The Poetry Of William Cowper
Written by William Cowper
Narrated by Ghizela Rowe, Jake Urry and Gideon Wagner
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
His education, after several temporary schools, was stabilised at Westminster school. Here he established several life-long friendships and a dedication to Latin. Upon leaving he was articled to a solicitor in London and spent almost a decade training in Law. In 1763 he was offered a Clerkship of Journals in the House of Lords. With the examinations approaching Cowper had a mental breakdown. He tried to commit suicide three times and a period of depression and insanity seemed to settle on him. The end of this unhappy period saw him find refuge in evangelical Christianity, becoming the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns.
This led to a collaboration with John Newton in writing ‘Olney Hymns’.
However dark forces were about to overwhelm Cowper. In 1773, he experienced a devastating attack of insanity, believing that he was eternally condemned to hell, and that God was instructing him to make a sacrifice of his own life. With great care and devotion his friend, Mary Unwin, nursed him back to health.
In 1781 Cowper had the good fortune to meet a widow, Lady Austen, who inspired a new bout of poetry writing including what some have considered his most substantial work, ‘The Task’.
In 1786 he began his translations from the Greek into blank verse of Homer's ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’. These translations, published in 1791, were the most significant since those of Alexander Pope earlier in the century.
Mary Unwin died in 1796, plunging Cowper into a gloom from which he never fully recovered though he did continue to write.
William Cowper was seized with dropsy and died on 25th April 1800.
More audiobooks from William Cowper
A Rhyme A Dozen - Marriage: 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRetired Cat Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Report On an Adjudged Case Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poetry of January Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5To The Immortal Memory of the Halibut Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flatting-Mill Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fifty Shades of June: 50 of the best poems about the month of June Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Poetry Of William Cowper
Related audiobooks
The Faerie Queene Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poetry of the 17th Century - Volume 1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Samson Agonistes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5William Wordsworth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prelude Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic American Poetry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Faerie Queene Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Juan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gerard Manley Hopkins Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5William Blake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poetry Hour - Volume 19 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Narrative Poems of the Romantic Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Knyghte's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poetry Hour - Volume 13 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of Anne Bradstreet: America's first ever published female writer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5From The Temple Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hiawatha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: The Lost Manuscript Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKatharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sohrab & Rustum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRichard Burton reads the poetry of John Donne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poetry Of William Wordsworth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Piers Plowman Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Metaphysical Poets Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alfred Lord Tennyson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Of Prayer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Poetry For You
The Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Imagination: Black Voices on Black Futures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spirits in Bondage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Other Eden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gift of Rumi: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Milk and Honey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beowulf: Translated by Seamus Heaney Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Metamorphoses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Classic Hundred Poems: All-Time Favorites Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5W. B. Yeats: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilgamesh: A New English Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poems of T.S. Eliot Read by Jeremy Irons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rumi's Little Book of Life: The Garden of the Soul, the Heart, and the Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Temple Folk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inferno of Dante Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Citizen: An American Lyric Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun and Her Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Poetry Of William Cowper
4 ratings0 reviews