The Negro's Complaint and Other Poems


Read by Alan Mapstone

William Cowper was an English poet and Anglican hymn writer. He was a forerunner of the Romantic movement in English poetry and strongly influenced the writing of nature poems. His work was admired by Coleridge, Wordsworth and Anne Bronte among others.

Cowper was a strong supporter of the campaign for the abolition of slavery and wrote his most famous poem "The Negro's Complaint" to try to raise people's awareness of the horrors and injustices of the system. (1 hr 4 min)

Chapters

The Negro's Complaint 3:55 Read by Alan Mapstone
Pity for Poor Africans 3:55
Lines Addressed to Dr. Darwin 1:51
Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk, during his solitary abode i… 3:58 Read by Alan Mapstone
On the Promotion of Edward Thurlow, Esq. to the Lord High Chancellorship of Eng… 1:38 Read by Alan Mapstone
Boadicea, an Ode 2:57 Read by Alan Mapstone
On the Burning of Lord Mansfield's Library, together with his MSS., by the Mob,… 2:15 Read by Alan Mapstone
Horace. Bk II Ode X 2:30 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Doves 2:39 Read by Alan Mapstone
A Fable 2:49 Read by Alan Mapstone
Ode to Apollo 2:00 Read by Alan Mapstone
On a Goldfinch, Starved to Death in his Cage 1:29 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Yearly Distress, or Tithing Time 4:30 Read by Alan Mapstone
Light Shining out of Darkness 1:42 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Poet, the Oyster and the Sensitive Plant 4:33 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Nightingale and Glow-worm 2:43 Read by Alan Mapstone
Mutual Forbearance 4:15 Read by Alan Mapstone
Epitaph on a Hare 2:52 Read by Alan Mapstone
To the Immortal Memory of the Halibut 2:39 Read by Alan Mapstone
Translations (1.The Glow-Worm; 2.The Jackdaw; 3.The Cricket; 4.The Parrot) 9:11 Read by Alan Mapstone