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Abraham Cowley Quotes (1618-1667)
Poet, King
About Abraham Cowley
Abraham Cowley (1618 – July 28, 1667) was an English metaphysical poet. In his own time he was widely considered the greatest poet of the age.
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“His time is forever, everywhere his place.”
“Charm'd with the foolish whistling of a name.”
“God the first garden made, and the first city Cain.”
“We griev'd, we sigh'd, we wept; we never blush'd before.”
“Hope, of all ills that men endure,
The only cheap and universal cure.”
The only cheap and universal cure.”
“Hence, ye profane! I hate ye all,
Both the great vulgar and the small.”
Both the great vulgar and the small.”
“The world's a scene of changes, and to be
Constant, in Nature were inconstancy.”
Constant, in Nature were inconstancy.”
“Unable to corrupt, seek to destroy;
And where their Poysons miss, the Sword employ.”
And where their Poysons miss, the Sword employ.”
“The fairest garden in her looks,
And in her mind the wisest books.”
And in her mind the wisest books.”
“Thus each extream to equal danger tends,
Plenty as well as Want can separate Friends;”
Plenty as well as Want can separate Friends;”
“What shall I do to be forever known,
And make the age to come my own?”
And make the age to come my own?”
“An harmless flaming meteor shone for hair,
And fell adown his shoulders with loose care.”
And fell adown his shoulders with loose care.”
“Why to mute fish should'st thou thyself discover
And not to me, thy no less silent lover?”
And not to me, thy no less silent lover?”
“Thus would I double my life's fading space;
For he that runs it well, runs twice his race.”
For he that runs it well, runs twice his race.”
Abraham Cowley Quotes by Topic
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Abraham Cowley on Life 3 quotes
View all 3 quotes on Life →Abraham Cowley on Time 3 quotes
View all 3 quotes on Time →Abraham Cowley on Gardens 2 quotes
“God the first garden made, and the first city, Cain.”
Abraham Cowley on Eternity 2 quotes
“Vain, weak-built isthmus, which dost proudly rise Up between two eternities!”
Abraham Cowley on Today 2 quotes
“To-morrow let my sun his beams display, Or in clouds hide them: I have lived to-day.”
Abraham Cowley on Gold 2 quotes
“Gold begets in brethren hate; Gold in families debate; Gold does friendship separate; Gold does civil wars create.”
Abraham Cowley on Money 2 quotes
“Money was made, not to command our will, But all our lawful pleasures to fulfil. Shame and woe to us, if we our wealth obey; The horse doth with the horseman run away.”
Abraham Cowley on Deity
“Nature's self's thy Ganymede.”
Abraham Cowley on Georgics
“Charmed with the foolish whistling of a name.”
Abraham Cowley on Blushing
“We griev'd, we sigh'd, we wept; we never blushed before.”
What Abraham Cowley Said About Others
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Abraham Cowley on Anacreon 2 quotes
“All thy verse is softer far Than the downy feathers are Of my wings, or of my arrows, Of my mother's doves or sparrows. Sweet as lovers' freshest kisses, Or their riper following blisses, Graceful, cleanly, smooth, and round, All with Venus girdle bound.”
Abraham Cowley on William Harvey
“Harvey sought for truth in Truth's own book — Creation — which by God himself was writ; And wisely thought 'twas fit Not to read comments only upon it, But on th' original itself to look. Methinks in Art's great circle others stand Lock'd up together hand in hand: Every one leads as he is led, The same bare path they tread, A dance like that of Fairies, a fantastic round, With neither change of motion nor of ground. Had Harvey to this road confined his wit, His noble circle of the blood had been untrodden yet.”
Abraham Cowley on Edmund Spenser
“I remember when I began to read, and to take some pleasure in it, there was wont to lie in my mother's parlour (I know not by what accident, for she herself never in her life read any book but of devotion), but there was wont to lie Spenser's works; this I happened to fall upon, and was infinitely delighted with the stories of the knights, and giants, and monsters, and brave houses, which I found everywhere there (though my understanding had little to do with all this); and by degrees with the tinkling of the rhyme and dance of the numbers, so that I think I had read him all over before I was twelve years old, and was thus made a poet.”
Quotes About Abraham Cowley
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William Wordsworth on Abraham Cowley
“Read all Cowley; he is very valuable to a collector of English sound sense.”
About Abraham Cowley
Abraham Cowley (1618 – July 28, 1667) was an English metaphysical poet. In his own time he was widely considered the greatest poet of the age.
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