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prison 1643) . Sir William Cowper ! 2nd Bart . (d . 1706) . William, Earl Cowper, Spencer Cowper, Lord Chancellor (d . 1723) . Judge (1669-1728) . William Cowper Rev . John Cowper See also:

ASHLEY, WILLIAM JAMES (186o- )

Ashley Cowper (d . 1740) .

(d . 1756) . (d . 1(88) . William Cowper, the poet See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

Lady Hesketh . See also:

Theodora . (1731-1800) . The Rev . John Cowper was twice married . Cowper's mother, to whom the memorable lines were written beginning " Oh that these lips had See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language," was his first wife . She died in 1737 at the See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age of See also:

THIRTY

thirty-four, when the poet was but six years old, and she is buried in Berkhampstead See also:

church . Cowper's step-mother is buried in See also:

Bath, and a tablet on the walls of the See also:

CATHEDRAL

cathedral commemorates her memory .

The father, who appears to have been a conscientious clergyman with no See also:

SPECIAL

special interest in his sons, died in 1756 and was buried in the Cowper See also:

TOMB (Gr. Tuµ/3a, Tuµ(3os, probably allied to Lat. tumulus, literally a swelling, tumere, to swell)

tomb at Pans-hanger . Only one other of his seven See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew to manhood—John, who was born in 1737 . The poet appears to have attended a See also:

dame's school in earliest See also:

INFANCY

infancy, but on his mother's See also:

DEATH

death, when he was six years old, he was sent to boarding-school, to a Dr See also:

PITMAN

Pitman at Markyate, a 1 Alderman Cooper thus spelt his name and all the family from that See also:

day to this, including the poet, have so pronounced it . See also:

VILLAGE

village 6 m. from Berkhampstead . From 1738 to 1741 he was placed in the care of an oculist, as he suffered from inflammation of the eyes . In the latter See also:

YEAR

year he was sent to See also:

Westminster school, where he had See also:

Warren See also:

Hastings, See also:

IMPEY, SIR ELIJAH (1732-1809)

Impey; See also:

Lloyd, See also:

Churchill and See also:

Colman for schoolfellows . It was at the Markyate school that he suffered the tyranny that he commemorated in Tirocinium . His days at Westminster, See also:

SOUTHEY, ROBERT (1774-1843)

Southey thinks, were " probably the happiest in his life," but a boy of See also:

NERVOUS

nervous temperament is always unhappy at school . At the age of eighteen Cowper entered a See also:

SOLICITOR

solicitor's See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office in See also:

Ely See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

Place, See also:

HOLBORN

Holborn . Here he had See also:

THURLOW, EDWARD THURLOW, 1ST BARON (1731-1806)

Thurlow, the future lord chancellor, as a See also:

FELLOW

fellow-clerk, and it is stated that Thurlow promised to help his less pushful comrade in the days of realized ambition . Three years in Ely Place were rendered happy by frequent visits to his See also:

UNCLE

uncle Ashley's See also:

house in See also:

Southampton See also:

ROW, JOHN (c. 1525—1580)

Row, where he See also:

fell deeply in love with his See also:

cousin Theodora Cowper . At twenty-one years of age he took See also:

chambers in the See also:

MIDDLE

Middle See also:

Temple, where we first hear of the dejection of See also:

SPIRITS

spirits that accompanied him periodically through manhood .

He was called to the See also:

bar in 1754 . In 1759 he removed to the Inner Temple and was made a See also:

COMMISSIONER

commissioner of bankrupts . His devotion to his cousin, however, was a source of unhappiness . Her father, possibly influenced by Cowper's See also:

MELANCHOLY (Gr. µe)tayXotia, from µEtas, black, and Xotii, bile)

melancholy tendencies, perhaps possessed by prejudices against the See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage of See also:

COUSINS, SAMUEL (18o1-1887)

cousins, interposed, and the lovers were separated—as it turned out for ever . During three years he was a member of the Nonsense See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

Club with his two schoolfellows from Westminster, Churchill and Lloyd, and he wrote sundry verses in magazines and translated two books of See also:

VOLTAIRE, FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE (1694–1778)

Voltaire's Henriade . A crisis occurred in Cowper's life when his cousin See also:

Major Cowper nominated him to a clerkship in the House of Lords . It involved a preliminary See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance at the bar of the house . The prospect drove him insane, and he attempted See also:

SUICIDE (from Lat. sui, of oneself, and cidium, from cued ere, to kill)

suicide; he See also:

PURCHASED

purchased See also:

POISON

poison, he placed a penknife at his See also:

heart, but hesitated to apply either measure of self-destruction . He has told, in dramatic manner, of his more desperate endeavour to hang himself with a garter . Here he all but succeeded . His See also:

friends were informed, and he was sent to a private lunatic See also:

asylum at St Albans, where he remained for eighteen months under the charge of Dr Nathaniel See also:

Cotton, the author of Visions . Upon his recovery he removed to See also:

Huntingdon in See also:

order to be near his brother John, who was a fellow of St Benet's See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

College, See also:

Cambridge .

