William Cowper- Collected Poetical Works
Page 60
For There thou shalt be read
With authors of exalted note,
The ancient glorious Lights of Greece and Rome.
Epode
Ye, then my works, no longer vain
And worthless deem’d by me!
Whate’er this steril genius has produc’d
Expect, at last, the rage of Envy spent,
An unmolested happy home,
Gift of kind Hermes and my watchful friend,
Where never flippant tongue profane
Shall entrance find,
And whence the coarse unletter’d multitude
Shall babble far remote.
Perhaps some future distant age
Less tinged with prejudice and better taught
Shall furnish minds of pow’r
To judge more equally.
Then, malice silenced in the tomb,
Cooler heads and sounder hearts,
Thanks to Rouse, if aught of praise
I merit, shall with candour weigh the claim.
VERSES TO THE MEMORY OF DR. LLOYD.
Spoken At The Westminster Election Next After His Decease.
Our good old friend is gone; gone to his rest,
Whose social converse was itself a feast.
O ye of riper years, who recollect
How once ye loved, and eyed him with respect,
Both in the firmness of his better day,
While yet he ruled you with a father’s sway,
And when, impair’d by time, and glad to rest,
Yet still with looks in mild complacence drest,
He took his annual seat, and mingled here
His sprightly vein with yours — now drop a tear!
In morals blameless, as in manners meek,
He knew no wish that he might blush to speak,
But, happy in whatever state below,
And richer than the rich in being so,
Obtain’d the hearts of all, and such a meed
At length from one[] as made him rich indeed.
Hence then, ye titles, hence, not wanted here!
Go! garnish merit in a higher sphere,
The brows of those, whose more exalted lot
He could congratulate, but envied not!
Light lie the turf, good senior, on thy breast;
And tranquil, as thy mind was, be thy rest.
Though, living, thou hadst more desert than fame,
And not a stone now chronicles thy name!
VERSES TO THE MEMORY OF DR. LLOYD (II).
TH’ old man, our amiable old man is gone —
Second in harmless pleasantry to none.
Ye, once his pupils, who with rev’rence just
View’d him, as all that were his pupils must,
Whether, his health yet firm, he gently strove
To rear and form you with a parent’s love,
Or worn with age, and pleas’d to be at large,
He came still mindful of his former charge,
To smile on this glad circle ev’ry year,
And charm you with his humour, drop a tear.
Simplicity grac’d all his blameless life,
And he was kind, and gentle, hating strife.
Content was the best wealth he ever shar’d,
Though all men pay’d him love, and one, reward.
Ye titles! we have here no need of you,
Go, give the Great ones their eulogium due,
If Fortune more on others chose to shine,
’Twas not in Him to murmur or repine.
Placid old man! the turf upon thy breast,
May it lie lightly, sacred be thy rest;
Though, living, thou hadst none thy fame to spread,
Nor ev’n a stone to chronicle thee, dead.
MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION TO WILLIAM NORTHCOT.
Farewell! ‘But not for ever,’ Hope replies,
Trace but his steps and meet him in the skies!
There nothing shall renew our parting pain,
Thou shalt not wither nor I weep again.
ON THE SHORTNESS OF HUMAN LIFE.
SUNS that set, and moons that wane,
Rise and are restored again;
Stars that orient day subdues,
Night at her return renews.
Herbs and flowers, the beauteous birth
Of the genial womb of earth,
Suffer but a transient death
From the winter’s cruel breath.
Zephyr speaks; serener skies
Warm the glebe, and they arise.
We, alas! earth’s haughty kings,
We, that promise mighty things,
Losing soon life’s happy prime,
Droop, and fade, in little time.
Spring returns, but not our bloom;
Still ’tis winter in the tomb.
Olney Hymns
The Olney Hymns was first published in February 1779 and is the combined work of Cowper and his friend the curate John Newton. Composed for use in Newton’s rural parish which was made up of relatively poor and uneducated followers, the hymns serve as an illustration of the potent ideologies of the Evangelical movement, to which both men belonged and were present in many communities in England at the time. The collection, containing Newton’s famous hymn ‘Amazing Grace!’, was very popular and by 1836 there had been thirty-seven recorded editions. As hymn-singing gained popularity in the nineteenth century, many of the hymns were reproduced in other hymn-books and pamphlets.
The Buckinghamshire town from which the hymns received their name, Olney, was, at the time of first publication, a market town of about 2,000 people. Around 1,200 of these were employed in its main, poorly paid, lace-making industry. As a result Olney’s population was principally of a low income status. Cowper is said to have described his neighbours as ‘the half-starved and ragged of the earth’. The Olney Hymns were, however, written primarily with this poor and under-educated population in mind.
