Abraham Cowley

Abraham Cowley – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Explore the life, poetic journey, major works, and enduring legacy of Abraham Cowley, the 17th-century English poet and essayist. Discover his most famous quotes, lessons, and the influence he left on English literature.

Introduction

Abraham Cowley (1618 – 28 July 1667) stands as one of the most ambitious and intriguing figures of 17th-century English poetry. In his own era he was celebrated, and for a time considered among the foremost English poets. Yet his reputation has waxed and waned over subsequent centuries. He straddles the worlds of metaphysical conceit, courtly romance, religious meditation, and the emerging scientific age. In this article we explore Cowley’s life, the challenges he faced during the turbulent period of the English Civil War, his poetic achievements, and the wisdom he left behind in memorable sayings and reflections.

Why does Cowley matter today? Because he represents a moment in English letters when poetry, philosophy, science, and politics were intertwined. His experiments with the Pindaric ode, his loyalty (and compromises) in times of civil unrest, and his restless striving to “be for ever known” continue to speak to modern writers and readers.

Early Life and Family

Abraham Cowley was born in London in late 1618 as a posthumous son; his father, a London stationer, died shortly before Abraham’s birth. The Faerie Queene, which young Cowley devoured—he reportedly read it twice before even being sent to school.

Although he lacked a father’s presence, Cowley’s early environment seems to have nurtured a love for literature and a sharp intellect from a very early age.

Youth and Education

Cowley’s precocity in poetry is legendary. As early as 1628, at around ten years old, he composed Tragicall Historie of Piramus and Thisbe, a romance in six-line stanzas of his own devising. Constantia and Philetus. Poetical Blossomes, which brought him immediate recognition.

He was educated at Westminster School, where his gifts first became known to a wider circle.

During his university years, Cowley also composed a scriptural epic on the life of King David. One book survives in the Latin original; the later English version Davideis was published posthumously.

In these years, Cowley was already experimenting with diverse genres—poems, plays, classical paraphrase, and learned works.

Career and Achievements

Early Works, Drama & Satire

By his late teens and early twenties, Cowley was producing more ambitious works. In 1638 he published Love’s Riddle (a pastoral comedy) and a Latin comedy Naufragium Joculare. The Guardian (later revised and retitled The Cutter of Coleman Street) for the visit of Prince Charles.

During the early 1640s, as civil strife loomed, Cowley published satirical and polemical works, including A Satyre Against Separatists (1642) and The Puritan and the Papist (1643).

Civil War, Exile, and Royalist Service

The outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 deeply affected Cowley’s life. He sided firmly with the Royalist cause, refusing to conform to the Parliamentary regime.

He made his way to Oxford, which was strongly Royalist, and ingratiated himself with leading figures like Lord Falkland.

In exile, Cowley performed delicate and dangerous tasks on behalf of the Royalist court. He ciphered and deciphered correspondence between the king and queen, carried secret missions across Europe, and managed intelligence work to support the Royalist cause.

He also began a history of the Civil War, and claimed to have written three books of a grand epic poem about it—but he later destroyed most of his manuscript when the Royalist cause faltered.

In 1647, he published The Mistress, a volume of love verses.

Return to England & Later Years

In 1656, after roughly a dozen years abroad, Cowley returned to England. Pindarique Odes, Davideis, The Mistress, and various miscellaneous poems and elegies.

During the interregnum period, he walked a delicate line. In a notorious passage in his 1656 edition, he seemed to renounce some of his Royalist defiance in face of political reality.

After the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, Cowley accompanied the king’s return, though like many Royalists he felt poorly rewarded. Plantarum libri duo (1662) and later addressed the newly forming Royal Society in an ode in 1667.

He retired to a country property near Chertsey, devoting himself to books, horticulture, and private reflection.

Cowley died on 28 July 1667 in Chertsey, reportedly after catching a chill while exercising his farm laborers in the evening.

Historical Milestones & Context

To understand Cowley well, one must situate him amid the cultural, political, and intellectual shifts of 17th-century England.

• The Metaphysical Tradition and Poetic Experimentation. Cowley is often linked (sometimes loosely) with metaphysical poets like John Donne and Richard Crashaw. His inventive language, conceits, and philosophical depth show an affinity with that movement, though his voice is more ornate and ambitious.

• The Pindaric Ode in English. One of Cowley’s most lasting technical contributions was his adaptation of Pindar’s free, expansive, irregular odes for English verse. These Pindaric or Cowleyan odes allowed flexible stanzaic form, shifting line-lengths and rhyme schemes, often to expressive effect.

• Civil War & Royalist Exile. Cowley’s life was directly shaped by the English Civil War, the conflict between monarchy and Parliament (1642–1651). His loyalty, suffering, and service during exile reflect the deep costs borne by writers and intellectuals of that period.