John had visited his brother at St Albans and arranged this . An See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to secure suitable lodgings nearer to Cambridge had been ineffectual . In See also:

JUNE

June 1765 he reached Huntingdon, and his life here was essentially happy . His illness had broken him off from all his old friends See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save only his cousin Lady Hesketh, Theodora's See also:

SISTER

sister, but new acquaintances were made, the Unwins being the most valued . This family consisted of See also:

Morley Unwin (a clergyman), his wife See also:

Mary, and his son (William) and daughter (Susannah) . The son struck up a warm friendship which his family shared . Cowper entered the circle as a boarder in November (1765) . All went serenely until in See also:

JULY

July 1767 Morley Unwin was thrown from his See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse and killed . A very See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short time before this event the Unwins had received a visit from the Rev . John See also:

Newton (q.v.), the See also:

CURATE (from the Lat. curare, to take care of)

curate of See also:

Olney in See also:

Buckinghamshire, with whom they became friends . Newton suggested that the widow and her children with Cowper should take up their See also:

ABODE (from " abide," to dwell, properly " to wait for ," to bide)

abode in Olney . This was achieved in the closing months of 1767 .

Here Cowper was to reside for nineteen years, and he was to render the See also:

TOWN

town and its neighbourhood memorable by his presence and by his See also:

POETRY

poetry . His See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence in the See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

Market Place was converted into a Cowper Museum a See also:

HUNDRED

hundred years after his death, in 1900 . Here his life went on its placid course, interrupted only by the death of his brother in 1770, until 1773, when he became again deranged . It can scarcely be doubted that this second attack interrupted the contemplated marriage of Cowper with Mary Unwin, although Southey could find no See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of the circumstance and Newton was not in-formed of it . J . C . See also:

Bailey brings final evidence of this (The Poems of Cowper, See also:

page 15) . The fact was kept See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret in later years in order to spare the feelings of Theodora Cowper, who thought that her ccusin had remained as faithful as she had done to their See also:

early love . It was not until 1776 that the poet's mind cleared again . In 1779 he made his first appearance as an author by the Olney See also:

HYMNS

Hymns, written in See also:

CONJUNCTION (from Lat. conjungere, to join together)

conjunction with Newton, Cowper's verses being indicated by a " C." Mrs Unwin suggested See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse, and Cowper wrote much, and in 1782 when he was fifty-one years old there appeared Poems of William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq.: London, Printed for J . See also:

Johnson, No . 72 St See also:

Paul's See also:

Churchyard .

The See also:

VOLUME

volume contained " Table Talk," " The Progress of See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

Error," " Truth," "Expostulation " and much else that survives to be read in our day by virtue of the poet's finer See also:

WORK

work . This finer work was the outcome of his friendship with Lady See also:

AUSTEN, JANE (1775-1817)

Austen, a widow who, on a visit to her sister, the wife of the See also:

VICAR (Lat. vicarius, substitute)

vicar of the neighbouring village of See also:

CLIFTON

Clifton, made the acquaintance of Cowper and Mrs Unwin . The three became great friends . Lady Austen determined to give up her house in London and to See also:

settle in Olney . She suggested The Task and inspired John See also:

GILPIN, BERNARD (1517-1583)

Gilpin and The Royal George . But in 1784 the friendship was at an end, doubtless through Mrs Unwin's See also:

JEALOUSY (adapted from Fr. jalousie, formed from jaloux, jealous, Low Lat. zelosus, Gr. j'i os, ardour, zeal, from the root seen in '&u', to boil, ferment; cf. " yeast ")

jealousy of Lady Austen . Cowper's second volume appeared in 1785;—The Task : A Poem in Six Books . By William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq.; To which are added by the same author An See also:

EPISTLE

Epistle to See also:

Joseph See also:

Hill, Esq., Tirocinium or a See also:

REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

Review of See also:

SCHOOLS

Schools, and the See also:

HISTORY

History of John Gilpin: London, Printed for J . Johnson, No . 72 St Paul's Church Yard; 1785 . His first See also:

BOOK

book had been a failure, one critic even declaring that " Mr Cowper was certainly a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good, pious See also:

man, but without one spark of poetic See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire." This second book was an instantaneous success, and indeed marks an See also:

EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch in See also:

LITERARY

literary history . But before its publication—in 1784—the poet had commenced the See also:

TRANSLATION

translation of See also:

HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer .

