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The collection / 273 fragments

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Culture labels and country attributions follow the source collections; earliest origins may be unknown.

273 results · Page 9 of 12Play this collection ▷
05c. 1765 AD
O, I have seen, (nor hope perhaps in vain, Ere life go down, to see such sights again,) A veteran warrior in the Christian field, Who never saw the sword he could not wield; Grave without dulness, learned without pride, Exact, yet not precise, though meek, keen-eyed; A man that would have foiled, at their own play, A dozen would-be’s of the modern day; Who, when occasion justified its use, Had wit as bright, as ready to produce; Could fetch the records of an earlier age, Or from philosophy’s enlightened page His rich materials, and regale your ear With strains it was a privilege to hear: Yet, above all, his luxury supreme, And his chief glory was the gospel theme; There he was copious as old Greece or Rome, His happy eloquence seemed there at home,— Ambitious not to shine, or to excel, But, to treat justly what he loved so well.
William Cowper / quote
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07c. 1765 AD
He is a happy man whose life, e’en now, Shows somewhat of that happier life to come; Who, doomed to an obscure, but tranquil state, Is pleased with it, and, were he free to choose, Would make his fate his choice; whom peace, the fruit Of virtue, and whom virtue, fruit of faith, Prepare for happiness; bespeak him one Content indeed to sojourn while he must Below the skies, but having there his home. The world o’erlooks him in her busy search Of objects more illustrious in her view; And, occupied as earnestly as she, Though more sublimely, he o’erlooks the world. She scorns his pleasures, for she knows them not; He seeks not hers, for he has proved them vain.
William Cowper / quote
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13c. 1765 AD
Opening the map of God’s expansive plan, We find a little isle, this life of man; Eternity’s unknown expanse appears Circling around, and limiting his years. The busy race examine and explore Each creek and cavern of the dangerous shore, With care collect what in their eyes excels, Some shining pebbles, and some weeds and shells, Thus laden, dream that they are rich and great, And happiest be that groans beneath his weight. The waves o’ertake them in their serious play, And every hour sweeps multitudes away; They shriek and sink—survivors start and weep, Pursue their sport, and follow to the deep.
William Cowper / quote
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14c. 1765 AD
The Sacred Book, its value understood, Received the seal of martyrdom in blood. These holy men, so full of truth and grace, Seem, to reflection, of a different race; Meek, modest, venerable, wise, sincere, In such a cause they could not dare to fear; They could not purchase earth with such a price, Or spare a life too short to reach the skies. From them to thee conveyed along the tide, Their streaming hearts poured freely when they died; Those truths which neither use nor years impair, Invite thee, woo thee, to the bliss they share.
William Cowper / quote
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21c. 1765 AD
But above all, in her own light array’d, See mercy’s grand apocalypse display’d! The sacred book no longer suffers wrong, Bound in the fetters of an unknown tongue; But speaks with plainness, art could never mend, What simplest minds can soonest comprehend. God gives the word, the preachers throng around, Live from his lips, and spread the glorious sound: That sound bespeaks salvation on her way, The trumpet of a life-restoring day; ’Tis heard where England’s eastern glory shines, And in the gulfs of her Cornubian mines. And still it spreads. See Germany send forth Her sons to pour it on the farthest north: Fired with a zeal peculiar, they defy The rage and rigour of a polar sky, And plant successfully sweet Sharon’s rose On icy plains, and in eternal snows.
William Cowper / quote
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