Written In A Quarrel by William Cowper
Think, Delia, with what cruel haste Our fleeting pleasures move, Nor heedless in sorrow waste The moments due to love; Be wise, my fair, and gently treat These few that are our friends; Think thus abused, what sad regret Their speedy flight attends! Sure in those eyes I loved so well, And wished so long […]
Written In A Fit Of Illness. R. S. S. by William Cowper
In these sad hours, a prey to ceaseless pain, While feverish pulses leap in every vein, When each faint breath the last short effort seems Of life just parting from my feeble limbs; How wild soe’er my wandering thoughts may be, Still, gentle Delia, still they turn on thee! At length if, slumbering to a […]
Written After Leaving Her At New Burns by William Cowper
How quick the change from joy to woe! How chequered is our lot below! Seldom we view the prospect fair, Dark clouds of sorrow, pain, and care, (Some pleasing intervals between), Scowl over more than half the scene. Last week with Delia, gentle maid, Far hence in happier fields I strayed, While on her dear […]
Watching Unto God In The Night Season by William Cowper
Sleep at last has fled these eyes, Nor do I regret his flight, More alert my spirits rise, And my heart is free and light. Nature silent all around, Not a single witness near; God as soon as sought is found; And the flame of love burns clear. Interruption, all day long, Checks the current […]
Watching Unto God In The Night Season (3) by William Cowper
Night! how I love thy silent shades, My spirits they compose; The bliss of heaven my soul pervades, In spite of all my woes. While sleep instils her poppy dews In every slumbering eye, I watch to meditate and muse, In blest tranquillity. And when I feel a God immense Familiarly impart, With every proof […]
Watching Unto God In The Night Season (2) by William Cowper
Season of my purest pleasure, Sealer of observing eyes! When, in larger, freer measure, I can commune with the skies; While, beneath thy shade extended, Weary man forgets his woes, I, my daily trouble ended, Find, in watching, my repose. Silence all around prevailing, Nature hushed in slumber sweet, No rude noise mine ears assailing, […]
Verses Written At Bath, On Finding The Heel Of A Shoe by William Cowper
Fortune! I thank thee: gentle goddess! thanks! Not that my muse, though bashful, shall deny She would have thank’d thee rather hadst thou cast A treasure in her way; for neither meed Of early breakfast, to dispel the fumes, And bowel-racking pains of emptiness, Nor noontide feast, nor evening’s cool repast, Hopes she from this-presumptuous, […]
Verses Printed By Himself On A Flood At Olney by William Cowper
To watch the storms, and hear the sky Give all our almanacks the lie; To shake with cold, and see the plains In autumn drown’d with wintry rains; ‘Tis thus I spend my moments here, And wish myself a Dutch mynheer; I then should have no need of wit; For lumpish Hollander unfit! Nor should […]
To The Rev. Mr. Newton, On His Return From Ramsgate by William Cowper
That ocean you have late surveyed, Those rocks I too have seen; But I, afflicted and dismayed, You tranquil and serene. You from the flood-controlling steep Saw stretched before your view, With conscious joy, the threatening deep, No longer such to you. To me, the waves that ceaseless broke Upon the dangerous coast, Hoarsely and […]
To The Rev. Mr. Newton : An Invitation Into The Country by William Cowper
The swallows in their torpid state Compose their useless wing, And bees in hives as idly wait The call of early spring. The keenest frost that binds the stream, The wildest wind that blows, Are neither felt nor fear’d by them, Secure of their repose. But man, all feeling and awake, The gloomy scene surveys; […]
To Mary by William Cowper
The twentieth year is well nigh past, Since first our sky was overcast; Ah, would that this might be the last! My Mary! Thy spirits have a fainter flow, I see thee daily weaker grow- ‘Twas my distress that brought thee low, My Mary! Thy needles, once a shining store, For my sake restless heretofore, […]
To Delia by William Cowper
Me to whatever state the gods assign, Believe, my love, whatever state be mine, Ne’er shall my breast one anxious sorrow know, Ne’er shall my heart confess a real woe, If to thy share heaven’s choicest blessings fall, As thou hast virtue to deserve them all. Yet vain, alas! that idle hope would be That […]
To A Young Friend, On His Arriving At Cambridge Wet, When No Rain Had Fallen There by William Cowper
If Gideon’s fleece, which drenched with dew he found, White moisture none refreshed the herbs around, Might fitly represent the Church, endowed With heavenly gifts to heathens not allowed; In pledge, perhaps, of favours from on high, Thy locks were wet when others’ locks were dry. Heaven grant us half the omen,–may we see Not […]
