4 h 46 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a poem about a sofa could lead you into gardens, winter fields and the troubles of an age?
In The Task, William Cowper explores nature, faith and human struggles in a long poem in blank verse. He moves from a sofa to a garden, from a quiet winter evening to a country walk. Trees, hedgerows and changing light draw his eye, while human suffering keeps calling his thoughts beyond the countryside.
This collection pairs The Task with the comic ballad The Diverting History of John Gilpin, the schoolroom satire Tirocinium and a friendly verse letter. Cowper's voice is tender, funny and anxious. His Christian faith shapes reflections on God, kindness, slavery, cities and cruelty, bringing the pleasures of English country life beside the moral questions that trouble him.
What you’ll discover
- A sofa opens doors Follow an everyday subject into a wide, thoughtful journey through country life.
- Nature seen up close Linger over trees, winding water and changing light with a poet who watches closely.
- The warmth of winter Settle into The Winter Evening, then step outside for carefully observed walks in frost.
- Kindness and hard questions Explore how Cowper brings faith and concern for suffering into his reflections on society.
- Laughter beside reflection Meet another side of Cowper through John Gilpin's comedy and Tirocinium's schoolroom satire.
Who will love it
Readers who love country walks, quiet evenings, gardens and animals will feel at home here, as will anyone who enjoys a poet who thinks aloud, jokes, preaches and sings about daily life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sofa poem grows into something larger
- Town and country pull in opposite directions
- The poet turns critic of his age
- Peace at home is the garden's reward
- A winter evening shows what home can hold
- Snow, freedom and wisdom shape the last books
- Three shorter poems show other sides of the poet
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- Large print hardcover
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Die Aufgabe und andere Gedichte
by William Cowper · 1785
A poem about a sofa leads a poet through winter walks, a pet hare, and one runaway horseman named John Gilpin.
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In short
What happens when a lady asks a poet for a poem about a sofa? William Cowper starts with a joke about chairs and ends with a sweeping portrait of English life.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sofa poem grows into something larger
The Task begins as a favor. A lady asks William Cowper for a poem in blank verse and names the sofa as its subject. He agrees, and the playful start soon gives way to something much wider, a poem about how to live.
Book One opens with a mock-grand history of seats. Three-legged stools give way to chairs, chairs gain elbows, and at last comfort is perfected in the sofa. Then the poet steps outside. He recalls truant boyhood walks beside the Thames and describes a view of the river Ouse winding through meadows, with elms, a church spire and distant villages, shared with a companion who has walked at his side for twenty winters.
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What is The Task by William Cowper about?
It is a blank verse poem in six books. It begins with a sofa and moves through country walks, gardens, winter evenings, politics, freedom, kindness to animals and faith, showing how a quiet life can be a full one.
Why is the poem called The Task?
The task is the work the lady set him, a poem about a sofa. Cowper takes it up, then widens it into a serious poem. The title also hints at the daily tasks of gardening, thinking and writing that fill his days.
Who is John Gilpin?
John Gilpin is a London linen draper in a comic ballad. On his wedding anniversary he rides to a family outing on a borrowed horse that runs away with him, and the whole road laughs and shouts as he flies by.
The author
William Cowper
1731–1800 · English poet and hymn writer
William Cowper (1731–1800) was an English poet and hymn writer. He was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and lived for many years in Olney, Buckinghamshire. He contributed to Olney Hymns, published in 1779. His poem The Task appeared in 1785. He died in East Dereham, Norfolk.
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