William Cowper
born Nov. 26, 1731, Great Berkhamstead,
Hertfordshire, Eng.
died April 25, 1800, East Dereham, Norfolk
one of the most widely read English poets of his
day, whose most characteristic work, as in The
Task or the melodious short lyric “The Poplar
Trees,” brought a new directness to 18th-century
nature poetry.
Cowper wrote of the joys and sorrows of everyday
life and was content to describe the minutiae of
the countryside. In his sympathy with rural
life, his concern for the poor and downtrodden,
and his comparative simplicity of language, he
may be seen as one in revolt against much
18th-century verse and as a forerunner of Robert
Burns, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge. While he is often gently humorous in
his verse, the sense of desolation that was
never far below the surface of his mind is
revealed in many of his poems, notably “The
Castaway.”
After the death of his mother when he was
six, Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”), the son of an
Anglican clergyman, was sent to a local boarding
school. He then moved to Westminster School, in
London, and in 1750 began to study law. He was
called to the bar in 1754 and took chambers in
London’s Middle Temple in 1757. During his
student days he fell in love with his cousin,
Theodora Cowper, and for a while the two were
engaged. But Cowper was beginning to show signs
of the mental instability that plagued him
throughout his life. His father had died in
1756, leaving little wealth, and Cowper’s family
used its influence to obtain two administrative
posts for him in the House of Lords, which
entailed a formal examination. This prospect so
disturbed him that he attempted suicide and was
confined for 18 months in an asylum, troubled by
religious doubts and fears and persistently
dreaming of his predestined damnation.
Religion, however, also provided the comfort
of Cowper’s convalescence, which he spent at
Huntingdon, lodging with the Reverend Morley
Unwin, his wife Mary, and their small family.
Pious Calvinists, the Unwins supported the
evangelical revival, then a powerful force in
English society. In 1767 Morley Unwin was killed
in a riding accident, and his family, with
Cowper, took up residence at Olney, in
Buckinghamshire. The curate there, John Newton,
a leader of the revival, encouraged Cowper in a
life of practical evangelism; however, the poet
proved too frail, and his doubt and melancholy
returned. Cowper collaborated with Newton on a
book of religious verse, eventually published as
Olney Hymns (1779).
In 1773 thoughts of marriage with Mary Unwin
were ended by Cowper’s relapse into near
madness. When he recovered the following year,
his religious fervour was gone. Newton departed
for London in 1780, and Cowper again turned to
writing poetry; Mrs. Unwin suggested the theme
for “The Progress of Error,” six moral satires.
Other works, such as “Conversation” and
“Retirement,” reflected his comparative
cheerfulness at this time.
Cowper was friendly with Lady Austen, a widow
living nearby, who told him a story that he made
into a ballad, “The Journey of John Gilpin,”
which was sung all over London after it was
printed in 1783. She also playfully suggested
that he write about a sofa—an idea that grew
into The Task. This long discursive poem,
written “to recommend rural ease and leisure,”
was an immediate success on its publication in
1785. Cowper then moved to Weston, a
neighbouring village, and began translating
Homer. His health suffered under the strain,
however, and there were occasional periods of
mental illness. His health continued to
deteriorate, and in 1795 he moved with Mary
Unwin to live near a cousin in Norfolk, finally
settling at East Dereham. Mrs. Unwin, a
permanent invalid since 1792, died in December
1796, and Cowper sank into despair from which he
never emerged.
Robert Southey edited his writings in 15
volumes between 1835 and 1837. Cowper is also
considered one of the best letter writers in
English, and some of his hymns, such as “God
Moves in a Mysterious Way” and “Oh! For a Closer
Walk with God,” have become part of the folk
heritage of Protestant England. The Letters and
Prose Writings, in two volumes, edited by James
King and Charles Ryskamp, was published in
1979–80.
