Pleading For And With Youth.

Sin has undone our wretched race,
But Jesus has restored,
And brought the sinner face to face
With his forgiving Lord.


This we repeat, from year to year,
And press upon our youth;
Lord, give them an attentive ear,
Lord, save them by thy truth.


Blessings upon the rising race!
Make this a happy hour,
According to thy richest grace,
And thine almighty power.


We feel for your unhappy state
(May you regard it too),
And would awhile ourselves forge
To pour out prayer for you.


We see, though you perceive it not,
The approaching awful doom;
O tremble at the solemn thought,
And flee the wrath to come!


Dear Saviour, let this new-born year
Spread an alarm abroad;
And cry in every careless ear,
Prepare to meet thy God!

William Cowper

William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist known for his contributions to English literature and the Evangelical revival of the 18th century. He suffered from periods of severe depression and mental illness, which influenced much of his work. Despite his struggles, Cowper produced notable works including 'Olney Hymns' in collaboration with John Newton and 'The Task,' which gained considerable popularity. His poetry is often characterized by its introspective, religious, and sometimes melancholic themes.

William Cowper

To A Young Friend, On His Arriving At Cambridge Wet, When No Rain Had Fallen There.

William Cowper, Simple Poetry

From A Letter To The Rev. Mr. Newton, Late Rector Of St. Mary Woolnoth.

William Cowper, Simple Poetry

On The Promotion Of Edward Thurlow, Esq. To The Lord High Chancellorship Of England.

William Cowper, Simple Poetry

A Fable.

William Cowper, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Prayer For A Blessing On The Young.

Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth
The gift of saving grace;
And let the seed of sacred truth
Fall in a fruitful place.


Grace is a plant, whereer it grows,
Of pure and heavenly root;
But fairest in the youngest shows,
And yields the sweetest fruit.


Ye careless ones, O hear betimes
The voice of sovereign love!
Your youth is staind with many crimes,
But mercy reigns above.


True, you are young, but theres a stone
Within the youngest breast;
Or half the crimes which you have done
Would rob you of your rest.


For you the public prayer is made,
Oh! join the public prayer!
For you the secret tear is shed,
Oh! shed yourselves a tear!


We pray that you may early prove
The Spirits powe...

William Cowper

Mourning And Longing.

The Saviour hides his face!
My spirit thirsts to prove
Renewd supplies of pardoning grace,
And never-fading love.


The favourd souls who know
What glories shine in him,
Pant for his presence as the roe
Pants for the living stream!


What trifles tease me now!
They swarm like summer flies,
They cleave to everything I do,
And swim before my eyes.


How dull the Sabbath-day,
Without the Sabbaths Lord!
How toilsome then to sing and pray,
And wait upon the word!


Of all the truths I hear,
How few delight my taste!
I glean a berry here and there,
But mourn the vintage past.


Yet let me (as I ought)
Still hope to be supplied;
No pleasure else is worth a thought,
Nor shall I be ...

William Cowper

A Hymn, For The Use Of The Sunday School At Olney.

Hear, Lord, the song of praise and prayer
In heaven thy dwelling-place,
From infants made the public care,
And taught to seek thy face.


Thanks for thy word and for thy day,
And grant us, we implore,
Never to waste in sinful play
Thy holy Sabbaths more.


Thanks that we hearbut O! impart
To each desires sincere,
That we may listen with our heart,
And learn as well as hear.


For if vain thoughts the mind engage
Of older far than we,
What hope, that, at our heedless age,
Our minds should eer be free?


Much hope, if thou our spirits take
Under thy gracious sway,
Who canst the wisest wiser make,
And babes as wise as they.


Wisdom and bliss thy word bestows,
A sun that neer declines,<...

William Cowper

The New Convert.

The new-born child of gospel grace,
Like some fair tree when summers nigh,
Beneath Emmanuels shining face
Lifts up his blooming branch on high.


No fears he feels, he sees no foes,
No conflict yet his faith employs,
Nor has he learnt to whom he owes
The strength and peace his soul enjoys.


But sin soon darts its cruel sting,
And comforts sinking day by day:
What seemd his own, a self-fed spring,
Proves but a brook that glides away.


When Gideon armd his numerous host,
The Lord soon made his numbers less;
And said, Lest Israel vainly boast,^[1]
My arm procured me this success.


Thus will he bring our spirits down,
And draw our ebbing comforts low,
That, saved by grace, but not our own,

William Cowper

On Opening A Place For Social Prayer.

Jesus! whereer thy people meet,
There they behold thy mercy seat;
Whereer thy seek thee, thou art found,
And every place is hallowd ground.


For thou, within no walls confined,
Inhabitest the humble mind;
Such ever bring thee where they come,
And going, take thee to their home.


Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few!
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving name.


Here may we prove the power of prayer,
To strengthen faith and sweeten care;
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heaven before our eyes.


Behold, at thy commanding word
We stretch the curtain and the cord;^[1]
Come thou and fill this wider space,
And bless us with a la...

William Cowper

An Epistle To An Afflicted Protestant Lady In France.

Madam,A strangers purpose in these lays
Is to congratulate, and not to praise.
To give the creature the Creators due
Were sin in me, and an offence to you.
From man to man, or een to woman paid,
Praise is the medium of a knavish trade,
A coin by craft for follys use designd,
Spurious, and only current with the blind.
The path of sorrow, and that path alone,
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown;
No traveller ever reachd that blest abode,
Who found not thorns and briers in his road.
The world may dance along the flowery plain,
Cheerd as they go by many a sprightly strain,
Where Nature has her mossy velvet spread,
With unshod feet they yet securely tread,
Admonishd, scorn the caution and the friend,
Bent all on pleasure, heedless of its end.

William Cowper