William Cowper

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JM

Puritan Board Doctor
I've been reading the poetical works of Cowper, the fella who wrote, "there is a fountain filled with blood, etc" His work is really powerful stuff but I have a question...how do you pronounce his last name? I've heard people say it as Coo-per and Cow (like the animal) per.

Can someone help me out, thanks.

j
 
You da man, the Marrow Man.

I just found a fictional account of Cowper's life titled The Winner of Sorrow, looks interesting.
 
I used to pronounce it "Cow-per," until I heard a presentation where he was specifically mentioned by name (and it was said it was pronounced exactly like "Cooper"). His biography is quite fascinating as well. He suffered from bouts of severe depression, which I believe was primarily tied to issues over assurance of salvation. John Newton was a personal friend and even saved his life a couple of times (times when Cowper was contemplating suicide). One of Newton's suggestions to combat Cowper's melancholy was that they pen a book of hymns together (Cowper was, of course, a very talented poet). In that work were Newton's "Amazing Grace" and Cowper's "There Is a Fountain."
 
In a discussion on a different forum jacobiloved I wrote;

I have been in his old house , it's now a museum , you may be interested to know his back garden backed onto John Newton's (amazing grace) back garden , they were best of friends and both confirmed Calvinists . Their homes are in Olney village some 6 or 7 miles from me on the Bedford road , which is where John Bunyan lived !

John Gill lived in Kettering , about 12 miles from here , John Wycliffe lived at Lutterworth , about 25 miles from here , and James Hervey lived about 2 Miles from here in the village next to mine​

Very cool.
 
John Piper wrote a section on Cowper in his book, "The Hidden Smile of God." He has a different take on the source of Cowper's depression. It's interesting.
 
How is it different? I've read Cowper was insane and thought that God wanted him to kill himself, that he was a Calvinist but thought God hated him.

j
 
There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood Gives the story of how this beautiful hymn came to be written. Cowper's story is indeed tragic. Yet the beauty of God's grace shines through in his life. His life seems to have been full of torment. I do not think that he enjoyed much peace in this world. One of my favorite Cowper hymns is O for a Closer Walk With God.
 
I am a rebel and I refuse to pronounce it 'Cooper'. For one thing, most people call him Cowper and have no idea who I am talking about.

For those who are interested, I reproduced a poem written about the man himself, called 'At Cowper's Grave', here:

Notable Hymns IV « Pastor’s New
 
From a letter from Charles Longuett-Higgins, son of Cowper's friend:

"I can with certainty inform you that the Poet himself, and all his immediate relatives and friends, used to pronounce his name as if it was spelt Cooper - that is without the w.
My dear Father and grandfather, who were among his most intimate friends, the whole time of his living at Weston Underwood and Olney, knew well this to have been the case. I have myself heard my father say so very many times."
 
That is very interesting, Phil. One wonders if this is a case of the "w" becoming morphed into a "u" sound, so what we are hearing is more along the lines of "Couper."
 
The traditional way of pronouncing his name has been Cow-per, but Cooper is in fact the correct way. There is a fascinating series of programmes on the BBC, "Who do you think you are?" where celebrities trace their family tree.What has transpired in a number of cases has been uneducated clerks misspelling, misreading or mispronouncing names. That may well be where Cooper became Cowper.

It is interesting that "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" was mentioned in the original post. One of the verses from that hymn is inscribed on Spurgeon's tombstone.
 
I just found out today what a cooper actually was -- someone who makes and repairs barrels. John Calvin's father was one, I think.
 
Last time I checked there was 17 ways to spell my last name due to misspelling, misreading or mispronouncing. Another reason, not sure if it's true or not, many families used the same first name more then once so Jason McIntyre could have a first cousin named Jason MacIntyre. My clan draws two lines under the c when we sign, not sure why, but my grandfather stressed the importance of it when we were children.
 
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