Sublime Gracia (Pode 2024)
William Cowper (nascido em 26 de novembro de 1731, Great Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, Inglaterra - morreu em 25 de abril de 1800, East Dereham, Norfolk), um dos poetas ingleses mais lidos em sua época, cujo trabalho mais característico, como em The Task ou a melodiosa letra curta "The Poplar Trees", trouxe uma nova franqueza à poesia da natureza do século XVIII.
Questionário
(A Music) O melhor amigo do homem
Qual desses tecladistas era famoso por tocar o sintetizador?
Cowper escreveu sobre as alegrias e tristezas da vida cotidiana e se contentou em descrever as minúcias do campo. Em sua simpatia pela vida rural, sua preocupação com os pobres e oprimidos e sua simplicidade comparativa de linguagem, ele pode ser visto como uma revolta contra muitos versos do século XVIII e como um precursor de Robert Burns, William Wordsworth e Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Embora ele seja freqüentemente bem-humorado em seu verso, o sentimento de desolação que nunca esteve muito abaixo da superfície de sua mente é revelado em muitos de seus poemas, especialmente "The Castaway".
Após a morte de sua mãe, quando ele tinha seis anos, Cowper (pronuncia-se "Cooper"), filho de um clérigo anglicano, foi enviado para um internato local. Ele então se mudou para a Westminster School, em Londres, e em 1750 começou a estudar direito. Ele foi chamado ao bar em 1754 e passou a morar no templo do meio de Londres em 1757. Durante os dias de estudante, ele se apaixonou por sua prima, Theodora Cowper, e por um tempo os dois ficaram noivos. Mas Cowper estava começando a mostrar sinais da instabilidade mental que o atormentou ao longo de sua vida. Seu pai morreu em 1756, deixando pouca riqueza, e a família de Cowper usou sua influência para obter dois cargos administrativos para ele na Câmara dos Lordes, o que exigiu um exame formal. Essa perspectiva o perturbou tanto que ele tentou se suicidar e ficou confinado por 18 meses em um asilo,perturbado por dúvidas e medos religiosos e sonhando persistentemente com sua condenação predestinada.
Religion, however, also provided the comfort of Cowper’s convalescence, which he spent at Huntingdon, lodging with the Reverend Morley Unwin, his wife Mary, and their small family. Pious Calvinists, the Unwins supported the evangelical revival, then a powerful force in English society. In 1767 Morley Unwin was killed in a riding accident, and his family, with Cowper, took up residence at Olney, in Buckinghamshire. The curate there, John Newton, a leader of the revival, encouraged Cowper in a life of practical evangelism; however, the poet proved too frail, and his doubt and melancholy returned. Cowper collaborated with Newton on a book of religious verse, eventually published as Olney Hymns (1779).
In 1773 thoughts of marriage with Mary Unwin were ended by Cowper’s relapse into near madness. When he recovered the following year, his religious fervour was gone. Newton departed for London in 1780, and Cowper again turned to writing poetry; Mrs. Unwin suggested the theme for “The Progress of Error,” six moral satires. Other works, such as “Conversation” and “Retirement,” reflected his comparative cheerfulness at this time.
Cowper was friendly with Lady Austen, a widow living nearby, who told him a story that he made into a ballad, “The Journey of John Gilpin,” which was sung all over London after it was printed in 1783. She also playfully suggested that he write about a sofa—an idea that grew into The Task. This long discursive poem, written “to recommend rural ease and leisure,” was an immediate success on its publication in 1785. Cowper then moved to Weston, a neighbouring village, and began translating Homer. His health suffered under the strain, however, and there were occasional periods of mental illness. His health continued to deteriorate, and in 1795 he moved with Mary Unwin to live near a cousin in Norfolk, finally settling at East Dereham. Mrs. Unwin, a permanent invalid since 1792, died in December 1796, and Cowper sank into despair from which he never emerged.
Robert Southey edited his writings in 15 volumes between 1835 and 1837. Cowper is also considered one of the best letter writers in English, and some of his hymns, such as “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” and “Oh! For a Closer Walk with God,” have become part of the folk heritage of Protestant England. The Letters and Prose Writings, in two volumes, edited by James King and Charles Ryskamp, was published in 1979–80.
