The Task (1785)
The Task: A Poem, in Six Books is a poem in blank verse by William Cowper published in 1785, usually seen as his supreme achievement. Its six books are called "The Sofa", "The Timepiece", "The Garden", "The Winter Evening", "The Winter Morning Walk" and "The Winter Walk at Noon". Beginning with a mock-Miltonic passage on the origins of the sofa, it develops into a discursive meditation on the blessings of nature, the retired life, and religious faith, with attacks on slavery, blood sports, fashionable frivolity, lukewarm clergy, and French despotism among other things.
- Published
- 1785
- Pages
- 210
