The Task; Tirocinium, Etc

The Task; Tirocinium, Etc by Henry Thomas Griffith is a scholarly edition of William Cowper's life and works, edited with Life and Notes. This volume collects a comprehensive Life of Cowper (A.D. 1731–1800) accompanied by a Chronological Table and the major Cowper poems, including The Task (1785), Tirocinium, and selections from Minor Poems (1784–1799). Griffith provides an authoritative biographical framework, tracing Cowper’s Westminster years, his time at the Temple, the first melancholic episodes, recovery under Dr. Cotton, and the later Olney circle with Mrs. Unwin and the Rev. John Newton. The editor discusses Cowper’s poetic development, the origins and reception of The Task, and the emergence of a “School of Nature” in English poetry. The volume also offers notes, introductions, and context to illuminate Cowper’s religious and social milieu in late eighteenth-century England. It serves as a substantial scholarly resource for students of English literature, biography, and the history of literary criticism around Cowper’s era.