Works

Between Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose,
The spectacles set them unhappily wrong;
The point in dispute was, as all the world knows,
To which the said spectacles ought to belong.

...

Hackney'd in business, wearied at that oar,
Which thousands, once fast chain'd to, quit no more,
But which, when life at ebb runs weak and low,
All wish, or seem to wish, they could forego;...

'Write to Sardis,' saith the Lord,
And write what he declares,
He whose Spirit, and whose word,
Upholds the seven stars:
'All thy works and ways I search,
Find thy zeal and love decay'd:...

To those who know the Lord I speak,
Is my beloved near?
The bridegroom of my soul I seek,
Oh! when will he appear?


Though once a man of grief and shame,
Yet now he fills a throne,...

Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart,
Which of itself complains,
And mourns, with much and frequent smart,
The evil it contains.


There fiery seeds of anger lurk,
Which often hurt my frame;...

Also written at the request of Lady Austen.


Air''The Lass of Peatie's Mill.'


When all within is peace,
How Nature seems to smile!
Delights that never cease...

Written in the summer of 1783, at the request of Lady Austen, who gave the sentiment.


Air''My fond Shepherds of late.'


No longer I follow a sound;
No longer a dream I pursue;...

On His Emphatical And Interesting Delivery Of The Defence Of Warren Hastings, Esq., In The House Of Lords.


Cowper, whose silver voice, task'd sometimes hard,
Legends prolix delivers in the ears...

Hayley'thy tenderness fraternal shown
In our first interview, delightful guest!
To Mary, and me for her dear sake distress'd,
Such as it is, has made my heart thy own,...

Deem not, sweet rose, that bloom'st' midst many a thorn,
Thy friend, though to a cloister's shade consign'd,
Can e'er forget the charms he left behind,
Or pass unheeded this auspicious morn!...

Drawn at Eartham in the 61st year of my age, and in the months of August and September 1792.


Romney, expert infallibly to trace
On chart or canvas, not the form alone...

Thy country, Wilberforce, with just disdain,
Hears thee by cruel men and impious call'd
Fanatic, for thy zeal to loose the enthrall'd
From exile, public sale, and slavery's chain....

Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All Saints, Northampton, Anno Domini 1787.


(Composed for John Cox, parish clerk of Northampton.)

...

In Returning A Poem Of Mr. Cowper's, Lent To The Writer, On Condition She Should Neither Show It Nor Take A Copy.


What wonder! if my wavering hand
Had dared to disobey,...

'Me too, perchance, in future days,
The sculptured stone shall show,
With Paphian myrtle or with bays
Parnassian on my brow.


'But I, or ere that season come,
Escaped from every care,...

O Lord, my best desire fulfil,
And help me to resign
Life, health, and comfort to thy will,
And make thy pleasure mine.


Why should I shrink at thy command,
Whose love forbids my fears?...

A. You told me, I remember, glory, built
On selfish principles, is shame and guilt;
The deeds that men admire as half divine,
Stark naught, because corrupt in their design....

The billows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wintry sky;
Out of the depths to thee I call, -
My fears are great, my strength is small.


O Lord, the pilot's part perform,...

Ah, how the Human Mind wearies herself
With her own wand'rings, and, involved in gloom
Impenetrable, speculates amiss!
Measuring, in her folly, things divine
By human, laws inscrib'd on adamant...

In Scotland's realms, where trees are few,
Nor even shrubs abound;
But where, however bleak the view,
Some better things are found;


For husband there and wife may boast...