ARGUMENT. The thresher. The The works of Nature HISTORICAL deduction of seats, from the Stool to the Sofa. A schoolboy's ramble. A walk in the country. The scene described. Rural sounds as well as sights delightful. Another walk. Mistake concerning the charms of solitude corrected. Colonnades commended. Alcove, and the view from it. The wilderness. The grove. necessity and the benefits of exercise. superior to, and in some instances inimitable by, Art. The wearisomeness of what is commonly called a life of pleasure. Change of scene sometimes expedient. A common described, and the character of crazy Kate introduced.* Gipsies. The blessings of civilized life. That state most favourable to virtue. The South Sea islanders compassionated, but chiefly Omai. His present state of mind supposed. Civilized life friendly to virtue, but not great cities. Great cities, and London in particular, allowed their due praise, but censured. Fête champêtre. The book concludes with a reflection on the effects of dissipation and effeminacy upon our public measures. "Upon it," was originally added here. It was omitted from the edition of 1787, and from subsequent editions, but has been restored by Southey. ADVERTISEMENT. HE history of the following production is briefly this: A lady, fond of blank verse, demanded a poem of that kind from the Author, and gave him the SOFA for a subject. He obeyed; and having much leisure, connected another subject with it; and pursuing the train of thought to which his situation and turn of mind led him, brought forth at length, instead of the trifle which he at first intended, a serious affair-a Volume. In the poem on the subject of Education, he would be very sorry to stand suspected of having aimed his censure at any particular school. His objections are such as naturally apply themselves to schools in general. If there were not, as for the most part there is, wilful neglect in those who manage them, and an omission even of such discipline as they are susceptible of, the objects are yet too numerous for minute attention; and the aching hearts of ten thousand parents, mourning under the bitterest of all disappointments, attest the truth of the allegation. His quarrel, therefore, is with the mischief at large, and not with any particular instance of it. THE TASK.* BOOK I. THE SOFA. SING the SOFA. I who lately sang with awe The solemn chords, and with a trembling hand, Escaped with pain from that adventurous flight, Now seek repose upon an humbler theme; * The Task was begun to be written in the summer, probably near the Midsummer, of 1783; it was finished, revised, and transcribed, in the autumn of 1784; and was offered to Johnson for publication about the end of October in that year. The printing began immediately after the acceptance of the volume, but the last proof was not returned until near the end of May 1785. In the meantime, Cowper had written Tirocinium, which was added to the volume, and Johnson had first declined, and afterwards consented to add, John Gilpin. The volume was published early in July 1785, with the title-page of which we have given a copy. Southey indeed has printed (Cowper's Works, ix. vii.) a copy of what seems to be a title-page with the date of 1784, but we have not been able to find a copy of the published book with anything of the kind. Probably what Southey has given was a title-page designed when the first portion of the work went to press, which was in 1784, but afterwards cancelled when the printing ran on into the following year, and other poems were added to the volume. |