For part of his life, William Cowper was an evangelical Christian. Some of his religious fervor took the form of English hymns, many of which are still sung today.

Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).

The Task was first published in 1785. William Cowper lived from 1731 to 1800, which may have helped you narrow down the answer choices.

Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).

In addition to being an important early Romantic poet, William Cowper was an ardent abolitionist and spoke out openly against slavery in Britain.

Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).

This is William Cowper’s epic six-book poem The Task. It was allegedly inspired by a incident in which a lady wagered that he couldn’t compose a poem on any topic – say, for instance, a sofa. Although the poem begins with a parodic discussion of a sofa’s virtues, it quickly digresses into more important topics.

William Wordsworth (co-)wrote The Lyrical Ballads (1798), Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote Biographia Literaria (1817), John Newton wrote "Amazing Grace" (1779), and George Gordon (A.K.A Lord Byron) wrote Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812).

Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).

The poem was first published in 1794.

Passage adapted from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794).

This is “The Tyger,” one of the best known poems by the English poet William Blake (1757-1827).

William Cowper wrote John Gilpin (1782), John Keats wrote Poems (1816), Christina Rossetti wrote Goblin Market (1862), and Matthew Arnold wrote Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems (1852). 

Passage adapted from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794).

William Blake wrote both Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence, but “The Tyger” is from the former collection. (The other titles are invented.)

Passage adapted from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794).

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793), The Book of Los (1795), Europe a Prophecy (1794), An Island in the Moon (1785) are all by William Blake. Lamia is an 1820 narrative poem by John Keats.

Passage adapted from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794).

This is "Goblin Market,” a poem by the English author Christina Rossetti (1830-1894). It is a fantastical narrative poem about two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, and the cries they hear from magical goblin merchants. The poem is often read as an elaborate metaphor for loss of sexual innocence, although Rossetti stated that the poem was really intended for children.

William Wordsworth wrote The Excursion (1814), Matthew Arnold wrote Culture and Anarchy (1869), John Keats wrote Poems (1816), and Joanna Baillie wrote Plays on the Passions (1798).

Passage adapted from Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market (1862).

Following publication of Rossetti’s 1872 poem “In the Bleak Midwinter” in Scribner’s Monthly, Gustav Holst adapted the work to music.

Passage adapted from Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market (1862).