When all within is peace

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When all within is peace

Author: William Cowper
Published in 2 hymnals

Representative Text

When all within is peace,
How nature seems to smile;
Delights that never cease,
The livelong day beguile.

2 From morn to dewy eve
With open hand she showers
Fresh blessings, to deceive
And soothe the silent hours.

3 It is content of heart
Gives nature power to please;
The mind that feels no smart
Enlivens all it sees:

4 Can make a wintry sky
Seem bright as smiling May,
And evening's closing eye
As peep of early day.

Source: Juvenile Songs: religious, moral and sentimental, with brief exercises, adapted to the purposes of primary instruction #44

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Author: William Cowper

William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional st… Go to person page >

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