• Scientific and Philosophical Trends. In the mid-17th century, the scientific revolution was gaining pace. Cowley’s later interest in botany and his pamphlet A Proposition for the Advancement of Experimental Philosophy (1661) align him with the intellectual ferment that produced the Royal Society.

• Restoration Disillusionment. When the monarchy was restored, many Royalists expected generous reward, but Cowley’s own experience was more modest. His retreat to a quiet life reflects the disillusionment felt by many who had sacrificed much during the civil struggles.

In sum, Cowley’s life mirrors the complexities of a changing England—political, religious, literary, and scientific.

Legacy and Influence

During his lifetime and the decades immediately after, Cowley was widely read and reprinted. His works appeared in 14 editions between 1668 and 1721.

However, as aesthetic tastes shifted toward neoclassicism and later Romanticism, Cowley’s ornate style fell out of favor. His odes, once admired for their scope and ambition, came to be seen by many critics as overly ornate, obscure, or mannered.

Still, he has never been entirely forgotten. Scholars in modern times have reappraised his work, especially his odes, his elegies (notably On the Death of Mr. Crashaw), and his role in the transition between Renaissance and early modern poetic styles.

His experiments in form and his ambition to synthesize poetry, faith, and scientific curiosity make him a fascinating figure for literary historians.

Personality and Talents

Cowley’s character is somewhat elusive in biography, but some strands emerge from both his writings and historical accounts:

• Reserved Yet Ambitious. Though he wrote many elaborate love poems, later accounts suggest he never spoke of love in real life. His “Leonora” may have been a poetic ideal rather than a flesh-and-blood beloved.

• Devoted, Loyal, and Trustworthy. His role as cipherer and emissary for the royal family suggests extraordinary dedication, discretion, and integrity under pressure.

• Intellectually Versatile. Cowley was not content merely to be a poet. He engaged with philosophy, botany, science, and scholarship.

• Struggler Between Art and Utility. The tension in Cowley’s life is often between poetry as pure art and poetry as service (to church, crown, or reason). He sometimes appears to compromise, yet he also aspires to timeless poetic fame. His famous line, “What shall I do to be for ever known, And make the coming age my own?”, speaks to a restless striving for immortality through art.

Famous Quotes of Abraham Cowley

Here are some of his memorable lines, expressing his reflections on life, love, time, and art:

“Life is an incurable disease.” “They who do must have a knowledge of the world to see the foolishness of it, and enough virtue to despise all the vanity.” “Nothing is there to come, and nothing past, But an eternal now does always last.” “A mighty pain to love it is, And ’t is a pain that pain to miss; But of all pains, the greatest pain It is to love, but love in vain.” “Pont I would not fear nor wish my fate, / But boldly say each night, To-morrow let my sun his beams display, / Or in clouds hide them; I have lived to-day.” “Poets by Death are conquer’d but the wit Of poets triumphs over it.” “Ah yet, e’er I descend to the grave, May I a small House and a large Garden have; And a few Friends, and many Books both true, Both wise, and both delightful too.”

These snippets capture his meditative tone, his mixture of aspiration and humility, and his poetic sensibility.

Lessons from Abraham Cowley

From Cowley’s life and works, modern readers and writers can draw several enduring lessons:

1. Begin Early, but Continue Learning. Cowley’s youthful works show raw imagination, but he never stopped striving to refine his craft and experiment with form.

2. Embrace Complexity. He refused simplistic modes—instead, he embraced paradox, shifting moods, and bold formal leaps (as in his Pindaric odes).

3. Balance Service and Self. Cowley’s life shows the tension between serving causes (royalty, church, science) and the personal drive to create enduring art.

4. Let Poetry Wrestle with Change. Cowley lived through political upheaval, scientific transformation, and cultural shifts—not as a detached observer, but as an active participant. His work invites poetry to respond dynamically to its era.

5. Aspire to Immortality—But Stay Grounded. His famous aspiration “to be for ever known” reminds us that artistic ambition is natural, but the daily work and moral grounding matter as much as fame.

Conclusion

Abraham Cowley’s path was not easy. He lived in an age of war, exile, shifting political tides, and literary change. Yet through it all he retained ambition, versatility, and a restless poetic spirit. Though his style sometimes fell out of fashion, his experiments with form, his blending of faith, science, and imagination, and his poignant reflections on time and art continue to offer rich rewards to those who explore him.

If you enjoyed these quotes and insights, consider diving into his Pindarique Odes, his Davideis, or his elegy On the Death of Mr. Crashaw. And for more timeless quotes and literary inspiration, feel free to explore further.