Inspirational Quotes by William Cowper
“What is distinctive about the customs surrounding hospitality in [archaic Greek] culture is that elite men who have entered one another's homes and have been entertained appropriately are understood to have created a bond of "guest-friendship" (xenia) between their households that will continue into future generations. ... It is created not by proximity and kinship, but by a set of behaviors that create bonds between people who are geographically distant from each other. Xenia is thus a networking tool that allows for the expansion of Greek power, from the unit of the family to the city-state and then across the Mediterranean world. It is the means by which unrelated elite families can connect to one another as equals, without having to fight for dominance. ... The poem's episodes can be seen as a sequence of case studies in the concept of xenia.”
“he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion;”
“Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.”
“Few sons, indeed, are like their fathers. Generally they are worse; but just a few are better.”
“the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him.”
“Stones and blows and I are hardly strangers. My heart is steeled by now, I've had my share of pain in the waves and wars. Add this to the total. Bring the trial on.”
“So his heart held firm and constant, but he writhed around, as when a man rotates a sausage full of fat and blood; the huge fire blazes, and he longs to have the roasting finished.”
“Then the guests620 entered the palace, bringing lamb and wine that gives one confidence.”
“Так Одиссей вознамерился к девам прекраснокудрявым Наг подойти, приневолен к тому непреклонной нуждою. Был он ужасен, покрытый морскою засохшею тиной; В трепете все разбежалися врозь по высокому брегу. Но Алкиноева дочь не покинула места. Афина Бодрость вселила ей в сердце и в нем уничтожила робость. Стала она перед ним; Одиссей же не знал, что приличней: Оба ль колена обнять у прекраснокудрявыя девы? Или, в почтительном став отдаленье, молить умиленным Словом ее, чтоб одежду дала и приют указала? Так размышляя, нашел наконец он, что было приличней Словом молить умиленным, в почтительном став отдаленье (Тронув колена ее, он прогневал бы чистую деву). С словом приятно-ласкательным он обратился к царевне: «Руки, богиня иль смертная дева, к тебе простираю. Если одна из богинь ты, владычиц пространного неба, То с Артемидою только, великою дочерью Зевса, Можешь сходна быть лица красотою и станом высоким; Если ж одна ты из смертных, под властью судьбины живущих, То несказанно блаженны отец твой и мать, и блаженны Братья твои, с наслаждением видя, как ты перед ними В доме семейном столь мирно цветешь, иль свои восхищая Очи тобою, когда в хороводах ты весело пляшешь. Но из блаженных блаженнейшим будет тот смертный, который В дом свой тебя уведет, одаренную веном богатым. Нет, ничего столь прекрасного между людей земнородных Взоры мои не встречали доныне; смотрю с изумленьем. В Делосе только я — там, где алтарь Аполлонов воздвигнут, — Юную стройно-высокую пальму однажды заметил (В храм же зашел, окруженный толпою сопутников верных, Я по пути, на котором столь много мне встретилось бедствий). Юную пальму заметив, я в сердце своем изумлен был Долго: подобного ей благородного древа нигде не видал я. Так и тебе я дивлюсь! Но, дивяся тебе, не дерзаю Тронуть коленей твоих: несказанной бедой я постигнут. <...>”
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“Now they made all secure in the fast black ship, and, setting out the wine bowls all a-brim, they made libation to the gods, the undying, the ever-new, most of all to the grey-eyed daughter of Zeus. And the prow sheared through the night into the dawn. (Translation by Robert Fitzgerald 1961)”
“The third man,’ he answered, ‘is Ulysses who dwells in Ithaca. I can see him in an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who is keeping him prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for he has no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.”
“Cresceva, dentro al cortile, un tronco d’olivo dalle foglie sottili, rigoglioso, fiorente, largo come una colonna. Intorno a questo io eressi il talamo, che feci con pietre fittamente connesse e ricoprii con il tetto ben fatto; e la porta applicai, solida e salda. Poi recisi la chioma dell’olivo dalle foglie sottili, il tronco sgrossai dalla radice, lo piallai tutt’intorno con l’ascia di bronzo, abilmente, lo livellai a filo di squadra e ricavai una base che lavorai tutta a traforo. Cominciando da questa levigavo anche il letto, ornandolo d’oro, d’argento, d’avorio.”
