The Task: In Six Books |
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Page 5
... Cowper. CONTENTS . OOK I. The Sofa , II . The Time - piece , III . The Garden , IV , The Winter Evening , V. The Winter Morning Walk , VI . The Winter Walk at Noon . 9 35 61 89 115 - 143 THE SOFA . ARGUMENT OF THE FIRST BOOK . Historical.
... Cowper. CONTENTS . OOK I. The Sofa , II . The Time - piece , III . The Garden , IV , The Winter Evening , V. The Winter Morning Walk , VI . The Winter Walk at Noon . 9 35 61 89 115 - 143 THE SOFA . ARGUMENT OF THE FIRST BOOK . Historical.
Page 13
... winter I perceive Fast lock'd in mine , with pleasure such as love Confirm'd by long experience of thy worth And well tried virtues , could alone inspire- Witness a joy that thou hast doubled long . Thou know'st my praise of nature most ...
... winter I perceive Fast lock'd in mine , with pleasure such as love Confirm'd by long experience of thy worth And well tried virtues , could alone inspire- Witness a joy that thou hast doubled long . Thou know'st my praise of nature most ...
Page 15
... Winter soaks the fields , and female feet , Too weak to struggle with tenacious clay , Or ford the rivulets , are best at home , The task of new discov'ries falls on me . At such a season , and with such a charge , Once went I forth ...
... Winter soaks the fields , and female feet , Too weak to struggle with tenacious clay , Or ford the rivulets , are best at home , The task of new discov'ries falls on me . At such a season , and with such a charge , Once went I forth ...
Page 18
... winter fills again . The folded gates would bar my progress now , But that the lord of this enclos'd demesne , Communicative of the good he owns , Admits me to a share ; the guiltless eye ' * See the foregoing note . Commits no wrong ...
... winter fills again . The folded gates would bar my progress now , But that the lord of this enclos'd demesne , Communicative of the good he owns , Admits me to a share ; the guiltless eye ' * See the foregoing note . Commits no wrong ...
Page 60
... the town even in the winter - Rea- sons why it is deserted at that season - Ruinous effects of gaming and of expensive improvement- Book concludes with an apostrophe to the metropolis . THE TASK . BOOK III . THE GARDEN . As.
... the town even in the winter - Rea- sons why it is deserted at that season - Ruinous effects of gaming and of expensive improvement- Book concludes with an apostrophe to the metropolis . THE TASK . BOOK III . THE GARDEN . As.
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Common terms and phrases
abroad beauty beneath boast breath call'd cause charms clime death Deciduous delight distant divine domestick dream e'en earth ease ev'ning ev'ry fair fancy favour'd fear feeds feel field of glory flow'r folly form'd fountain of eternal frown fruit gives glory grace grave groves hand happy heart Heav'n honour hopes and fears Hosanna human king labour learn'd less liberty lost lov'd lyre magick mercy Mighty winds mind musick nature Nature's Nebaioth never nymphs o'er once peace perhaps pleas'd pleasures polish'd pow'r praise proud publick rapture riddance rude rural sacred sake scene seek seem'd shade shine sighs silent sleep sloth smiles SOFA soft song soon soul sound spleen stream sweet sycophant task taste thee theme thine thou art toil touch'd tow'r trembling truth Twas vale virtue walk wand'ring weary wind winter wisdom worthy
Popular passages
Page 165 - One song employs all nations ; and all cry, " Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us ! " The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy ; Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round.
Page 45 - Support and ornament of Virtue's cause. There stands the messenger of truth: there stands The legate of the skies! — His theme divine, His office sacred, his credentials clear. By him the violated law speaks out Its thunders ; and by him, in strains as sweet As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
Page 159 - I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
Page 47 - A messenger of grace to guilty men. Behold the picture ! — Is it like ? — Like whom ? The things that mount the rostrum with a skip, And then skip down again ; pronounce a text ; Cry — hem ! and reading what they never wrote, Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, And with a well-bred whisper close the scene...
Page 36 - I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.
Page 46 - Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too ; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men.
Page 165 - The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence, For there is none to covet; all are full. The lion, and the libbard, and the bear, Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon Together, or all gambol in the shade Of the same grove, and drink one common stream ; Antipathies are none.
Page 36 - Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free ; They touch our country, and their shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then, And let it circulate through every vein Of all your empire ; that, where Britain's power Is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too.
Page 36 - We have no slaves at home — then why abroad ? And they themselves once ferried o'er the wave That parts us, are emancipate and loosed. Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free; They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
Page 35 - There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart, It does not feel for man ; the natural bond Of brotherhood is sever'd as the flax That falls asunder at the touch of fire.