Friend of the friendless

Author: William Cowper

Cowper, William, the poet. The leading events in the life of Cowper are: born in his father's rectory, Berkhampstead, Nov. 26, 1731; educated at Westminster; called to the Bar, 1754; madness, 1763; residence at Huntingdon, 1765; removal to Olney, 1768; to Weston, 1786; to East Dereham, 1795; death there, April 25, 1800. The simple life of Cowper, marked chiefly by its innocent recreations and tender friendships, was in reality a tragedy. His mother, whom he commemorated in the exquisite "Lines on her picture," a vivid delineation of his childhood, written in his 60th year, died when he was six years old. At his first school he was profoundly wretched, but happier at Westminster; excelling at cricket and football, and numbering Warren Hasti… Go to person page >

God of my life, to Thee I call. W. Cowper. [Divine aid implored.] Published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Book iii., No. 19, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, headed, "Looking upwards in a storm," and signed "C." In the American Presbyterian Psalms and Hymns for the Worship of God, Richmond, 1867, No. 373, stanza ii.-iv., are given as, "Friend of the friendless and the faint"; but ascribed to "Newton," in error. In the Church Praise Book, N. Y., 1882, the same arrangement, with the addition of stanza vi., is .given as No. 467. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Hymns, 1852, "God of our life, to Thee we call," is composed of stanzas i., ii., of this hymn, somewhat altered, and a third stanza from another source. In the Anglican Hymn Book, 1868, this hymn is again altered to, "My God, my Life, to Thee I call." --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907 ======================== God of my [our] life, to Thee I [we] call, p. 435, ii. In Church Hymns, 1903, No. 288, the text of the 1st edition, 1871, is repeated in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, with the restoration of Cowper's original text in st. iv. This text of 1903 is also given in the 1904 ed. of Hymns Ancient & Modern instead of that of 1861; and is composed thus: st. i., Cowper, i. from No. 19, Book 3, of the Olney Hymns; ii., st. ii. from No. 18 in the same Book 3; iii. iv., from No. 19 as above, and st. v. by an unknown hand from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Hymns, &c., 1852. Other arrangements of Cowper's text are found in recent hymn-books in Great Britain and America, the exact nature of which can be determined by reference to the Olney Hymns. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)