The task, a poem, illustr. by B. Foster1855 |
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Page 3
William Cowper. The Sofa . I SING the Sofa . I who lately sang Truth , Hope , and Charity , * and touch'd with awe The solemn chords , and with a trembling hand , Escaped with pain from that adventurous flight , * See Poems . Now seek ...
William Cowper. The Sofa . I SING the Sofa . I who lately sang Truth , Hope , and Charity , * and touch'd with awe The solemn chords , and with a trembling hand , Escaped with pain from that adventurous flight , * See Poems . Now seek ...
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... truth matured . War and the chase engross the savage whole ; War follow'd for revenge , or to supplant The envied tenants of some happier spot : The chase for sustenance , precarious trust ! His hard condition with severe constraint ...
... truth matured . War and the chase engross the savage whole ; War follow'd for revenge , or to supplant The envied tenants of some happier spot : The chase for sustenance , precarious trust ! His hard condition with severe constraint ...
Page 42
... , The total ordinance and will of God ; Advancing fashion to the post of Truth , And centering all authority in modes And customs of her own , till sabbath rites Have dwindled into unrespected forms , And knees and hassocks 42 THE TASK .
... , The total ordinance and will of God ; Advancing fashion to the post of Truth , And centering all authority in modes And customs of her own , till sabbath rites Have dwindled into unrespected forms , And knees and hassocks 42 THE TASK .
Page 55
... truth Philosophy , though eagle - eyed In nature's tendencies , oft overlooks ; And , having found his instrument , forgets , Or disregards , or , more presumptuous still , Denies the power that wields it . God proclaims His hot ...
... truth Philosophy , though eagle - eyed In nature's tendencies , oft overlooks ; And , having found his instrument , forgets , Or disregards , or , more presumptuous still , Denies the power that wields it . God proclaims His hot ...
Page 63
... There stands the messenger of truth : there stands The legate of the skies ! -His theme divine , His office sacred , his credentials clear . By him the violated law speaks out Its thunders ; and by him , in strains as. THE TIME - PIECE .
... There stands the messenger of truth : there stands The legate of the skies ! -His theme divine , His office sacred , his credentials clear . By him the violated law speaks out Its thunders ; and by him , in strains as. THE TIME - PIECE .
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Common terms and phrases
abroad beauty beneath boast breath call'd cause charms cheerful clime clouds death delight distant divine dream e'en earth ease EDMUND EVANS elms fair fancy fast fear feed feel field of glory flower folly form'd fountain of eternal frown fruit gives glebe glory golden harvest grace green groves hand happy hast heart heaven honour human JAMES NISBET king kingcups labour less liberty LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS live lost lyre Mighty winds mind nature Nature's Nebaioth never o'er once peace pleasure praise press'd proud quake rapture riddance rude rural sake scene seek shade shine Sicily skies sleep sloth smiles smooth Sofa soft song soon sound spare sublime sweet task taste thee theme thine thou art toil touch'd trembling truth Twas vale VIGNETTE TITLE virtue walk weary WILLIAM COWPER wind Winter wisdom wonder worthy
Popular passages
Page 194 - He looks abroad into the varied field Of nature, and, though poor perhaps, compared With those whose mansions glitter in his sight, Calls the delightful scenery all his own. His are the mountains, and the valleys his, And the resplendent rivers. His to enjoy With a propriety that none can feel, But who, with filial confidence inspired, Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, And smiling say — " My Father made them all 1
Page 37 - OH for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumor of oppression and deceit, Of unsuccessful or successful war, Might never reach me more...
Page 124 - Cataracts of declamation thunder here ; There forests of no meaning spread the page, In which all comprehension wanders lost ; While fields of pleasantry amuse us there With merry descants on a nation's woes. The rest appears a wilderness of strange But gay confusion ; roses for the cheeks, And lilies for the brows of faded age, Teeth for the toothless, ringlets for the bald...
Page 58 - I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; In doctrine uncorrupt ; in language plain ; And plain in manner. Decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture. Much impressed Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too. Affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men.
Page 3 - Stand, never overlooked, our favourite elms, That screen the herdsman's solitary hut; While far beyond, and overthwart the stream, That, as with molten glass, inlays the vale, The sloping land recedes into the clouds; Displaying on its...
Page 230 - I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polished manners and fine sense Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path, But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
Page 237 - Whose fire was kindled at the prophets' lamp, The time of rest, the promised sabbath, comes. Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course Over a sinful world; and what remains Of this tempestuous state of human things, Is merely as the working of a sea Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest...
Page 201 - Thou art the source and centre of all minds, Their only point of rest, eternal Word ! From thee departing they are lost, and rove At random without honour, hope, or peace. From thee is all that soothes the life of man, His high endeavour, and his glad success, His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.
Page 179 - Ye horrid towers, the abode of broken hearts ; Ye dungeons, and ye cages of despair, That monarchs have supplied from age to age With music, such as suits their sovereign ears; The sighs and groans of miserable men ! There's not an English heart, that would not leap To hear that ye were fallen at last ; to know That even our enemies, so oft employed In forging chains for us, themselves were free. For he who values liberty, confines His zeal for her predominance within No narrow bounds ; her cause...
Page 126 - Than those of age, thy forehead wrapped in clouds, A leafless branch thy sceptre, and thy throne A sliding car, indebted to no wheels, But urged by storms along its slippery way, 1 love thee, all unlovely as thou seem'st, And dreaded as thou art!