The Olney Hymns was in part an expression of Newton and Cowper’s personal religious faith and experience, and a reflection of the principal tenets of the Evangelical faith: the inherent sinfulness of man; religious conversion; atonement; activism; devotion to the Bible; God’s providence; and the belief in an eternal life after death. However, the hymns were primarily written for immediate and day-to-day use in Newton’s ministry of Olney. Here they were sung, or chanted, in church or at Newton’s other Sunday and weekday meetings as a collective expression of worship. Hymn singing, though, was not without controversy, particularly within the official church, the Church of England. By the 1760s hymns had become an established feature of religious devotion in the Evangelical church, where early hymns were versifications of the biblical text of the psalms, known as metrical psalms. To the Church of England hymns other than metrical psalms were of questionable legality until the 1820s, as they were not explicitly sanctioned by the Book of Common Prayer. As a consequence, many church leaders reserved hymn-singing to meetings other than the main Sunday services, and for private or household devotions.
This collection contains all the hymns composed by Cowper, as well as Newton’s famous Amazing Grace!
John Henry Newton (1725-1807) became ordained as an evangelical Anglican cleric, serving Olney for two decades, writing many influential hymns, including ‘Amazing Grace!’ and ‘Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken’.
CONTENTS
I. WALKING WITH GOD. — Genesis v.24.
II. JEHOVAH-JIREH. THE LORD WILL PROVIDE. — Genesis xxii.14.
III. JEHOVAH-ROPHI. I AM THE LORD THAT HEALETH THEE. — Exodus xv.26.
IV. JEHOVAH-NISSI. THE LORD MY BANNER. — Exodus xvii.15.
V. JEHOVAH-SHALOM. THE LORD SEND PEACE. — Judges vi.24.
VI. WISDOM. — Proverbs viii.22-31.
VII. VANITY OF THE WORLD.
VIII. O LORD, I WILL PRAISE THEE. — Isaiah xii.1.
IX. THE CONTRITE HEART. — Isaiah lvii.15.
X. THE FUTURE PEACE
AND GLORY OF THE CHURCH. — Isaiah ix.15-20.
XI. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. — Jeremiah xxiii.6.
XII. EPHRAIM REPENTING. — Jeremiah xxxi.18-20.
XIII. THE COVENANT. — Ezekiel xxxvi.25-28.
XIV. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH. — Ezekiel xlviii.35.
XV. PRAISE FOR THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. — Zechariah xiii.1.
XVI. THE SOWER. — Matthew xiii.3.
XVII. THE HOUSE OF PRAYER. — Mark xi.17.
XVIII. LOVEST THOU ME? — John xxi.16.
XIX. CONTENTMENT. — Philippians iv.11.
XX. OLD TESTAMENT GOSPEL. — Hebrews iv.2.
XXI. SARDIS. — Revelation iii.1-6.
XXII. PRAYER FOR A BLESSING ON THE YOUNG.
XXIII. PLEADING FOR AND WITH YOUTH.
XXIV. PRAYER FOR CHILDREN.
XXV. JEHOVAH JESUS.
XXVI. ON OPENING A PLACE FOR SOCIAL PRAYER.
XXVII. WELCOME TO THE TABLE.
XXVIII. JESUS HASTING TO SUFFER.
XXIX. EXHORTATION TO PRAYER.
XXX. THE LIGHT AND GLORY OF THE WORD.
XXXI. ON THE DEATH OF A MINISTER.
XXXII. THE SHINING LIGHT.
XXXIII. SEEKING THE BELOVED.
XXXIV. THE WAITING SOUL.
XXXV. WELCOME CROSS.
XXXVI. AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD.
XXXVII. TEMPTATION.
XXXVIII. LOOKING UPWARDS IN A STORM.
XXXIX. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.
XL. PEACE AFTER A STORM.
XLI. MOURNING AND LONGING.
XLII. SELF-ACQUAINTANCE.
XLIII. PRAYER FOR PATIENCE.
XLIV. SUBMISSION.
XLV. THE HAPPY CHANGE.
XLVI. RETIREMENT.
XLVII. THE HIDDEN LIFE.
XLVIII. JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING.
XLIX. TRUE PLEASURES.
L. THE CHRISTIAN.
LI. LIVELY HOPE AND GRACIOUS FEAR.
LII. FOR THE POOR.
LIII. MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD.
LIV. LOVE CONSTRAINING TO OBEDIENCE.
LV. THE HEART HEALED AND CHANGED BY MERCY.
LVI. HATRED OF SIN.
LVII. THE NEW CONVERT.
LVIII. TRUE AND FALSE COMFORTS.
LIX. A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH.
LX. ABUSE OF THE GOSPEL.
LXI. THE NARROW WAY.
LXII. DEPENDENCE.
LXIII. NOT OF WORKS.
LXIV. PRAISE FOR FAITH.
LXV. GRACE AND PROVIDENCE.
LXVI. I WILL PRAISE THE LORD AT ALL TIMES.
LXVII. LONGING TO BE WITH CHRIST.
LXVIII. LIGHT SHINING OUT OF DARKNESS.
HYMN FOR THE USE OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AT OLNEY
AMAZING GRACE! by John Newton
I. WALKING WITH GOD. — Genesis v.24.
Oh! for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!
Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus and his word?
What peaceful hours I once enjoy’d!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.
Return, O holy Dove, return!
Sweet messenger of rest:
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame:
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
II. JEHOVAH-JIREH. THE LORD WILL PROVIDE. — Genesis xxii.14.
The saints should never be dismay’d,
Nor sink in hopeless fear;
For when they least expect his aid,
The Saviour will appear.
This Abraham found: he raised the knife;
God saw, and said, “Forbear!
Yon ram shall yield his meaner life;
Behold the victim there.”
Once David seem’d Saul’s certain prey;
But hark! the foe’s at hand;
Saul turns his arms another way,
To save the invaded land.
When Jonah sunk beneath the wave,
He thought to rise no more;
But God prepared a fish to save,
And bear him to the shore.
Blest proofs of power and grace divine,
That meet us in his word!
May every deep-felt care of mine
Be trusted with the Lord.
Wait for his seasonable aid,
And though it tarry, wait:
The promise may be long delay’d,
But cannot come too late.
III. JEHOVAH-ROPHI. I AM THE LORD THAT HEALETH THEE. — Exodus xv.26.
Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are,
Waiting to feel thy touch:
Deep-wounded souls to thee repair,
And, Saviour, we are such.
Our faith is feeble, we confess,
We faintly trust thy word;
But wilt thou pity us the less?
Be that far from thee, Lord!
Remember him who once applied,
With trembling, for relief;
“Lord, I believe,” with tears he cried,
“Oh, help my unbelief!”
She too, who touch’d thee in the press,
And healing virtue stole,
Was answer’d, “Daughter, go in peace,
Thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Conceal’d amid the gathering throng,
She would have shunn’d thy view;
And if her faith was firm and strong,
Had strong misgivings too.
Like her, with hopes and fears we come,
To touch thee, if we may;
Oh! send us not despairing home,
Send none unheal’d away.
IV. JEHOVAH-NISSI. THE LORD MY BANNER. — Exodus xvii.15.
By whom was David taught
To aim the deadly blow,
When he Goliath fought,
And laid the Gittite low?
Nor sword nor spear the stripling took,
But chose a pebble from the brook.
’Twas Israel’s God and King
Who sent him to the fight;
Who gave him strength to sling,
And skill to aim aright.
Ye feeble saints, your strength endures,
Because young David’s God is yours.
Who order’d Gideon forth,
To storm the invader’s camp,
With arms of little worth,
A pitcher and a lamp?
The trumpets made his coming known,
And all the host was overthrown.
Oh! I have seen the day,
When, with a single word,
God helping me to say,
My trust is in the Lord,
My soul hath quell’d a thousand foes,
Fearless of all that could oppose.
But unbelief, self-will,
Self-righteousness, and pride,
How often do they steal
My weapon from my side!
Yet David’s Lord, and Gideon’s friend,
Will help his servant to the end.
V. JEHOVAH-SHALOM. THE LORD SEND PEACE. — Judges vi.24.
Jesus, whose blood so freely stream’d,
To satisfy the law’s demand;
By thee from guilt and wrath redeem’d,
Before the Father’s face I stand.
To reconcile offending man,
Make Justice drop her angry rod;
What creature could have form’d the plan,
Or who fulfil it but a God?
No drop remains of all the curse,
For wretches who deserved the whole;
No arrows dipt in wrath to pierce
The guilty but returning soul.
Peace by such means so dearly bought,
What rebel could have hoped to see?
Peace, by his injured Sovereign wrought,
His Sovereign fasten’d to a tree.
Now, Lord, thy feeble worm prepare!
For strife with earth and hell begins;
Confirm and guard me for the war,
They hate the soul that hates his sins.
Let them in horrid league agree!
They may assault, they may distress;
But cannot quench thy love to me,
Nor rob me of the Lord, my peace.
VI. WISDOM. — Proverbs viii.22-31.
Ere God had built the mountains,
Or raised the fruitful hills;
Before he fill’d the fountains
That feed the running rills;
In me, from everlasting,
The wonderful I AM,
Found pleasures never-wasting,
And Wisdom is my name.
When, like a tent to dwell in,
He spread the skies abroad,
And swathed about the swelling
Of Ocean’s mighty flood;
He wrought by weight and measure,
And I was with him then:
Myself the Father’s pleasure,
And mine, the sons of men,
Thus Wisdom’s words discover
Thy glory and thy grace,
Thou everlasting lover
Of our unworthy race!
Thy gracious eye survey’d us
Ere stars were seen above;
In wisdom thou hast made us,
And died for us in love.
And couldst thou be delighted
With creatures such as we,
Who, when we saw thee, slighted
And nail’d thee to a tree?