold, what wrinkles I have earn’d, and how The iron cask still chafes my vet’ran brow, While following fate’s dark footsteps, I fulfill The dictates of a hardy people’s will. But soften’d, in thy sight, my looks appear, Not to all […]
Epigram : The Cottager And His Landlord. A Fable (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
A Peasant to his lord yearly court, Presenting pippins of so rich a sort That he, displeased to have a part alone, Removed the tree, that all might be his own. The tree, too old to travel, though before So fruitful, withered, and would yield no more. The squire, perceiving all his labour void, Cursed […]
Epigram : On The Inventor Of Gunpowder (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Praise in old time the sage Prometheus won, Who stole ethereal radiance from the sun; But greater he, whose bold invention strove To emulate the fiery bolts of Jove. ————— 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 […]
Epigram : To Leonora Singing At Rome 2 (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Naples, too credulous, ah! boast no more The sweet-voiced Siren buried on thy shore, That, when Parthenope deceas’d, she gave Her sacred dust to a Chalcidic grave, For still she lives, but has exchanged the hoarse Pausilipo for Tiber’s placid course, Where, idol of all Rome, she now in chains, Of magic song both Gods […]
Elegy VII. Anno Aetates Undevigesimo (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
As yet a stranger to the gentle fires That Amathusia’s smiling Queen inspires, Not seldom I derided Cupid’s darts, And scorn’d his claim to rule all human hearts. Go, child, I said, transfix the tim’rous dove, An easy conquest suits an infant Love; Enslave the sparrow, for such prize shall be Sufficient triumph to a […]
Elegy VI. To Charles Diodati, When He Was Visiting In The Country (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
With no rich viands overcharg’d, I send Health, which perchance you want, my pamper’d friend; But wherefore should thy Muse tempt mine away From what she loves, from darkness into day? Art thou desirous to be told how well I love thee, and in verse? Verse cannot tell. For verse has bounds, and must in […]
Elegy V. Anno Aet. 20. On The Approach Of Spring (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Time, never wand’ring from his annual round, Bids Zephyr breathe the Spring, and thaw the ground; Bleak Winter flies, new verdure clothes the plain, And earth assumes her transient youth again. Dream I, or also to the Spring belong Increase of Genius, and new pow’rs of song? Spring gives them, and, how strange soere it […]
Elegy III. Anno Aet. 17. On The Death Of The Bishop Of Winchester (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Silent I sat, dejected, and alone, Making in thought the public woes my own, When, first, arose the image in my breast Of England’s sufferings by that scourge, the pest. How death, his fun’ral torch and scythe in hand, Ent’ring the lordliest mansions of the land, Has laid the gem-illumin’d palace low, And level’d tribes […]
Elegy II. On The Death Of The University Beadle At Cambridge (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Thee, whose refulgent staff and summons clear, Minerva’s flock longtime was wont t’obey, Although thyself an herald, famous here, The last of heralds, Death, has snatch’d away. He calls on all alike, nor even deigns To spare the office that himself sustains. Thy locks were whiter than the plumes display’d By Leda’s paramour in ancient […]
Elegy I. To Charles Deodati (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
At length, my friend, the far-sent letters come, Charged with thy kindness, to their destin’d home, They come, at length, from Deva’s Western side, Where prone she seeks the salt Vergivian tide. Trust me, my joy is great that thou shouldst be, Though born of foreign race, yet born for me, And that my sprightly […]
Denner’s Old Woman by William Cowper
In this mimic form of a matron in years, How plainly the pencil of Denner appears! The matron herself, in whose old age we see Not a trace of decline, what a wonder is she! No dimness of eye, and no cheek hanging low, No wrinkle, or deep-furrow’d frown on the brow! Her forehead indeed […]
On The Death Of The Vice-Chancellor, A Physician (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Learn ye nations of the earth The condition of your birth, Now be taught your feeble state, Know, that all must yield to Fate! If the mournful Rover, Death, Say but once-resign your breath- Vainly of escape you dream, You must pass the Stygian stream. Could the stoutest overcome Death’s assault, and baffle Doom, Hercules […]
Catharina : The Second Part. On Her Marriage To George Courtenay, Esq. by William Cowper
Believe it or not, as you choose, The doctrine is certainly true, That the future is known to the Muse, And poets are oracles too. I did but express a desire, To see Catharina at home, At the side of my friend George’s fire, And lo — she is actually come. Such prophecy some may […]
By Philemon by William Cowper
Oft we embrace our ills by discontent, And give them bulk beyond what nature meant. A parent, brother, friend deceased, to cry– “He’s dead indeed, but he was born to die”– Such temperate grief is suited to the size And burden of the loss; is just and wise. But to exclaim, “Ah! wherefore was I […]
By Moschus by William Cowper
I slept when Venus enter’d: to my bed A Cupid in her beauteous hand she led, A bashful seeming boy, and thus she said: “Shepherd, receive my little one! I bring An untaught love, whom thou must teach to sing.” She said, and left him. I, suspecting nought, Many a sweet strain my subtle pupil […]
By Heraclides by William Cowper
In Cnidus born, the consort I became Of Euphron. Aretimias was my name. His bed I shared, nor proved a barren bride, But bore two children at a birth, and died. One child I leave to solace and uphold Euphron hereafter, when infirm and old And one, for his remembrance’ sake, I bear To Pluto’s […]
By Callimachus by William Cowper
At morn we placed on his funeral bier Young Melanippus; and, at eventide, Unable to sustain a loss so dear, By her own hand his blooming sister died. Thus Aristippus mourn’d his noble race, Annihilated by a double blow, Nor son could hope nor daughter more to embrace And all Cyrene sadden’d at his woe. […]
On the Burning of Lord Mansfield’s Library by William Cowper
On the Burning of Lord Mansfield’s Library, Together with his MSS. by the Mob, in the Month of June 1780. So then – the Vandals of our isle, Sworn foes to sense and law, Have burnt to dust a nobler pile Than ever Roman saw! And Murray sighs o’er Pope and Swift, And many a […]
Boadicea. An Ode by William Cowper
When the British warrior queen, Bleeding from the Roman rods, Sought, with an indignant mien, Counsel of her country’s gods, Sage beneath a spreading oak Sat the Druid, hoary chief; Every burning word he spoke Full of rage, and full of grief. Princess! if our aged eyes Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, ‘Tis because resentment […]