Geburtsdatum | Montag, 26. November 1731 |
Geburtsort | Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England |
Todesort | Norfolk |
Sternzeichen | |
Beschreibung | William Cowper (/ˈkuːpər/ KOO-pər; 26. November 1731 - 25. April 1800) war ein englischer Dichter und anglikanischer Kirchenlieddichter. Als einer der populärsten Dichter seiner Zeit veränderte Cowper die Richtung der Naturlyrik des 18. Jahrhunderts, indem er über das Alltagsleben und Szenen der englischen Landschaft schrieb. In vielerlei Hinsicht war er einer der Vorläufer der romantischen Poesie. Samuel Taylor Coleridge nannte ihn "den besten modernen Dichter", während William Wordsworth besonders sein Gedicht Yardley-Oak bewunderte. |
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Knowledge is proud that it knows so much wisdom is humble that it knows no more.
Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.
Meditation here may think down hours to moments. Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head and learning wiser grow without his books.
The earth was made so various, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change, And pleased with novelty, might be indulged.
Thus happiness depends, as nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, and frustrates hope severer than despair.
Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
