William Cowper, The Castaway

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1799

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

The poem was the last Cowper composed, the manuscript being dated, according to James Sambrook in his 1994 edition of the Longman Annotated Texts, 20^th March 1799 at the beginning and 25^th March at the end.

The poem, the full text of which is available by clicking the link above, was inspired by the description in Richard Walter's A Voyage around the World by George Anson (1748) of how, on 24^th March 1741 (48 years to the day before Cowper's writing), Anson's Centurion had lost overboard an able seaman during a gale south of Tierra del Fuego. Unable to turn their vessel, they had watched as the seaman bravely swam through the waves, notwithstanding the “horror attending his …

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210 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "The Castaway". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 January 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1353, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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