Sublime Gracia (Mayo 2024)
William Cowper, (nacido el 26 de noviembre de 1731, Great Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, Inglaterra, murió el 25 de abril de 1800, East Dereham, Norfolk), uno de los poetas ingleses más leídos de su época, cuyo trabajo más característico, como en The Task o la melodiosa letra corta "Los álamos", trajeron una nueva franqueza a la poesía natural del siglo XVIII.
Examen
(Una música) El mejor amigo del hombre
¿Cuál de estos tecladistas fue famoso por tocar el sintetizador?
Cowper escribió sobre las alegrías y las penas de la vida cotidiana y se contentó con describir las minucias del campo. En su simpatía por la vida rural, su preocupación por los pobres y oprimidos, y su simplicidad comparativa del lenguaje, puede ser visto como uno en rebelión contra muchos versos del siglo XVIII y como un precursor de Robert Burns, William Wordsworth y Samuel Taylor. Coleridge Si bien a menudo es gentilmente humorístico en su verso, la sensación de desolación que nunca estuvo muy por debajo de la superficie de su mente se revela en muchos de sus poemas, especialmente en "The Castaway".
Después de la muerte de su madre cuando tenía seis años, Cowper (pronunciado "Cooper"), hijo de un clérigo anglicano, fue enviado a un internado local. Luego se mudó a Westminster School, en Londres, y en 1750 comenzó a estudiar derecho. Fue llamado al bar en 1754 y ocupó cámaras en el Templo Medio de Londres en 1757. Durante sus días de estudiante se enamoró de su prima, Theodora Cowper, y durante un tiempo los dos estuvieron comprometidos. Pero Cowper comenzaba a mostrar signos de la inestabilidad mental que lo acosaba a lo largo de su vida. Su padre había muerto en 1756, dejando pocas riquezas, y la familia de Cowper utilizó su influencia para obtener dos puestos administrativos para él en la Cámara de los Lores, lo que implicó un examen formal. Esta perspectiva lo perturbó tanto que intentó suicidarse y estuvo confinado durante 18 meses en un asilo,preocupado por las dudas y temores religiosos y soñando persistentemente con su condena 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.
