The Poems of William Cowper: Volume II: 1782-1785This volume includes some of Cowper's finest works, among them such well-known short poems as `The Poplar-Field', `Epitaph on a Hare', `On the Loss of the Royal George' (here restored to the form in which Cowper wrote it, and accompanied by the music for which it was written), and `The Diverting History of John Gilpin' which, two years after its first anonymous publication in a newspaper, suddenly achieved huge popularity in a series of public readings. It also contains Cowper's masterpiece, The Task - one of the most approachable of the great English poems. Cowper's blank verse is a supple instrument, capable of every effect, from the parody-georgic on the growing of cucumbers to the visionary conclusion of Book VI. At the centre of the poem stands the poet himself, presented with wry humour and deep poignancy. The texts are based on manuscripts as well as early editions of the poetry, and are supplied with textual annotation and commentary. In the case of The Task, this is the first fully annotated edition for over a hundred years; its commentary relates the poem to the period in which it was written more fully than any previous edition. |
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Page xii
... describes a pleasant but unremarkable English coun- tryside ; its clarity of expression is hospitable to every kind of reader . On the other hand , it is also a prophetic work , a vigorous attack on the lax social and political ...
... describes a pleasant but unremarkable English coun- tryside ; its clarity of expression is hospitable to every kind of reader . On the other hand , it is also a prophetic work , a vigorous attack on the lax social and political ...
Page 67
... describes the beauty she surveys . Yet man , dimsighted man , and rash as blind , Deaf to the dictates of his better mind , In frantic competition dares the skies , And claims precedence of the only Wise . Oh lost in vanity till once ...
... describes the beauty she surveys . Yet man , dimsighted man , and rash as blind , Deaf to the dictates of his better mind , In frantic competition dares the skies , And claims precedence of the only Wise . Oh lost in vanity till once ...
Page 364
... describes the effect of Charles Churchill's Rosciad ( 1761 ) : The author soon found that he had no occasion to advertise his poem in the public prints ; the players spread its fame all over the town ; they ran about like so many ...
... describes the effect of Charles Churchill's Rosciad ( 1761 ) : The author soon found that he had no occasion to advertise his poem in the public prints ; the players spread its fame all over the town ; they ran about like so many ...
Contents
POEMS 17821784 I | 22 |
Bulls Preface to Poems Translated from the French | 441 |
Poem Translated by Cowper | 447 |
Copyright | |
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Æneid appears beauty beneath boys cause charms Clifton Reynes Collated copy COPY-TEXT Cowper Illustrated Cowper's hand Cowper's letter deleted delight divine earth edition English Ev'n ev'ry fair fear feel flow'r garden Gentleman's Magazine give glory grace Guyon Handel Commemoration happy hast Hayley heart heav'n John Gilpin Johnson Joseph Hill Joseph Johnson King Lady Austen Lady Hesketh letter to Unwin lines live London Lord Love Madame Guyon mind Mme Guyon Morning Chronicle nature never night o'er Olney once Paradise Lost passage peace perhaps pleasure poem pow'r praise printing reference sacred scene schools sense shades smile song soon sorrow soul stanzas Summer sweet Task taste thee thine thou art thought Tirocinium Title translation truth verse virtue VOLUME 2 CANTIQUE Westminster Westminster School William Bull William Cowper William Unwin winter woes ΙΟ