William Cowper
1731-1800 18th century
Faith held by a man who cannot feel it, and friendship keeping alive what the darkness would put out.
Who was William Cowper?
An English poet, he spent his life crossing depressions so black that they repeatedly took him to the asylum and to the edge of suicide. Settled at Olney beside his friend the curate John Newton, he wrote a book of hymns with him, then the long poems that made his name. Certainty of being loved by God never came back to him as an argument; it came back through verse, through the hares he kept, the garden, the friendship.
In their own words
I was a stricken deer, that left the herd long since; with many an arrow deep infix'd my panting side was charg'd, when I withdrew to seek a tranquil death in distant shades. There was I found by one, who had himself been hurt by th' archers.
God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
The dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee.