01c. 1765 ADO, how unlike the complex works of man, Heaven’s easy, artless, unencumbered plan! No meretricious graces to beguile, No clustering ornaments to clog the pile; From ostentation, as from weakness free, It stands, like the cerulean arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity. Inscribed above the portal, from afar Conspicuous as the brightness of a star, Legible only by the light they give, Stand the soul-quickening words: Believe and live!William Cowper / quote ↗
02c. 1765 ADTo tremble, (as the creatures of an hour Ought,) at the view of an Almighty power Before His presence, at whose awful throne All tremble in all worlds except our own; To supplicate His mercy, love His ways, And prize them above pleasure, wealth, or praise; Though common sense, allowed a casting voice, And free from bias, must approve the choice; Convicts a man fanatic in the extreme, And wild as madness in the world’s esteem.William Cowper / quote ↗
03c. 1765 ADThe joy that vain amusements give, O, sad conclusion that it brings, The honey of a crowded hive Defended by a thousand stings. ’Tis thus the world rewards the fools That live upon her treacherous smiles; She leads them blindfold, by her rules, And ruins all whom she beguiles.William Cowper / quote ↗
04c. 1765 ADNo wounds like those a wounded spirit feels, No cure for such, till God, who makes them, heals. And thou, sad sufferer under nameless ill, That yields not to the touch of human skill, Improve the kind occasion, understand A Father’s frown, and kiss His chastening hand.William Cowper / quote ↗
05c. 1765 ADYouth lost in dissipation,—we deplore Through life’s sad remnant, what no sighs restore; Our years, a fruitless loss without a prize, Too many—yet too few to make us wise.William Cowper / quote ↗
07c. 1765 ADThe tear that is wiped with a little address may be followed, perhaps, by a smile.William Cowper / quote ↗
08c. 1765 ADThe only amaranthine flower on earth is virtue; the only lasting treasure, truth.William Cowper / quote ↗
09c. 1765 ADBeware of desperate steps; the darkest day, Lived till to-morrow, will have passed away.William Cowper / quote ↗
11c. 1765 ADNow stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,And, while the bubbling and loud hissing urnThrows up a steamy column and the cupsThat cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,So let us welcome peaceful ev'ning in.William Cowper / quote ↗
12c. 1765 ADThere is in souls a sympathy with sounds:And as the mind is pitch'd the ear is pleasedWith melting airs, or martial, brisk or grave;Some chord in unison with what we hearIs touch'd within us, and the heart replies.William Cowper / quote ↗
13c. 1765 ADMan disavows, and Deity disowns me;Hell might afford my miseries a shelter;Therefore Hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths allBolted against me.Hard lot! encompassed with a thousand dangers,Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors,I'm called, if vanquished, to receive a sentenceWorse than Abiram's.Him the vindictive rod of angry JusticeSent quick and howling to the centre headlong;I, fed with judgement, in a fleshy tomb, amBuried above ground.William Cowper / quote ↗
14c. 1765 ADThe dearest idol I have known,Whate'er that idol be,Help me to tear it from thy throne,And worship only thee.So shall my walk be close with God,Calm and serene my frame;So purer light shall mark the roadThat leads me to the Lamb.William Cowper / quote ↗
16c. 1765 ADWhen we don't pray, we quit the fight. Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright. And Satan trembles when he sees. The weakest saint upon his knees.William Cowper / quote ↗
17c. 1765 ADMy fugitive years are all hasting away,And I must ere long lie as lowly as they,With a turf on my breast, and a stone at my head,Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead.'Tis a sight to engage me, if anything can,To muse on the perishing pleasures of man;Though his life be a dream, his enjoyments I see,Have a being less durable even than he.William Cowper / quote ↗
18c. 1765 ADNo traveler e'er reached that blest abode who found not thorns and briers in his road.William Cowper / quote ↗
20c. 1765 ADHe that has seen both sides of fifty has lived to little purpose if he has no other views of the world than he had when he was much younger.William Cowper / quote ↗
21c. 1765 ADWhat is there in the vale of life Half so delightful as a wife When Friendship love and peace combine To stamp the marriage bond divine?William Cowper / quote ↗
24c. 1765 ADExistence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.William Cowper / quote ↗