In 1786 his life at Olney was cheered by Lady Hesketh taking up a temporary residence there . The cousins met after an See also:

INTERVAL

interval of twenty-three years, and Lady Hesketh was to be Cowper's good See also:

ANGEL

angel to the end, even though her letters disclose a considerable impatience with MrF Unwin . At the end of 1786 a removal was made to See also:

WESTON, THOMAS (1737-1776)

Weston Underwood, the neighbouring village which Cowper had frequently visited as the See also:

guest of his See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic friends the Throckmortons . This was to be his See also:

home for yet another ten years . Here he completed his translation of Homer, materially assisted by Mr See also:

Throckmorton's chaplain Dr Gregson . There are six more months of See also:

INSANITY (from Lat. in, not, and sanus, sound)

insanity to See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record in 1787 . In 1790, a year before the Homer was published, commenced his friendship with his cousin John Johnson, known to all biographers of the poet as " Johnny of Norfolk." Johnson also aspired to be a poet, and visited his cousin armed with a See also:

MANUSCRIPT

manuscript . Cowper discouraged the poetry, but loved the writer, and the two became great friends . New friends were wanted, for in 1792 Mrs Unwin had a paralytic stroke, and henceforth she was a hopeless invalid . A new and valued friend of this See also:

period was See also:

HAYLEY, WILLIAM (1745—1820)

Hayley, famous in his own day as a poet and in history for his association with See also:

Romney and Cowper . He was See also:

DRAWN

drawn to Cowper by the fact that both were contemplating an edition of " See also:

Milton," Cowper having received a See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission to edit, See also:

writing notes and trans. lating the Latin and See also:

ITALIAN

Italian poems . The work was never completed .

In 1794 Cowper was again insane and his lifework was over . In the following year a removal took place into Norfolk under the loving care of John Johnson . Johnson took Cowper and Mary Unwin to See also:

North Tuddenham, thence to Mundesley, then to Dunham See also:

Lodge, near See also:

SWAFFHAM

Swaffham, and finally in See also:

OCTOBER

October 1796 they moved to See also:

East See also:

DEREHAM (properly EAST DEREHAM)

Dereham . In See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December of that year Mrs Unwin died . Cowper lingered on, dying on the 25th of See also:

APRIL

April 'Soo . The poet is buried near Mrs Unwin in East Dereham church . Cowper is among the poets who are epoch-makers . He brought a new spirit into English verse, and redeemed it from the artificiality and the See also:

RHETORIC (Gr. psroperctj TEXvq, the art of the orator)

rhetoric of many of his predecessors . With him began the " See also:

ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm of humanity " that was afterwards to become so marked in the poetry of See also:

Burns and See also:

Shelley, Words-See also:

worth and See also:

Byron . With him began the deep sympathy with nature, and love of See also:

animal life, which was to characterize so much of later poetry . Although Cowper cannot See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank among the See also:

WORLD

world's greatest poets or even among the most distinguished of poets of his own See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, his place is a very high one . He had what is a rare quality among English poets, the See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift of See also:

HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour, which was very singularly absent from others who possessed many other of the higher qualities of the See also:

INTELLECT (Lat. intellectus, from intelligere, to understand)

intellect .

Certain of his poems, moreover, —for example, " To Mary," " The See also:

RECEIPT (M.E. receite, derived through Fr. from Lat. recepta, participle of recipere, to receive)

Receipt of my Mother's Portrait," and the ballad " On the Loss of the Royal George,"—will, it may safely be affirmed, continue to be See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar to each successive See also:

GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation in a way that pertains to few things in literature . Added to this, one may See also:

note Cowper's distinction as a See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter-writer . He ranks among the See also:

HALF

half-dozen greatest letter-writers in the English language, and he was perhaps the only great letter-writer with whom the felicity was due to the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of what he has seen rather than what he has read .

End of Article: WILLIAM COWPER (1731-1800)

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