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William Cowper Biography

William Cowper Image

COWPER, William (1731-1800). An English poet, son of John Cowper, D.D. He was born at his father's rectory at Great Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire. Losing his mother when he was only six years old, Cowper, who was naturally a delicate and sensitive child, became, as a boy, very deeply melancholy and depressed. Just after his mother's death he was placed in the school of a Dr. Pitman, in Market Street, Hertfordshire. Removed because of cruel treatment by another boy, he was sent, at the age of 10, to Westminster School. The period he spent here was very miserable and laid the foundation of that settled gloom which oppressed him till death. It is to the remembrance of these wretched days that we are indebted for the fierce invective that burns in the Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools (1784). Shortly after leaving Westminster Cowper was articled to a Mr. Chapman, an attorney in London. Upon leaving Chapman's office he entered the Middle Temple. In 1754 he was called to the bar, but never practiced. His father died in 1756 and left him a small patrimony. In 1759 he removed to the Inner Temple, but his hatred of the law was so great that he seldom opened a book that bore on his profession. Yet he was industrious enough; he scribbled poetry, read Homer, and, in conjunction with his brother, translated some of the books of Voltaire's Henriade. In 1763 his cousin Major Cowper offered him the office of clerk of the journals of the House of Lords, which he accepted, but having to undergo an examination at the bar of the House, he was seized with nervousness and could not appear. He even attempted suicide, but fortunately failed for want of courage. In December, 1763, he was removed to the private asylum of Dr. Cotton at St. Albans, a prey to the deepest remorse. After his removal from St. Albans (1765) he went to reside in the town of Huntingdon. Here he met Mrs. Unwin- the Mary of his poems- an acquaintance which ripened into the deepest friendship and continued till death. After a few months in lodgings he resided with the Unwins and enjoyed much tranquil happiness under that religious roof. Soon after the death of Mr. Unwin (1767) Mrs. Unwin and Cowper removed to Olney in Buckinghamshire. Here Cowper's malady returned. At this time he was engaged to marry Mrs. Unwin. She carefully tended him through his long and slow recovery. He found amusement in gardening, writing playful poems, and in building the famous summer house. Mrs. Unwin also suggested, as a subject suited to his genius, The Progress of Error. During the winter of 1780-81 he wrote Truth, Table Talk, The Progress of Error, and Expostulation, published in 1782. In 1781 Cowper made the acquaintance of Lady Austen, who suggested to him The Task, urged him to translate Homer, and- what the world is perhaps still more grateful for- she related to him the history of John Gilpin. The Task was begun in the summer of 1783 and published in 1785. Its success was great, and Cowper began to be considered the first poet of his day. In 1784 he began the translation of Homer, which appeared in 1791. It was received with great applause. Though Cowper wrote after this the beautiful and tender poem To Mary, his powers rapidly declined. He died at East Dereham, Norfolk. The centenary of his death was appropriately observed at Olney. Cowper's poetry is eminently healthy, natural, and unaffected. He and Burns brought back nature to English poetry. Besides being a poet, he was perhaps the most delightful letter writer in the English language. Nothing can surpass the charm of his epistles- full of humor, gentle sarcasm, anecdote, acute remark, and a tender shadow of melancholy thrown over and toning down the whole. See Southey, Life and Letters, etc. (15 vols., London, 1834-37, and reprinted in Bohn Library); Poems of William Cowper (1905, ed. J. C. Bailey); the Globe Edition of Poetical Works, ed. Benham (London, 1870); the Aldine Edition, by Bruce (ib., 1896); The Unpublished and Uncollected Poems, ed. Wright (ib., 1900); Correspondence, id. (New York, 1904); J. Neave, A Concordance to the Poetic Works of William Cowper (1887); S. A. Brooke, Theology in the English Poets (New York, 1910); and the lives by Smith (London, 1880) and by Wright (ib., 1892).