From Library Journal
Cowper is a minor poet inhabiting the shadows between Dr. Johnson and William Wordsworth. King's biography casts a searchlight into those recesses and illuminates the moody life of this transitional figure. Paranoid and depressed at times to the point of suicide, Cowper channeled his spiritual and emotional despair into verse and letters. King, editor of the Oxford edition of Cowper's works, blends raw fact, psychological analysis, and literary criticism to unveil the poet's character, writings, and social milieu. He excels at linking Cowper's melancholia to his work, and at placing his simple, natural verse between the classical and Romantic schools. Penetrating yet wide-ranging, his book will long remain the standard life of Cowper. Michael Edmonds, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
