The Task (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Cowper
- First Published: 1785
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Genres: Poetry, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: Family or family life, Rural or country life, Gardens or gardening, Weather, Seasons, Walking
Critical Evaluation:
The first popular poetic success of William Cowper was The Task, which was also his first major venture in blank verse. For the fifty-four-year-old recluse, the reception of his poem must have had a salutary effect, for he went on to become, according to his greatest champion, Robert Southey, “The most popular poet of his generation.”
Cowper’s place in literary history is often in dispute. He was born exactly one hundred years after John Dryden and completed his best work in the year of Samuel Johnson’s death. He neither aspired to...
[The entire page is 1544 words long]
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