The path of sorrow, and that path alone

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The path of sorrow, and that path alone

Author: William Cowper
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

1. The path of sorrow, and that path alone,
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown;
No trav’ler ever reached that blest abode
Who found not thorns and briers in his road.

2. Ah, be not sad, although thy lot be cast
Far from the flock and in a boundless waste;
No shepherds’ tents within thy view appear;
But the Chief Shepherd even there is near.

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Author: William Cowper

William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional st… Go to person page >

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