Our wasted oil unprofitably burns,
Like hidden lamps in old sepulchral urns.
William Cowper Quotes
1731–1800 England
William Cowper (26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and hymnodist.
- England
- Hymnwriters
- Poets
- Translators
Also known as: Cowper, William
289 quotes
The Task (1785)
What is it but a map of busy life,
Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns?
The Task (1785)
He is the freeman whom the truth makes free,
And all are slaves besides.
The Task (1785)
A kick that scarce would move a horse
May kill a sound divine.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)
Glory, built
On selfish principles, is shame and guilt.
Table Talk (1782)
Doing good,
Disinterested good, is not our trade.
The Task (1785)
Built God a church, and laugh'd his word to scorn.
Retirement (1782)
Elegant as simplicity, and warm
As ecstasy.
Table Talk (1782)
Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk (1782)
The Task (1785)
Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk (1782)
Me howling winds drive devious, tempest-tossed,
Sails ripped, seams op'ning wide, and compass lost.
The poplars are felled, farewell to the shade
And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade.
Transforms old print
To zigzag manuscript, and cheats the eyes
Of gallery critics by a thousand arts.
The Task (1785)
Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.
The Task (1785)
Give what thou wilt, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.
The Task (1785)
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true,—
A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew.
The Task (1785)
She that asks
Her dear five hundred friends, contemns them all,
And hates their coming.
The Task (1785)
Attribution
Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Cowper (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.