William cowper

This presentation is on William Cowper, writer of Neo- classical age. The first child of Reverend John Cowper and Ann Donne Cowper, William Cowper was born on November 26, 1731, in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. and briefly introduced his longest and best work, The Task.

1. WILLIAM COWPER [1731-1800] The writer of Neo- classical Era Prepared by- Jheel Barad Department of English (sem- 1) M.K. Bhav. Uni.

2. 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"

3. LIFE OF WILLIAM COWPER William was born on 26 November 1731 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, London. His father John Cowper was rector of the Church of St Peter and his mother was Ann née Donne. Ann died on 7 November 1737. His mother’s death at such an early age troubled William deeply and was the subject of his poem, "On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture", written more than fifty years later. “O solitude, where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place.”

4. Education: Cowper was first enrolled in Westminster School in April of 1742. He had begun to study Latin from a young age. Older children bullied Cowper through many of his younger years. He read through the Iliad and the Odyssey, which ignited his lifelong scholarship and love for Homer’s epics. He grew skilled at the interpretation and translation of Latin. After education at Westminster School, he trained for a career in law.

5. Depression Hits- During this time, he spent his leisure at the home of his uncle Bob Cowper, where he fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry. But as James Croft, who in 1825 first published the poems Cowper addressed to Theodora, wrote, "her father, from an idea that the union of persons so nearly related was improper, refused to accede to the wishes of his daughter and nephew.” This refusal left Cowper distraught.He suffered his first severe attack of depression/mental illness, referred to at the time as melancholy. In 1763 he was offered a Clerkship of Journals in the House of Lords, but broke under the strain of the approaching examination; he experienced a period of depression and insanity. At this time he tried three times to commit suicide and was sent to Nathaniel Cotton's asylum at St. Albans for recovery. His poem beginning "Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portions" (sometimes referred to as "Sapphics") was written in the aftermath of his suicide attempt.

6. Meeting Unwins: After recovering, he settled at Huntingdon with a retired clergyman named Morley Unwin and his wife Mary. Moved with them to Olney. There he met curate John Newton, who had devoted his life to the gospel. Not long afterwards, Morley Unwin was killed in a fall from his horse. Cowper continued to live in the Unwin home and became greatly attached to the widow Mary Unwin. At Olney, Newton invited Cowper to contribute to a hymnbook that he was compiling. The resulting volume, known as Olney Hymns , was not published until 1779

7. In 1773, Cowper experienced an attack of insanity, imagining not only that he was eternally condemned to hell, but that God was commanding him to make a sacrifice of his own life. Mary Unwin took care of him with great devotion, and after a year he began to recover. In 1779, after Newton had moved from Olney to London. Cowper started to write poetry again. Mary Unwin suggested to write on the subject of T he Progress of Error. After writing a satire of this name, he wrote seven others. These poems were collected and published in 1782 under the title Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.

8. In 1781 Cowper met a sophisticated and charming widow named Lady Austen who inspired new poetry. She encouraged him to write about the sofa in his parlor Cowper himself tells of the genesis of what some have considered his most substantial work, The Task, in his "Advertisement" to the original edition of 1785 Mary Unwin became paralysed. Mary Unwin died in 1796, Cowper into a gloom from which he never fully recovered. Death:

9. William Cowper died of dropsy on April 25, 1800. At the time of his death, his Poems had already reached their tenth printing. He is buried in the chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury. St Nicholas's Church in East Dereham, and a stained-glass window there commemorates his life.

10. WORKS :

11. THE TASK: …a lady, fond of blank verse, demanded a poem of that kind from the author, and gave him the SOFA for a subject. He obeyed; and, having much leisure, connected another subject with it; and, pursuing the train of thought to which his situation and turn of mind led him, brought forth at length, instead of the trifle which he at first intended, a serious affair—a Volume. Largest Poem Blank Verse Six books "The Sofa", "The Timepiece", "The Garden", "The Winter Evening", "The Winter Morning Walk" and "The Winter Walk at Noon".

12. References Cowper, William, and John Johnson. Private Correspondence of William Cowper, Esq., with Several of His Most Intimate Friends. London: H. Colburn etc., 1824. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007686651 . “ William CowperDereham Norfolk.” Accessed October 11, 2021. http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/cowper.htm . Hymnary.org. “Praise for the Fountain Opened.” Accessed October 12, 2021. https://hymnary.org/text/there_is_a_fountain_filled_with_blood_dr .