“There is a real strain of religious feeling, of the very strongest description, which breathes through the poetry of [William] Cowper (1731–1800); but though he no doubt felt that admiration for the translation with which a person of his great taste and love of religious writings especially must have been imbued, there is no very perceptible evidence of its having exercised more than a general influence upon his language....”
“The mind of [George Gordon] Byron [Sixth Baron Byron] (1788–1824) had been early tinctured by a love of the poetical parts of the Bible; ... and there are several traces to be found in his works of the influence which this book exercised upon his mind....”
“There are some expressions in the Revolt of Islam[¹] that would seem to indicate that the author of that poem had kept in memory some of the descriptive and mystical passages of Ezekiel....”
[¹] The Revolt of Islam; A Poem, In Twelve Cantos. By Percy Bysshe Shelley. [1792–1822.] London:... 1818.
“In [Robert] Southey (1774–1843) there are several Biblical expressions and ideas....”[¹]
[¹] The Curse of Kehama: By Robert Southey.... London:... 1810. (4to. 16 + 376 pp.)
“In the beautiful songs of a justly celebrated ... writer, Mr. [Thomas] Moore (1779–1852), there is much that can be traced to a scriptural origin.”[¹]
[¹] “Fallen is thy Throne, O Israel!”—“Sound the loud Timbrel, Miriam’s Song”—“War against Babylon.”
“It can now be seen, we hope, satisfactorily demonstrated, that the translation of the Bible into English has exercised a considerable influence upon the poetry of the last two centuries; it is now time to speak of the effects which it has produced upon our prose.... There are, ... to be found in the writings of many of the most distinguished prose authors in our language, passages which, from the general character of their style, or the form of the ideas they express, may be concluded to have been suggested, or at least modified, by the influence of the Bible Translation ... in the writings of Sir Thomas Brown[e] (1535?–1585), an author who enjoyed a considerable degree of fame in the days of Queen Elizabeth (1533–1603), great traces are to be discovered of Biblical influence;—while at a much later period [Edward] Hyde (1609–1674), Earl of Clarendon (particularly the introduction, and part of the first volume)[¹] will convince the most sceptical reader, that the translation of the Bible has not been disregarded by that writer....”
[¹] The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641.... Written by the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Late Lord High Chancellor of England,... Oxford,... MDCCIV.