The Symptoms of Love by William Cowper
Would my Delia know if I love, let her take My last thought at night, and the first when I wake; With my prayers and best wishes preferred for her sake. Let her guess what I muse on, when rambling alone I stride o’er the stubble each day with my gun, Never ready to shoot […]
The Silkworm by William Cowper
The beams of April, ere it goes, A worm, scarce visible, disclose; All winter long content to dwell The tenant of his native shell. The same prolific season gives The sustenance by which he lives, The mulberry leaf, a simple store, That serves him-till he needs no more! For, his dimensions once complete, Thenceforth none […]
The Secrets Of Divine Love Are To Be Kept by William Cowper
Sun! stay thy course, this moment stay– Suspend the o’er flowing tide of day, Divulge not such a love as mine, Ah! hide the mystery divine; Lest man, who deems my glory shame, Should learn the secret of my flame. O night! propitious to my views, Thy sable awning wide diffuse; Conceal alike my joy […]
The Rose by William Cowper
The rose had been washed, just washed in a shower Which Mary to Anna conveyed; The plentiful moisture encumbered the flower, And weighed down its beautiful head. The cup was all filled, and the leaves were all wet, And it seemed, to a fanciful view, To weep for the buds it had left with regret […]
The Perfect Sacrifice by William Cowper
I place an offering at thy shrine, From taint and blemish clear, Simple and pure in its design, Of all that I hold dear. I yield thee back thy gifts again, Thy gifts which most I prize; Desirous only to retain The notice of thine eyes. But if, by thine adored decree, That blessing be […]
The Parrot by William Cowper
In painted plumes superbly dress’d, A native of the gorgeous east, By many a billow toss’d; Poll gains at length the British shore, Part of the captain’s precious store, A present to his toast. Belinda’s maids are soon preferr’d, To teach him now then a word, As Poll can master it; But ’tis her own […]
The Lily And The Rose by William Cowper
The nymph must lose her female friend If more admired than she, – But where will fierce contention end If flowers can disagree? Within the garden’s peaceful scene Appeared two lovely foes, Aspiring to the rank of queen, The Lily and the Rose. The Rose soon reddened into rage, And swelling with disdain, Appealed to […]
The Ice Palace by William Cowper
Less worthy of applause, though more admired, Because a novelty, the work of man, Imperial mistress of the fur-clad Russ, Thy most magnificent and mighty freak, The wonder of the North. No forest fell When thou wouldst build; no quarry sent its stores To enrich thy walls; but thou didst hew the floods, And make […]
The Distress’d Travellers; or, Labour in Vain by William Cowper
I. I sing of a journey to Clifton, We would have perform’d if we could, Without cart or barrow to lift on Poor Mary and me through the mud; Slee, sla, slud, Stuck in the mud, Oh it is pretty to wade through a flood! II. So away we went, slipping and sliding, Hop, hop, […]
Sunset And Sunrise (Translated From Owen) by William Cowper
Contemplate, when the sun declines, Thy death with deep reflection! And when again he rising shines, The day of resurrection! ————— 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 […]
Strada’s Nightingale by William Cowper
The shepherd touch’d his reed; sweet Philomel Essay’d, and oft essay’d to catch the strain, And treasuring, as on her ear they fell, The numbers, echo’d note for note again. The peevish youth, who ne’er had foundbefore A rival of his skill, indignant heard, And soon (for various was his tuneful store) In loftier tones […]
Sonnet To Henry Cowper, Esq. by William Cowper
Cowper, whose silver voice, tasked sometimes hard, Legends prolix delivers in the ears (Attentive when thou read’st) of England’s peers, Let verse at length yield thee thy just reward. Thou wast not heard with drowsy disregard, Expending late on all that length of plea Thy generous powers, but silence honoured thee, Mute as e’er gazed […]
Sonnet To A Young Lady On Her Birth-Day by William Cowper
Deem not, sweet rose, that bloom’st ‘midst many a thorn, Thy friend, tho’ to a cloister’s shade consign’d, Can e’er forget the charms he left behind, Or pass unheeded this auspicious morn! In happier days to brighter prospects born, O tell thy thoughtless sex, the virtuous mind, Like thee, content in every state may find, […]
Repose In God by William Cowper
Blest! who, far from all mankind This world’s shadows left behind, Hears from heaven a gentle strain Whispering love, and loves again. Blest! who, free from self-esteem, Dives into the great Supreme. All desire beside discards, Joys inferior none regards. Blest! who in thy bosom seeks Rest that nothing earthly breaks, Dead to self and […]
Pity For Poor Africans by William Cowper
I own I am shocked at the purchase of slaves, And fear those who buy them and sell them are knaves; What I hear of their hardships, their tortures, and groans Is almost enough to draw pity from stones. I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, For how could we do without sugar […]
On The Queen’s Visit To London, The Night Of The 17th March 1789 by William Cowper
When, long sequestered from his throne, George took his seat again, By right of worth, not blood alone Entitled here to reign; Then, Loyalty, with all his lamps New trimmed, a gallant show, Chasing the darkness and the damps, Set London in a glow. ‘Twas hard to tell of streets or squares, Which formed the […]
On The Loss Of The “Royal George” by William Cowper
Toll for the brave! The brave! that are no more! All sunk beneath the wave, Fast by their native shore! Eight hundred of the brave, Whose courage well was tried, Had made the vessel heel And laid her on her side: A land-breeze shook the shrouds, And she was overset; Down went the Royal George […]
On The Ice Islands Seen Floating In The German Ocean by William Cowper
What portents, from what distant region, ride, Unseen till now in ours, the astonished tide? In ages past, old Proteus, with his droves Of sea-calves, sought the mountains and the groves; But now, descending whence of late they stood, Themselves the mountains seem to rove the flood; Dire times were they, full-charged with human woes; […]
On The High Price Of Fish by William Cowper
Cocoa-nut naught, Fish too dear, None must be bought, For us that are here: No lobster on earth, That ever I saw, To me would be worth Sixpence a claw. So dear madam, wait Till fish can be got At a reas’nable rate Whether lobster or not; Till the French and the Dutch Have quitted […]
On the Grasshopper (From The Greek) by William Cowper
Happy songster, perch’d above, On the summit of the grove, Whom a dewdrop cheers to sing With the freedom of a king, From thy perch survey the fields Where prolific nature yields Nough that, willingly as she, Man surrenders not to thee. For hostility or hate None thy pleasures can create. Thee it satisfies to […]
On The Death Of The Bishop Of Ely. Anno Aet. 17. (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
My lids with grief were tumid yet, And still my sullied cheek was wet With briny dews profusely shed For venerable Winton dead, When Fame, whose tales of saddest sound Alas! are ever truest found, The news through all our cities spread Of yet another mitred head By ruthless Fate to Death consign’d, Ely, the […]
On The Death Of Mrs. Throckmorton’s Bullfinch by William Cowper
Ye Nymphs, if e’er your eyes were red With tears o’er hapless favourites shed, Oh, share Maria’s grief! Her favourite, even in his cage, (What will not hunger’s cruel rage?) Assassined by a thief. Where Rhenus strays his vines among, The egg was laid from which he sprung, And though by nature mute Or only […]
On The Death Of Damon. (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
Ye Nymphs of Himera (for ye have shed Erewhile for Daphnis and for Hylas dead, And over Bion’s long-lamented bier, The fruitless meed of many a sacred tear) Now, through the villas laved by Thames rehearse The woes of Thyrsis in Sicilian verse, What sighs he heav’d, and how with groans profound He made the […]
On The Benefit Received By His Majesty From Sea-Bathing, In The Year 1789 by William Cowper
O sovereign of an isle renowned For undisputed sway Wherever o’er yon gulf profound Her navies wing their way; With juster claims she builds at length Her empire on the sea, And well may boast the waves her strength Which strength restored to thee. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry […]
On The Author Of Letters On Literature by William Cowper
The genius of the Augustan age His head among Rome’s ruins reared, And bursting with heroic rage, When literary Heron appeared, Thou hast, he cried, like him of old Who set the Ephesian dome on fir By being scandalously bold, Attained the mark of thy desire. And for traducing Virgil’s name Shalt share his merited […]
On The Astrologers (From The Greek) by William Cowper
The astrologers did all alike presage My uncle’s dying in extreme old age; One only disagreed. But he was wise, And spoke not till he heard the funeral cries. ————— 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 […]
On Receiving Heyne’s Virgil From Mr. Hayley by William Cowper
I should have deemed it once an effort vain To sweeten more sweet Maro’s matchless strain, But from that error now behold me free, Since I received him as a gift from thee. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the […]