William Cowper Quotes - Page 8

Quotes about:

• No wild enthusiast could rest, till half the world like him was possessed.

  William Cowper

  Half, World, Enthusiasm

  7 Copy quote

• Some to the fascination of a name, Surrender judgment hoodwinked.

  William Cowper

  Names, Fascination, Judgment

  William Cowper (1835). “The Poems of William Cowper ...”, p.282

  7 Copy quote

• Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay.

  William Cowper

  Positive, Men, Way

  William Cowper (1872). “The poetical works of William Cowper: Complete ed., with memoir, explanatory notes etc”, p.177

  7 Copy quote

• And diff'ring judgments serve but to declare that truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where.

  William Cowper

  Truth, Lying, Judgement

  William Cowper (1805). “Poems”, p.93

  7 Copy quote

• For 'tis a truth well known to most, That whatsoever thing is lost, We seek it, ere it comes to light, In every cranny but the right.

  William Cowper

  Loss, Light, Well Known

  William Cowper (1874). “The poetical works of William Cowper, ed: with notes and biographical introd. by William Benham”, p.379

  7 Copy quote

• His wit invites you by his looks to come, But when you knock, it never is at home.

  William Cowper

  Home, Looks, Wit

  'Conversation' (1782) l. 303

  6 Copy quote

• Misery still delights to trace
  Its semblance in another's case.

  William Cowper

  Delight, Misery, Cases

  William Cowper (1851). “The Works of William Cowper: His Life, Letters, and Poems. Now First Completed by the Introduction of Cowper's Private Correspondence”, p.446

  6 Copy quote

• They best can judge a poet's worth, Who oft themselves have known The pangs of a poetic birth By labours of their own.

  William Cowper

  Judging, Birth, Poetic

  William Cowper, James Thomson (1832). “The Works of Cowper and Thompson: Including Many Letters and Poems Never Before Published in this Country. With a New and Interesting Memoir of the Life of Thomson”, p.113

  6 Copy quote

• Call'd to the temple of impure delight He that abstains, and he alone, does right. If a wish wander that way, call it home; He cannot long be safe whose wishes roam.

  William Cowper

  Home, Long, Wish

  William Cowper (1825). “Table Talk, and Other Poems, by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq”, p.49

  7 Copy quote

• Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations, who had else Like kindred drops been mingled into one.

  William Cowper

  Enemy, Mountain, Kindred

  William Cowper (1851). “The Works of William Cowper: His Life, Letters, and Poems. Now First Completed by the Introduction of Cowper's Private Correspondence”, p.553

  7 Copy quote

• A story, in which native humour reigns, Is often useful, always entertains; A graver fact, enlisted on your side, May furnish illustration, well applied; But sedentary weavers of long tales Give me the fidgets, and my patience fails.

  William Cowper

  Illustration, Your Side, Long

  William Cowper (1855). “The complete poetical works of William Cowper, with life and critical notice of his writings”, p.86

  7 Copy quote

• Acquaint thyself with God, if thou would'st taste
  His works. Admitted once to his embrace,
  Thou shalt perceive that thou was blind before:
  Thine eye shall be instructed; and thine heart
  Made pure shall relish with divine delight
  Till then unfelt, what hands divine have wrought.

  William Cowper

  Eye, Hands, Blind

  William Cowper, “The Task: Book V. -- The Winter Morning Walk”

  7 Copy quote

• With spots quadrangular of diamond form, ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, and spades, the emblems of untimely graves.

  William Cowper

  Heart, Gambling, Typical

  William Cowper, Robert Southey, William Harvey (1835). “The Works of William Cowper: Comprising His Poems, Correspondence, and Translations. With a Life of the Author”, p.42

  8 Copy quote

• Th' embroid'ry of poetic dreams.

  William Cowper

  Dream, Poetic

  William Cowper (1837). “Poems; to which is prefixed a memoir of the author by J. M'Diarmid”, p.156

  7 Copy quote

• The man that dares traduce, because he can with safety to himself, is not a man.

  William Cowper

  Men, Safety, He Man

  William Cowper (1874). “The poetical works of William Cowper, ed: with notes and biographical introd. by William Benham”, p.96

  7 Copy quote

• Laugh at all you trembled at before.

  William Cowper

  Laughing

  'The Progress of Error' (1782) l. 592

  4 Copy quote

• The few that pray at all pray oft amiss.

  William Cowper

  Prayer, Praying

  William Cowper, James Thomson (1832). “The Works of Cowper and Thompson: Including Many Letters and Poems Never Before Published in this Country. With a New and Interesting Memoir of the Life of Thomson”, p.94

  7 Copy quote

• When I thinkof my own native land, In a moment I seem to be there; But alas! recollection at hand Soon hurries me back to despair.

  William Cowper

  Hands, Land, Despair

  1782 Poems,'Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk, During His Solitary Abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez'.

  4 Copy quote

• He that attends to his interior self,
  That has a heart, and keeps it; has a mind
  That hungers, and supplies it; and who seeks
  A social, not a dissipated life,
  Has business.

  William Cowper

  Business, Heart, Self

  William Cowper (1855). “The complete poetical works of William Cowper, with life and critical notice of his writings”, p.155

  4 Copy quote

• Go, mark the matchless working of the power
  That shuts within the seed the future flower;
  Bids these in elegance of form excel.
  In color these, and those delight the smell;
  Sends nature forth, the daughter of the skies,
  To dance on earth, and charm all human eyes.

  William Cowper

  Daughter, Flower, Eye

  8 Copy quote

• When scandal has new-minted an old lie,
  Or tax'd invention for a fresh supply,
  'Tis call'd a satire, and the world appears
  Gathering around it with erected ears;
  A thousand names are toss'd into the crowd,
  Some whisper'd softly, and some twang'd aloud,
  Just as the sapience of an author's brain,
  Suggests it safe or dangerous to be plain.

  William Cowper

  Lying, Names, Brain

  William Cowper, Henry Stebbing (1869). “The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper, Esq: Including the Hymns and Translations from Madame Guion, Milton, Etc. ; with a Memoir of the Author”, p.124

  4 Copy quote

• Not a flower
  But shows some touch, in freckle, streak or stain,
  Of his unrivall'd pencil. He inspires
  Their balmy odors, and imparts their hues,
  And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes
  In grains as countless as the seaside sands,
  The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth
  Happy who walks with him!

  William Cowper

  Flower, Eye, Inspire

  William Cowper (1856). “The task, Table talk, and other poems: With critical observations of various authors on his genius and character, and notes, critical and illustrative”, p.305

  4 Copy quote

• A lawyer's dealings should be just and fair;
  Honesty shines with great advantage there.

  William Cowper

  Honesty, Shining, Lawyer

  William Cowper (1853). “The Poetical Works of William Cowper: With Life ; Six Engravings on Steel”, p.61

  4 Copy quote

• Fancy, like the finger of a clock,
  Runs the great circuit, and is still at home.

  William Cowper

  Running, Home, Fancy

  William Cowper, Henry Stebbing (1869). “The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper, Esq: Including the Hymns and Translations from Madame Guion, Milton, Etc. ; with a Memoir of the Author”, p.234

  7 Copy quote

• Defend me, therefore, common sense, say
  From reveries so airy, from the toil
  Of dropping buckets into empty wells,
  And growing old in drawing nothing up.

  William Cowper

  Drawing, Common Sense, Toil

  'The Task' (1785) bk. 3 'The Garden' l. 187

  6 Copy quote

Page 8 of 14

First

← Prev

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Next →

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin