William Cowper

"I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau, If birds confabulate or no."

"Thy morning bounties ere I left my home, The biscuit, or confectionary plum."

"Me howling winds drive devious, tempest-tossed, Sails ripped, seams op'ning wide, and compass lost."

"Oh that those lips had language! Life has pass'd With me but roughly since I heard thee last."

"The son of parents pass'd into the skies."

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

"No voice divine the storm allay'd, No light propitious shone; When, snatch'd from all effectual aid, We perish'd, each alone; But I beneath a rougher sea, And whelmed in deeper gulphs than he."

"Oh! for a closer walk with God, A calm and heav'nly frame; A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb!"

"What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still! But they have left an aching void The world can never fill."

"And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees."

"God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm."

"Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skill, He treasures up his bright designs, And works his sovereign will."

"Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread, Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head."

"Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face."

"His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower."

"Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain."

"There is a fountain fill'd with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins; And sinners, plung'd beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains."

"Hark, my soul! it is the Lord; 'Tis thy (Saviour, hear his word; Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee: "Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?""

"Glory, built On selfish principles, is shame and guilt."

"Is base in kind, and born to be a slave."

"As if the world and they were hand and glove."

"Admirals extolled for standing still, Or doing nothing with a deal of skill."

"Thus happiness depends, as Nature shows, Less on exterior things than most suppose."

"Freedom has a thousand charms to show, That slaves, howe'er contented, never know."

"Stamps God's own name upon a lie just made, To turn a penny in the way of trade."

"I play with syllables and sport in song."

"Manner is all in all, whate'er is writ, The substitute for genius, sense, and wit."

"Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard: To carry nature lengths unknown before, To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more."

"Elegant as simplicity, and warm As ecstasy."

"Low ambition and the thirst of praise."

"But he (his musical finesse was such, So nice his ear, so delicate his touch) Made poetry a mere mechanic art, And ev'ry warbler has his tune by heart."

"Nature, exerting an unwearied power, Forms, opens, and gives scent to every flower; Spreads the fresh verdure of the field, and leads The dancing Naiads through the dewy meads."

"Lights of the world, and stars of human race."

"Oh, laugh or mourn with me the rueful jest, A cassock’d huntsman and a fiddling priest!"

"Himself a wanderer from the narrow way, His silly sheep, what wonder if they stray?"

"Remorse, the fatal egg by Pleasure laid."

"As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone, And hides the ruin that it feeds upon; So sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin’s rotten trunk, concealing its defects."

"How much a dunce that has been sent to roam Excels a dunce that has been kept at home."

"How shall I speak thee, or thy power address, Thou god of our idolatry, the Press? By thee religion, liberty, and laws, Exert their influence and advance their cause: By thee worse plagues than Pharaoh’s land befell, Diffused, make Earth the vestibule of Hell; Thou fountain, at which drink the good and wise, Thou ever-bubbling spring of endless lies; Like Eden’s dread probationary tree, Knowledge of good and evil is from thee!"

"No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest, Till half mankind were like himself possess'd."

"Laugh at all you trembled at before."

"'Tis hard if all is false that I advance, A fool must now and then be right by chance."

"He would not, with a peremptory tone, Assert the nose upon his face his own."

"A moral, sensible, and well-bred man Will not affront me, and no other can."

"A tale should be judicious, clear, succinct; The language plain, and incidents well link’d; Tell not as new what ev’ry body knows; And, new or old, still hasten to a close."

"The pipe, with solemn interposing puff, Makes half a sentence at a time enough; The dozing sages drop the drowsy strain, Then pause, and puff—and speak, and pause again."

"Pernicious weed! whose scent the fair annoys, Unfriendly to society's chief joys, Thy worst effect is banishing for hours The sex whose presence civilizes ours."

"I cannot talk with civet in the room, A fine puss-gentleman that's all perfume."

"The solemn fop; significant and budge; A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge."

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