“Nuestros dones son pequeños, pero amistosos, pues la naturaleza de los siervos es tener siempre miedo cuando dominan nuevos soberanos.”
“write a history, we must know more than mere facts. Human nature, viewed under an introduction of extended experience, is the best help to the criticism of human history.”
“As they spoke, 290 Argos, the dog that lay there, raised his head and ears. Odysseus had trained this dog but with no benefit—he left too soon to march on holy Troy. The master gone, boys took the puppy out to hunt wild goats and deer and hares. But now he lay neglected, without an owner, in a pile of dung from mules and cows—the slaves stored heaps of it outside the door, until they fertilized the large estate. So Argos lay there dirty,300 covered with fleas. And when he realized Odysseus was near, he wagged his tail, and both his ears dropped back. He was too weak to move towards his master. At a distance, Odysseus had noticed, and he wiped his tears away and hid them easily, and said, “Eumaeus, it is strange this dog is lying in the dung; he looks quite handsome, though it is hard to tell if he can run, or if he is a pet, a table dog,310 kept just for looks.” Eumaeus, you replied, “This dog belonged to someone who has died in foreign lands. If he were in good health, as when Odysseus abandoned him and went to Troy, you soon would see how quick and brave he used to be. He went to hunt in woodland, and he always caught his prey. His nose was marvelous. But now he is in bad condition, with his master gone, long dead. The women fail to care for him.320 Slaves do not want to do their proper work, when masters are not watching them. Zeus halves our value on the day that makes us slaves.” With that, the swineherd went inside the palace, to join the noble suitors. Twenty years had passed since Argos saw Odysseus, and now he saw him for the final time— then suddenly, black death took hold of him.”
“Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion, Scarce can endure delay of execution, Wait with impatient readiness to seize my Soul in a moment. Damned below Judas; more abhorred than he was, Who for a few pence sold his holy Master. Twice-betrayed Jesus me, the last delinquent, Deems the profanest. Man disavows, and Deity disowns me; Hell might afford my miseries a shelter; Therefore Hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all Bolted against me. Hard lot! encompassed with a thousand dangers, Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors, I'm called, if vanquished, to receive a sentence Worse than Abiram's: Him the vindictive rod of angry Justice Sent quick and howling to the centre headlong; I, fed with judgement, in a fleshy tomb, am Buried above ground.”
“The Castaway" Obscurest night involved the sky, The Atlantic billows roared, When such a destined wretch as I, washed headlong from on board. Of friends, of hope, of all bereft, His floating home forever left...”
“My fugitive years are all hasting away, And I must ere long lie as lowly as they, With a turf on my breast, and a stone at my head, Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead. 'Tis a sight to engage me, if anything can, To muse on the perishing pleasures of man; Though his life be a dream, his enjoyments I see, Have a being less durable even than he.”
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William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern poet", whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem 'Yardley-Oak'.
Cowper suffered from severe manic depression, and although he found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity, the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns, he often experienced doubt and feared that he was doomed to eternal damnation. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton (who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace") led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered.
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside.
He was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. After education at Westminster School, he was articled to Mr. Chapman, solicitor, of Ely Place, Holborn, in order to be trained for a career in law.
Later he settled at Huntingdon with a retired clergyman named Morley Unwin and his wife Mary. Cowper grew to be on such good terms with the Unwin family that he went to live in their house, and moved with them to Olney, where John Newton, a former slave trader who had repented and devoted his life to the gospel, was curate. At Olney, Newton invited Cowper to contribute to a hymnbook that Newton was compiling. The resulting volume known as Olney Hymns was not published until 1779 but includes hymns such as "Praise for the Fountain Opened" (beginning "There is a fountain fill'd with blood") and "Light Shining out of Darkness" (beginning "God moves in a mysterious way") which remain some of Cowper's most familiar verses. Several of Cowper's hymns, as well as others originally published in the "Olney Hymns," are today preserved in the Sacred Harp.
Cowper was seized with dropsy in the spring of 1800 and died in East Dereham, Norfolk.