A mentally ill, suicidal failed lawyer in 18th Century England writes some of the greatest Christian hymns of all times.
Today’s story I would like to pitch as a movie is the story of William Cowper as told by John Piper in The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Afflictions in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper and David Brainerd, from Crossway Books, a Division of Good News Publishers.
While both Bunyan and Brainerd deserve movies, for now, I would just like to focus on William Cowper.
Cowper was born in 1731 and lived to adulthood while five of his six siblings died in infancy. His mother died when he was six. He would not see her face again until he was fifty-nine years old when someone sent him a portrait of her. This act inspired a poem, On Receipt Of My Mother’s Picture, which expressed his reawaken pain at her death.
Faithful remembrancer of one so dear,
Oh welcome guest, though unexpected, here!
Who bidd’st me honour with an artless song,
Affectionate, a mother lost so long,
I will obey, not willingly alone,
But gladly, as the precept were her own;
And, while that face renews my filial grief,
Fancy shall weave a charm for my relief—
Shall steep me in Elysian reverie,
A momentary dream, that thou art she.
After his mother’s death, he was sent to a boarding school where he was possibly sexually abused by an older boy. While he never explicitly stated the nature of the abuse, what Cowper wrote of the experience shows signs that modern caseworkers use to detect sexual abuse. He later wrote of the acts of a 15-year-old boy who had singled him out that it was…
sufficient to say, that he had, by his savage treatment of me, impressed such a dread of his figure upon my mind, that I well remember being afraid to lift my eyes upon, him higher than his knees; and that I knew him by his shoe-buckles, better than any other part of his dress. May the Lord pardon him, and may we meet in glory! (From Memoir of the Early Life of William Cowper, Esq)
He suffered this abuse on top of the physical loss of his mother and the emotional distancing of his father. When he was eleven his father, Reverend John Cowper, gave him a treatise justifying self-murder against the accusation that suicide immediately damns one’s soul to hell and asked him his opinions on the essay. When young William replied that he was against suicide, his father was silent, implying that he sided with the author against his son. To be gracious with the older Cowper this silence was possibly because a good friend had just committed suicide and he did not want to conclude that he was in hell. It is also important to remember that while John Cowper was a reverend in The Church of England, he did not preach the Evangelical doctrines of Christ’s personal relationship with sinners and God’s fatherly love.
At his father’s wish, William lackadaisically pursued a career in law and suffered his first mental breakdown at age 21. He found solace in poetry and nature. He also developed a romantic relationship with his cousin Theodora which lasted for seven years until they were engaged, but her father forbade a marriage. The main reason for his opposition was their relationship as cousins, but William’s lack of financial stability as well as his emotional state were contributing factors. Theodora never saw William again, never married, and followed William’s poetical career from a distance, even sending him monetary support. William also kept track of her through correspondence with her sister, Lady Hesketh, and dedicated nineteen of his poems to her, including On Delia
The heart of a lover is never at rest,
With joy overwhelmed, or with sorrow oppressed:
When Delia is near, all is ecstasy then,
And I even forget I must lose her again:
When absent, as wretched as happy before,
Despairing I cry, I shall see her no more!
At twenty-eight his father secured him an important government position, Commissioner of Bankrupts in London. When he was 32, through his father’s influence, he was appointed Clerk of Journals in Parliament, which would have been a great career advancement. However, his father’s enemies arranged an examination of Cowper. William viewed it as a place of execution and overcome by his fears and anxieties had a breakdown, tried to commit suicide several times by swallowing laudanum or hanging himself but was providentially prevented, and was committed to an insane asylum. His political career ruined, William fled to the countryside where he lived as a melancholic recluse, attempted suicide again several times, inadvertently broke another woman’s heart, a widow named Lady Austen, and eventually died in 1800, apparently in despair.
But there’s more to his story than doom and gloom. It’s a story of the triumph of right thinking and logical theology over fickle emotions and changeable neurotransmitters. It’s a heroic story of a survivor who daily overcomes his survivor’s guilt. Because he survived childhood when so many did not, Cowper felt like he was the lone exception and God did not love him to the same degree as everyone else, but he knew the doctrine of eternal preservation of the saints to be true and fought against the despair.
It’s the story of the soul finding solace in the beauty of providentially provided poetry, nature, and, most importantly, friendships. Cowper’s mind is opened to the beauty of Christian doctrine by the poems of George Herbert. One of these poems was possibly The Pulley.
“For if I should,” said he,
“Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;
So both should losers be.
“Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.”
While in the insane asylum, he was converted to Christianity when someone, either his cousin Reverend Martin Madan or the head of the asylum Dr. Cotton, purposely left a Bible on a bench for him to read. And his life was greatly blessed by his friendship with the “old African blasphemer” John Newton. Cowper and the famous author of Amazing Grace would take long walks together, collaborate on many hymns and take part in the abolitionist movement, with Cowper writing “The Negro’s Complaint.” Newton stood by William during his times of suicidal depression and attempts, at one point even canceling a vacation to watch him. Even after Newton was called to be a pastor in London, he continued to keep up a grueling but encouraging correspondence with Cowper until death. Together they wrote the Olney Hymns, which contains 348 works of poetry.
Another story is told of Cowper walking to the river to commit suicide one dreary winter day. A farmer who knew of William’s mental torments offered him a ride in his hay wagon. The combination of the straws’ softness, the wagon’s rocking, and the farmer’s singing eventually put him to sleep. When he woke up he found that the farmer had brought him back to his house, saving his life. William immediately composed the hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
I see a film adaptation of Cowper’s story as the perfect collaboration between director Terrence Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Other directors I could picture behind the wheel include Michael Apted, Chris Noonan, Joe Wright, Kevin Reynolds, James Mangold, Dean Wright, and Harold Cronk. Andrew Scott, Andrew Garfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, or Tom Hiddleston could play Cowper due to physical and personality similarities and their ability to convey deep emotions through just their eyes. A composer with the skill of Ennio Morricone or Alexandre Desplat would be able to set the perfect tone for the movie. There are many opportunities for montages of nature and William’s memories as the actor does a voiceover of the poems The Task, The Castaway, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, O For a Closer Walk with God, and God Moves.
I believe that Cowper’s story should be told on the big screen so both the church and the world can have a better understanding of depression and mental illness. Christians need to see that there is not always a correlation between belief and a person’s mood. As someone who has been spiritually and emotionally abused by self-professed Christians, including someone once considered a good friend, regarding my struggle with depression, I wish the story of William Cowper was more widely known in the Christian community so no one else has to experience that kind of hell again. As someone who has tried antidepressants and found the cure worse than the disease, I believe the world needs to see that faith, the beauty of nature, and, above all, friendship and common human kindness, are alternatives to, or at least should accompany, medication. Perhaps at the end of the movie before the credits roll there could be a title card containing a suicide hotline and other resources for people with depression and mental illness to contact.
Because of it is an inspiration story of a mentally ill man finding strength in the beauty of nature, poetry, friendship, and sound doctrine, I strongly believe that William Cowper’s Story should be a movie.
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