Cowper, William (M)

Surname: Cowper
Forename(s): William
b. 15 November 1731. d. 25 April 1800. Nationality: English. VIAF.
Poet and hymn writer. Called to the bar in June 1754. A long and fraught courtship of his cousin, combined with his failure as a clerk, drove him to attempt suicide a number of times, before undergoing a conversion experience in 1764. Contributed to The Connoisseur. Wrote most of the poems included in John Newton’s Olney Hymns (1779). Author of several volumes of poetry including Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq (1782), and The Task (1785). Biographical information: ODNB. (JS)

Poems associated with this person

Total poems: 5
Poem title Date Periodical Roles id #
The Nightingale and Glow-Worm 1832-06-02 The Penny Magazine Poet 2870
Cowper’s Lines on the Receipt of his Mother’s Picture 1832-09-29 The Penny Magazine Poet 2923
A Soul in All Things 1838-02-10 Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal Poet 3526
To a Young Lady 1865-07 Macmillan’s Magazine Poet 14884
Loss of the Royal George 1865-07 Macmillan’s Magazine Poet 14885