COWPER'S LANDSCAPE 85 



overspreads in times of flood. The slopes rise softly 

 from the river-plain, now projecting, now retreating, 

 as the valley winds from side to side. A gentle ascent 

 brings us from the banks of the Ouse up to the 

 highest part of the ground in the vicinity, and places 

 before our eyes a wide sweep of rich agricultural 

 country, with peeps of village spires and gleams of 

 the winding river. 



Such were the simple elements of Cowper's land- 

 scape. They have no special attraction that is not 

 shared by hundreds of other similar scenes in the 

 Oolitic tracts of England. To the cursory visitor they 

 may even seem tame and commonplace. And yet for 

 us, apart from any mere beauty they may possess, they 

 have been for ever glorified" and consecrated by the 

 imagination of the poet. We see in them the natural 

 features which soothed his sorrow and gladdened his 

 heart, and which became the sources of an inspiration 

 that breathed fresh life into the poetry of England. 

 The lapse of time has left the scene essentially un- 

 changed. We may take the same walks that Cowper 

 loved, and see the same prospects that charmed his 

 eyes and filled his verse. In so following his steps, 

 we note the accuracy and felicity of his descriptions, 

 and appreciate more vividly the poetic genius which, 

 out of such simple materials, could work such a 

 permanent change in the attitude of his countrymen 

 towards nature. As an illustration of his treatment 

 of landscape let me cite the well-known passage 

 descriptive of the walk between Olney and Weston 



4 How oft upon yon eminence our pace 

 Has slackened to a pause, and we have borne 



