Men deal with life as children with their play, Who first misuse, then cast their toys away. — William Cowper Casts Copy Share Image
Learning itself, received into a mind By nature weak, or viciously inclined, Serves but to lead philosophers astray, Where children would with… — William Cowper Children Copy Share Image
The earth was made so various, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change, And pleased with novelty, might be indulged. — William Cowper Change Copy Share Image
To trace in Nature's most minute design The signature and stamp of power divine. ... The Invisible in things scarce seen revealed,… — William Cowper Atoms Copy Share Image
Unless a love of virtue light the flame, Satire is, more than those he brands, to blame; He hides behind a magisterial… — William Cowper Air Copy Share Image
Transforms old print To zigzag manuscript, and cheats the eyes Of gallery critics by a thousand arts. — William Cowper Art Copy Share Image
Tis pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat, To peep at such a world; to see the stir Of the Great Babel, and… — William Cowper Babel Copy Share Image
We bear our shades about us; self-deprived Of other screen, the thin umbrella spread, And range an Indian waste without a tree. — William Cowper Bears Copy Share Image
The Frenchman, easy, debonair, and brisk, Give him his lass, his fiddle, and his frisk, Is always happy, reign whoever may, And… — William Cowper Always happy Copy Share Image
Scenes must be beautiful which daily view'd Please daily, and whose novelty survives Long knowledge and the scrutiny of years. — William Cowper Beautiful Copy Share Image
A heretic, my dear sir, is a fellow who disagrees with you regarding something neither of you knows anything about. — William Cowper Atheism Copy Share Image
Strange as it may seem, the most ludicrous lines I ever wrote have been written in the saddest mood. — William Cowper Contrast Copy Share Image
What is there in the vale of lifeHalf so delightful as a wife;When friendship, love and peace combineTo stamp the marriage-bond divine? — William Cowper Anniversary Copy Share Image
A glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun, It gives a light to every age, It gives, but borrows none. — William Cowper Age Copy Share Image
All truth is precious, if not all divine; and what dilates the powers must needs refine. — William Cowper Divine Copy Share Image
Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little; we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for… — William Cowper Existence Copy Share Image
How fleet is a glance of the mind! Compared with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself lags behind, And the… — William Cowper Arrows Copy Share Image
In the vast, and the minute, we see The unambiguous footsteps of the God, Who gives its lustre to an insect's wing… — William Cowper Creation Copy Share Image
Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never… — William Cowper Deceit Copy Share Image
Greece, sound, thy Homer's, Rome thy Virgil's name, But England's Milton equals both in fame. — William Cowper England Copy Share Image
As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone, And hides the ruin that it feeds upon, So sophistry, cleaves close to, and… — William Cowper Concealing Copy Share Image
Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, Exhilirate the spirit, and restore The tone of languid nature. — William Cowper Country life Copy Share Image
The rich are too indolent, the poor too weak, to bear the insupportable fatigue of thinking. — William Cowper Bears Copy Share Image
No wisdom that she may gain by experience and reflection hereafter, will compensate the loss of her present hilarity. — William Cowper Cat Copy Share Image
Lived in his saddle, loved the chase, the course, And always, ere he mounted, kiss'd his horse. — William Cowper Courses Copy Share Image
Remorse, the fatal egg by pleasure laid, In every bosom where her nest is made, Hatched by the beams of truth, denies… — William Cowper Beam Copy Share Image
Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, Have oft-times no connection. Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men; Wisdom… — William Cowper Connections Copy Share Image
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, and frustrates hope severer than despair. — William Cowper Absence Copy Share Image
Necessity invented stools, Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs, And luxury the accomplish'd Sofa last. — William Cowper Accomplish Copy Share Image
An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path. But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will… — William Cowper Crush Copy Share Image
Solitude, seeming a sanctuary, proves a grave; a sepulchre in which the living lie, where all good qualities grow sick and die — William Cowper Dies Copy Share Image
Then liberty, like day, Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from Heaven Fires all the faculties with glorious joy. — William Cowper Break Copy Share Image
Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees, Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze. — William Cowper Blossoms Copy Share Image
Thieves at home must hang; but he that puts Into his overgorged and bloated purse The wealth of Indian provinces, escapes. — William Cowper Corruption Copy Share Image
Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright; And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon… — William Cowper Armor Copy Share Image
He that has seen both sides of fifty has lived to little purpose if he has no other views of the world… — William Cowper Both sides Copy Share Image
Call'd to the temple of impure delight He that abstains, and he alone, does right. If a wish wander that way, call… — William Cowper Delight Copy Share Image
Pernicious weed! whose scent the fair annoys, Unfriendly to society's chief joys: Thy worst effect is banishing for hours The sex whose… — William Cowper Annoying Copy Share Image
Heaven speed the canvas, gallantly unfurl'd, To furnish and accommodate a world, To give the Pole the produce of the sun, And… — William Cowper Accommodate Copy Share Image
'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume; And we are weeds without it. — William Cowper Fleeting Copy Share Image
