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1960Helmocr.Pdf (1.829Mb) A CRIT I CAL ANALYSIS OF WILLI AM COW PER'S POEM S A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH IN THE GR AD UATE SCHOOL OF THE TEXAS WOMAN'S UN IVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AN D SCIEN CE S BY JUANITA MOHON HELM , B. A. DENTON, TEXAS AUGUST, 1960 •;. , ' i ' Texas Woman's University University Hill Denton, Texas ______________ _______________ _A_u.g_u_s_t_._____ 19 6..0____ _ We hereby recommend that the thesis prepared under om supervision by --=J_,,u,,_,a"-'n~1~· t=-=a~M,~o"""'h,.__,o~n~H=e-=l=m~-------- entitled A Cr i t i ca 1 An a 1 y: s i s of Wi l li am Cow p_e r v s__ _ Poems be accepted as fulfilling this part of the requirements for the Degree of Mas ter o f Arts . Committee: Chairman · Clb\;:t:a #ll\C?J..L ;f., . ~~ dk~d2/c-.~ G e 9 PREFA CE When I began my s tudy of William Cowper , I wa s a ma z ed and a lmost overwhelmed by him; the gentleness of h is nature I mist oo k f or effeminacy ; h is re l igi ou s turmo ils , f or fanaticism; his desire f or s eclusi on , f or e cc entri c ity. The more I read, h owever, t he more fa sc inated I becam e. It wa s only after I had read hi s wo r ks t hat I began t o un d erstand him as a person. I lea rned t ha t he wa s fearles s in seeking the truth , t ha t he believed in t h e integrity of hi s own judgment, hated in s incerity and a f fe ctati on , and gen uinely l oved hi s fellow man . I came t o admire hi s regard f or justice and hi s very r ea l s ympathy f or t he poor--thei r ha r d ­ s hips and suffering--as evidenced in hi s l ett e rs and his poetry. Hi s work s erved to e l evate h umble life to an honor­ ab le and stately p l ace a s poetic materia l . His love of freed om was apparent in many issues · but was most s tartling in hi s desi re to give the political fr eed om of Engli s hmen t o a ll slaves everywhe re and t o give t he freed om of Chri s tian s t o a ll pe ople he ld in spiritua l bo ndage. It wa s clear that Cowper conceived of Chri s tianity a s a me an s f or righting th e wrong s of t he wo rld. It i s unf ortunate t ha t he became so entangl e d in hi s own fear s an d doubt s t ha t hi s e nti re life wa s influenc ed by them. iii Few men have been the center of more co ntroversy than ha s William Cowper. His life is a pathetic s t ory of a shy and timid geniu s wh o f ound the wor l d of men t oo r ough and wh o withdrew to nature like a wounded anima l . The event s in his life are few but rema r kab l e. He was the victim of fear , d o ubt, me l anch oly, and madness. He was a man of fine taste, tender feelings, and p l ain s incer ity; he wr ote ab out the simpler things of life that inter ested and t ouched him. He ha s been ca l led the mos t s en s itive and morbidly s eri ou s of all the Engli s h poe t s. Hi s positi on a s the fir s t Eng l i s h poet t o champi on the new mi ss i onary impul s e exten s ively in hi s ver se s eem s t o be un c hal l enged. He i s al so kn own a s one of the g r ea t e st of t he Eng l i s h l e tter wri t ers. Sc ho lars have devot ed them s e l ve s t o a st udy of t hi s ext remely s hy and painfu l ly fearfu l man. De fini t e rea son s f or hi s re c urring s eizures of melanch oly and in s anity have been sought and propos ed but never estab l i s hed. I n thi s s t udy I d o no t offe r any conc l usi on s or reas on s of my own co ncer ning this psych o l ogica l pro b l em , a l th ough I am attempting pr ima r i l y t o s tudy the background and organic structure of the poetry of Co wper . I sh ow that hi s th oughts , words , and deed s were tinged with the fee l ing s of s e l f- do ubt , the fear of damna tion , the ab s enc e of s a l vati on , and th e un c ertainty o f the everla s t i ng g r a c e of Go d in hi s own life . iv I ackn owledge my debt t o the bi ogra phe r s of William Cowper--Th oma s Wright , Lor d Davi d Ce c il , Lodw i c k Hartley , and Maurice Quin l an--and to the edi t or s of t he l e tte r s and poetica l wo rk s o f Wi l liam Cow pe r. I am g r atefu l t o t he l ibrarian s of Texa s Woman 's University f or t he ir co urtesy and patien c e and t o the committee member s wh o read this thesis: Dr . Constance Beach and Dr . Glady s Madd ocks. I wish a l s o t o express my sin c ere appreciati on to Dr. Autrey Ne ll Wi l ey, wh o se aid and encouragement were inva l uable t o me. Mo st of a ll, I wi s h t o thank my husband, my c hi l dren, and my s teadfa st friend f or being my wa s teba s ket-emptiers , my argumen t - s e t t l ers , and my s ympathetic li s teners, and f or s haring thei r home and pa t ien c e with a lowl y resear c her f or s uch a · long whil e . It wa s they wh o rea l ly made thi s t he s i s po ss ible. J uani t a Mo hon He l m J uly 14 , 1900 V TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE iii CHAPTE R PA GE I. THE POET SPEAKING 1 Purpose of the Study 1 Cowper 's Early Poems 1 First poem. 1 Imitative style 2 "Delia" po em s . 3 Gloomy poetry 5 Pers on a l opinion of death and life. 6 Unusual ideas on love and marriage . 7 Increasing insecurity 8 Final de spair . 8 Loss of h is mistress 9 Accumulation of fears . 10 Insanity . 11 Cowperrs Conversion to Evangelism. 12 Mean ing of Evangeli s m . 13 Be g inning of Evangelism 14 John We s ley 's teaching s and their influence . 14 Church 's pos iti o n and influence. 14 vi CHAPTER . PA GE Cowper and Evangelism 15 Role of Dr. Cotton 15 Desire for seclusion 16 Cowper and the Olney Hy mns. 17 Hymn of happiness . 17 Hy mn showing vast Biblical know l edge 18 Hy mn showing a Calvinistic strain . 18 Hy mn of c onversion . 18 Hy mns showing returning doubt and uncertainty . 19 Return of insanity. 20 Influence of Mrs. Unwin. 22 Dev ot i on of John Newt on. 23 Recovery . 23 Intere s t in birds and anima ls. 23 Interes t in c arpentry . 23 Inte r e st in gardening . 23 Interest in drawing . 23 Mo ral Satires. 24 Overall design of the satire s 24 Pers onal revelations in the poems 24 Attraction of nature a s revealed in the poems . 25 Definite ideas abou t man and the universe 27 vii CHAPTER . PAGE Lasting impressions and hints of the future . 32 Lady Jane Aus ten and The Task . 33 Appearance of Lady Jane Austen . 33 Her influence. 34 "John Gilpin" 34 "The So fa ". 35 Pu r pose of The Task 35 Begun t o please Lady Austen . 35 Continued f or Mrs. Unwin 36 Ro les of the Poet in Th e Task. 36 The recluse 36 The patriot 36 Th e h ome- l ovi ng man . 36 The man interested in current events. 37 The tender-hearted. 37 The sympathetic . 37 The social worker 38 The de s criptive p oet. 38 The man him s elf 39 Poems of Later Life. 39 "Ti r ocinium".
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