William Cowper: The Man of God's Stamp

by George Melvyn Ella

William Cowper was an eighteenth-century Evangelical poet and translator, reowned for his celebrated gifts and genius. He is considered one of the most skillful poets and hymn-writers that England has ever produced. Although highly-acclaimed for his poetry in literary and religious circles, the difficult life and deep faith of Cowperhave frequently been misunderstood and misinterpreted. In this volume, Dr. George Ella takes a fresh look at the poet and shows how God's stamp thoroughliy penetrated Cowper's verse. From the themes, inspiration and theology of his poetry, Dr.Ella shows how that stamp extended throughout Cowper's entire life and even his periods of depression. With his scholarly analysis and theological understanding of Cowper, Dr. Ella paints a beautiful portrait of the man, his God and the depths of Cowper's literacy gifts. This book will make you want to read more of Cowper's poetry and learn more of Cowper's God!

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2001

Reviews

[Vincent Ng]

This book well describes the influences that went into the poetic brilliance of William Cowper. It spends quite a bit of time looking at character accusations made against Cowper, but Ella uses the words of Cowper himself to correction certain misconceptions made about him. Not a typical biographical work.

[Cindy]

p. 134. some biography, much literary criticism

[Liberty]

The life of William Cowper (pronounce Cooper) is really a very beautiful one, and though this biography is more a vindication of the accusations made against him (about his depressions etc), than a formal biography, it is still an excellent book. The highlight of the book for was, however, actually in the appendix: the memorial service given by Cowpers good friend Samuel Greatheed. The sermon lasts 40+ pages, but is one of the most beautiful and tender sermons I have ever read. Greatheed takes the lessons from Cowper's life, applying it to our lives, and and sharing the wonderful gospel of our Lord. Cowper's life is truly one that we should know about. His example as a Christian, though not perfect, was very remarkable; and we would do well to have some of the of the sincerity, and love for our Lord that he did.

(The only reason I did not give it a four star is because the author is more set on clearing his (Cowper's) name, than setting out his life. I believe he does that in his more thorough biography Poet of Paradise.)

[Mark Nenadov]

This book provides an engaging, sympathetic perspective on the English poet William Cowper's life and work. It is a good read with plenty of poetic excerpts and illustrations. It is not a biography in the proper sense, but rather, as the subtitle states an "evaluation, vindication, and appreciation" of Cowper's life and work. (George Ella has an actual Cowper biography, the whopping 692 page "William Cowper: Poet of Paradise") Having recently digested the highly negative, critical, and anti-evangelical biographies by Hugh l’Anson Fausset or David Cecil, it was refreshing to read this book which is, by the author's admission, positive, even optimistic. Kudos to Ella for writing this book and Joshua Press for publishing it--the layout is beautiful and the cover is stunning. It certainly makes me anxious to checkout the full biography which Ella wrote.

[Emily]

I was very excited to discover a book on William Cowper and discover more about the man who wrote such faith-filled hymns, yet whose life was plagued by doubt and depression. I was disappointed to find that the book was rather heavy and hard to plod through. I didn't find it nearly as informative as I was hoping though there were good things throughout. Overall, I doubt I'd read this book again. I'd look for some other book to find out about William Cowper.

[Nigel Ewan]

A funny little biography of Cowper organized by thematic chapters detailing his personal relationships, his education, his work as a translator, etc. The appendix, a manuscript of the sermon preached at Cowper's funeral, is beautiful and worth the price of the book alone.