William Cowper

Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘William Cowper’

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The Nightingale and the Glow Worm William Cowper

A kind of Aesop’s Fable in verse, about mutual respect among those with different talents.

This Aesop-style fable was composed in Latin by schoolmaster Vincent Bourne (1695-1747) and later translated by his pupil William Cowper (pronounced ‘cooper’), one of Jane Austen’s favourite poets, and a devout Christian remembered for his tireless campaign against slavery. A rather self-important nightingale is taught a lesson in humility and mutual respect by a little glow-worm.

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