Inspirational Quotes by William Cowper
“Suspicious we are, we men who walk the earth.”
“Den Mann nenne mir, Muse, den vielgewandten, der gar viel umgetrieben wurde, nachdem er Trojas heilige Stadt zerstörte. Von vielen Menschen sah er die Städte und lernte kennen ihre Sinnesart; viel auch erlitt er Schmerzen auf dem Meer in seinem Gemüte, während er sein Leben zu gewinnen suchte wie auch die Heimkehr der Gefährten. Jedoch er rettete auch so nicht die Gefährten, so sehr er es begehrte. Selber nämlich durch ihre eignen Freveltaten verdarben sie, die Toren, die die Rinder des Sohns der Höhe, Helios, verzehrten. Der aber nahm ihnen den Tag der Heimkehr. Davon – du magst beginnen, wo es sein mag – Göttin, Tochter des Zeus! sage auch uns!”
“That was all gods' work, weaving ruin there So it should make a song for men to come!”
“Her mind was like a lion, caught by humans, when they are clustering round him in a circle, trying to trap him; so sweet drowsiness subdued her and she slept, her limbs relaxed.”
“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.”
“En apariencia abandonado y solo, escucho el león rugir: y toda puerta se cierra menos una, y esa es la puerta de la misericordia”
“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 Judas1; 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.”
“Typerien edelläkävijoiden seuraaminen ja molempien silmien ummistaminen on helpompaa kuin ajatteleminen.”
“Nay,--conduct hath the loudest tongue. The voice Is but an instrument on which the priest May play what tune he pleases. In the deed, The unequivocal authentic deed, We find sound argument, and read the heart.”
“then to the dance, and make the sober moon... witness of joys that shun the sights of noon.”
“the English of the nineteenth or early twentieth century is no closer to Homeric Greek than the language of today. The use of a noncolloquial or archaizing linguistic register can blind readers to the real, inevitable, and vast gap between the Greek original and any modern translation. My use of contemporary language—rather than the English of a generation or two ago—is meant to remind readers that this text can engage us in a direct way, and also that it is genuinely ancient.”
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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.