There must have been many times that this despondent poet wished he were in an ancient character’s shoes, as he read about the close of that man’s life. The Englishman William Cowper was often in the throes of gloom, including on one occasion as a 38-year old when he said ‘O for a Closer Walk with God’, because anxiety about a close friend’s serious illness consumed him. What could he do, except write about his feelings? Having a like-minded friend with whom he could share his poetic streak helped, and certainly was part of why William’s thoughts survive today, 250 years later.
William Cowper’s poetry might be described as the therapy that he needed throughout his life. Perhaps one root cause of his lifelong struggle with depression was in his childhood, when his mother died giving birth to his brother (John), an incident upon which William still reflected some 50 years later. Other episodes in his teens and early adulthood led to suicide attempts and time spent in an asylum for recovery. In the wake of this dark period, Cowper’s faith and poetic skills became synergistic, and in no small way coaxed by the relationship he developed with a couple, Morley and Mary Unwin, and a fellow poet and preacher John Newton. The Olney Hymns that Cowper and Newton collaborated to compile was a very notable outcome of this friendship, and contains Cowper’s ‘O for a Closer Walk…’. William reportedly penned his six verses during a serious health challenge in 1769 for Mary Unwin, whom William regarded as a guardian, perhaps even as a mother-like figure in his life. He lived with the Unwins, including the widowed Mary, for over two decades. It’s suggested that Cowper’s verses were a reflection upon a verse he read one day about Enoch and his walk with God (Genesis 5:24), which apparently stretched into Eternity when God took him. Cowper’s heart for Mary’s well-being was in anguish, as he read about the closeness of Enoch and his Creator. Was it this relationship that coaxed to the surface William’s own words, like a salve to calm his own spirit? Perhaps that soothing effect was what caused William to doze off, then to awaken with additional verses in his head for the song he would soon complete. Cowper’s verses might be interpreted as autobiographical, when he calls out in verses 2 and 3 with words that sound like someone who was missing a peace he once had .. ‘Where is the blessedness I knew…what peaceful hours I once enjoyed…’, now occupied by ‘an aching void’. The God he invites to return to his life is ‘O holy dove’, and a ‘sweet messenger’ (v.3). Perhaps we could say God heard Cowper’s prayer-like verses, because Mary reportedly recovered and lived for another 27 years.
The ‘calm’ and ‘serene’ (v.6) was what William sought from a walk with God. Nevertheless, William Cowper still struggled with the gloom, even late in his life following the death of Mary Unwin in 1796. So, is God not effective in the human life, including in one as troubled as William’s evidently was, on occasion? It seems that William could not find his own answers at times, but he certainly knew who cared about him. One of his other hymns reflected that he could not understand God, that He was a mystery (see blog entry for Sep. 12, 2009). And yet, William still tried, in his feeble way, to reach Him. Strangely, if William had been ‘strong’ by some people’s definition, can we say he would have written as he did and given you and me a voice for our times of melancholy? Hey, even Jesus cried out in a garden, and said ‘Why…’ (have you forsaken me – Matthew 27:46). The point is not whether I cry out, but to whom.
See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.
Also see this link, showing all four original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/f/o/r/oforaclo.htm
Also see this link for author’s biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cowper
And here also: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/o/w/p/cowper_w.htm
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