Diary, Volume 2

Language: English

Context and purpose

Cowper's second diary volume, D/EP F30, runs from 1 January 1703 through 31 December 1704, thus carrying on without a day's break from D/EP F29. The author presents the two volumes as a continuum, writing on 25 July 1704, "This day 'tis four year since I began setting down my thoughts on those passages that occur in the course of my life" (p.250). On this anniversary she also reiterates the explicit intent of the diary, which is that "upon review" of it, she might see what progress she has made in subduing "vanity and vexation of spirit". Cowper most often describes the diary as an aid for herself alone; however, she suggests the possibility of a posthumous audience when she points to David as an exemplary diarist, whose Psalms are "a register of divine dispensation toward him,and of the frame of his spirit under them left to posterity to make their best use of them" (p.[372]).

Although Cowper highlights the usefulness of reading the diary, the immediate act of writing also helps the author to express and to regulate her emotions. Paraphrasing the preface to Mary Chudleigh'sPoems on Several Occasions (1703), Cowper declares, "In these writings may be seen the sentiments of my mind. Sometimes I am cheerful . . . then by unexpected unforeseen accidents; discomposed and shocked, till I have rallied my scattered forces, got new strength . . . and restored my mind to peace" (p.209). Many of the entries demonstrate a concerted effort to move from a state of anger or despair to contentment and thankfulness for God's blessings. Yet Cowper cannot always make this transition: her entire entry for 17 September 1703 is, "A sickly, painful, peevish day to me, and there's an end on it" (p.120). The author also complains about her servants, whom she repeatedly refers to as a "plague" (p.275). Much of their misbehaviour she blames on her husband's "feeble government" (p.108). When Sir William threatens to beat her, she notes unhappily, "It comes from one who insults only poor me like a slave, whereas any rascal or drab he has kept, may with all imaginable insolence pluck him by the nose and he tamely takes it to a wonder" (p.316). The daily unhappiness of her married life causes her to bemoan the "hard fate" of women like her: "To be contradicted in everything, and bore down not by reason but authority of a master whose will and commands a woman cannot but despise at the same time she obeys them, is a misery none can have a just idea of but those who have felt it" (p.190). She appears slightly more content with her role as a mother, expressing pride over her sons' "prosperous estate . . . in business and reputation" (p.117). Yet she also complains of their neglect, observing with bitter humour, "It may not be said we are the Family of Love, but of peace it may, we neither meddle nor make . . . with supine negligence all is hush and quiet" (pp.123-124).

Not surprisingly, given her unhappy family situation, Cowper appears to turn to her diary as the only desirable form of company available. The author repeatedly notes her isolation, particularly when staying in Hertford: "In this place I am either quite alone or condemned to admit visits from company much worse than none" (p.98). While writing, Cowper can enjoy some form of communiation, if only with herself and posterity. Due to a blind eye, she is forced to "converse less with books" than she would like, although her diary still contains numerous references to literature, including, fittingly, praise for the blind Milton'sParadise Lost, Book 3 (pp.56,74). The volume also becomes the repository for Cowper's views on neighbours, local gossip and public concerns, such as the debate over who should succeed Queen Anne.

In addition to the diary entries, D/EP F30 also contains five meditations written by Cowper and four poems copied by her. Some of these elaborate on issues mentioned in the diary itself: her meditation on the honour due to mothers most likely was influenced by her sons' neglect, while her piece praising John Locke is cross-referenced with a diary entry about his recent death. Two of the poems satirise the Tories' attempt to pass a bill against occasional conformity, an issue noted several times in the diary itself. The meditations seem to have been written sometime after 31 December 1704, since they follow directly on from the final diary entry. The poems appear to have been transcribed between the final months of 1704 and spring of the following year. "The Oxfordshire Nine" (pp.361-364) was not circulated until April 1705 (Poems on Affairs of State, VII, 63-64). Yet Cowper appears to have copied "The French King's Cordial" (pp.367-8) by 23 January 1705, because the entry for that date in her next diary volume notes that a sequel to the poem has been published, and refers back to "the last diary 367". Since "The French King's Cordial" is on a later page than "The Oxfordshire Nine", it seems likely that Cowper began adding the poems from the final pages of her volume and worked backwards toward the meditations.