William Cowper (1731-1800)
The life of William Cowper (1731 - 1800) was defined by extended periods of depression and spiritual agony. The son of a Reverend, Cowper was sent to a boarding school at the age of six after the death of his mother. At age twenty-three, after leaving school, Cowper began to study law, but stopped because of severe depression. He recovered, but soon relapsed, and was hospitalized. While in an asylum he converted to Evangelicalism. Once released, he lived with a reverend and his wife. After the reverend's death, Cowper became engaged to the wife, with whom he lived for twenty-three years, until her death. Though his last decades were equally difficult, Cowper continued to write poems considered the best of his age. In "Light Shining Out of Darkness," Cowper explores the relationship between God and the world and how to react to God's unfathomable power.