COW I 'Kit 



35 



of tlic delicate nature of tin- mind on which he WM 

 \Mn Uinur. it is evident that the constant intercourse 

 with him, aided perhaps by the wearying sameness 

 if the life, had an nppivsHivo and crushing eil'ect 

 upon Cowper. Even alter Newton's departure, the 

 old gloom appears in letters addressed to him, 

 while in cone-pondence with Hill or Unwin, Cow- 



IMT i- always cl rful, full of graceful playfulness, 



entering into a pleasant record of his amusements 

 ami occupations, his hares and garden and green- 

 house. To the quiet of thin period of his life we 

 probably owe the tranquillweu condition of mind 

 which makes the tone of Cowper's poetry contrast 

 BO strangely with the sentiments of his early 

 experiences. An astonishment almost amounting 

 to incredulity (ills our mind when we find the 

 madman, the religious fanatic, who despaired of 

 salvation, and on several occasions attempted 

 suicide, luxuriating in the quiet of nature, wnich 

 he fully appreciated and enjoyed, and changing his 

 abject fears of God's wrath for a tender delight in 

 and love of the ordinary works of His hands. 



He was, however, as yet no poet at all. Mrs 

 Unwin was the first who had the wisdom to per- 

 ceive that a variety of occupation was necessary to 

 Cowper, and that something to occupy his mind enur- 

 ing the gloomy months of winter was of the highest 

 importance to his well-being. No power of initia- 

 tion seems to have existed in his mind, but he 

 followed with docility his friend's suggestions, and 

 when she bade him write poetry, did so. His first 

 volume (1782) was in the fashion of the time, and 

 consisted of several poems on abstract subjects, a 

 poetical dialogue called ' Table Talk ' leing added 

 to lighten ana enliven the book. Probably Cowper 

 himself was not conscious at the time how much 

 higher he was capable of flying and was destined 

 to fly ; but once more a happy suggestion came to 

 his aid. In 1781 he accidentally made the acquaint- 

 ance of Lady Austen, a woman full of intelli- 

 gence, and of a gay and happy disposition, bringing 

 sunshine with her. The acquaintance rapidly grew 

 into a warm friendship, and Lady Austen settled 

 in Newton's deserted vicarage, next door, it will be 

 remembered, to Cowper's house. The inhabitants 

 of the two houses soon, of course, grew intimate, 

 with the happiest results to the poet. It is to 

 Lady Austen s playful commands to write a poem 

 for her on any subject, ' this sofa for instance, that 

 we owe Cowper's greatest work, Tlte Tusk. She 

 has also the credit of having told him the story of 

 John Gilpin, reproduced in the immortal ballad the 

 next morning : and there can be no doubt that 

 this lady was his better angel, and made the 

 happiest revolution in the too-serious house. His 

 position between his old friend and his new one, 

 both being women, has been the subject of many, 

 and we tnink somewhat vulgar comment*. That 

 Cowper was engaged to many Mrs Unwin, that 

 this project was defeated by a dawning love be- 

 tween the poet and Lady Austen, and that jealousy 

 and passion came in to disturb their relations is 

 an oft-repeated tale. It surely, however, requires 

 but little reflection to see how unnecessary such a 

 theory is. Cowper was in every way calculated to 

 arouse a more than passing interest in the heart of 

 an intellectual woman, but neither in his past nor 

 his present was there anything that could inspire 

 such a woman with the desire of marrying him. 

 He had the gift of making friends and calling forth 

 sympathy in an unusual degree, and the influence 

 of this tender sympathy not only saved but made 

 him what he grew to be. If Lady Austen had 

 never said to Cowper, ' Why not try blank verse?' 

 that grand revolt against the smoothness and arti- 

 ficial perfection which Pope had established as 

 essentials of poetry might nave been indefinitely 

 postponed. Against a style which repelled him, 



Cowper WOB the first to protest by the effectual 

 reproduction of a more excellent way. He took 

 that polished and splendid instrument from the 

 hand of Milton, without his grandeur of tone, \-t 

 with a sweetness and serious power not unworthy 

 of it. His school fellow, Churchill, had struck 

 a rougher and more vigorous note, yet had not 

 been lx>ld enough to return to the old ways. But 

 the timid poet in his seclusion, under the influence 

 of his domestic muses, with unexpected boldness, 

 seized on his inheritance. Wordsworth carried on 



style and subjects, but he, like Gray, put of 

 his own into the theme, and described less Nature 

 herself than the thoughts which she inspired. In 

 Cowper, on the contrary, we have Nature's very 

 face, the calm description of a quiet scene painted 

 by one who loved her for herself, not peopled with 

 fancies by a poetical observer. 



How his friendship with I .ady Austen came to an 

 end has never been clearly known, but at the end 

 of 1783 she retired to Bristol, and Cowper writing to 

 Unwin declared the connection at an end. It is a 

 commonplace to talk, of course, of jealousy between 

 Lady Austen and Mrs Unwin, and it is easily com- 

 prehensible that the latter lady may have objected 

 to see her place as Cowper's friend and adviser 

 taken from her by a stranger. However, as regards 

 our poet, Lady Austen had done her work ; The 

 Task was published in 1785, and ite power and the 

 greatness of the old -new method very soon made 

 themselves apparent. Whether Cowper has re- 

 tained the high place which was accorded to him in 

 the surprise and delight of the new movement, is a 

 question which will lie answered according to indi- 

 vidual tastes and opinions, but there can l>e no 

 doubt that the publication of The Taxk had a most 

 powerful effect upon the literary tastes of the 

 time. 



It is characteristic of Cowper that on the de- 

 parture of Lady Austen, he fell for some time into 

 a little of his old melancholy, until in 1786 Lady 

 Hesketh appeared upon the scene, and the poet 

 accepted the new comforter in lieu of her who was 

 gone. His translation of Homer was carried on 

 under the influence of this new adviser, who was a 

 relation of his own, and consequently escaped the 

 imputation of wishing to marry mm. She procured 

 the removal of the sad poet and his ailing com- 

 panion to Weston- Underwood, where they made 

 acquaintance with the Throckmorton family, and 

 received much comfort and consolation in their 

 waning days. This move, as well as the trans- 

 lation of Homer, Newton, with whom Cowper 

 still kept up a correspondence, condemned with 

 almost Imital violence of language, and it is an 

 evidence of his temporary recovery of strength, that 

 Cowper defended himself without, however, losing 

 his temper. Against Newton's advice he continued 

 his translation, which brought him in at least a 

 little money if not much fame : and the money 

 was by this time much needed. In 1787 he had 

 another attack of his old ailment, and again 

 attempted suicide. From this attack he never 

 seems to have completely recovered, and when he 

 was almost at his worst, Mrs Unwin had a stroke of 

 paralysis which cast a gloom over this devoted pair 

 from 'which they never emerged. In 1794 a ]. en-ion 

 of 300 a year was assigned to him, but too late to 

 confer much comfort or relief. When Mix t'nwin 

 died in 1796 he heard the news without emotion, 

 and growing gradually weaker, died peacefully at 

 East Dereham, Norfolk, on the 25th of April 1800. 

 Curiously enough, out of the gloom of his last 

 waning vears came two of his most Iwautiful 

 and touching poems, the lines ' Addressed to My 

 Mother's Picture,' and those entitled ' My Mary.' 



Hayloy's Life first appeared in two volumes in 1803. 

 The later editions ( 1806, 1809, 1812) were in four volumes, 



