A Portrait of William Cowper: His Own Interpreter in Letters and Poems

A readable and scholarly study of William Cowper (1731-1800), the renowned British poet perhaps best known today for his Olney Hymns, written with John Newton (author of "Amazing Grace"). This faithful recounting of Cowper's life lets him tell his own story in his own words. A generous selection of Cowper's poems displays the timeless and natural style that charmed Benjamin Franklin and influenced William Blake. Cowper's lively letters, often filled with warmth and dry humor, include vivid descriptions of his battles with despair. They also reveal his deep Christian faith and love of nature. Louise B. Risk deftly sorts through his work and letters, and the best of modern scholarship on the relationship between mental illness and creativity, to produce a compelling and vivid portrait.