My daring steps to thy supreme abode,
And tread with awe the solitary road,
To deck with fancied wreaths thy hallow’d urn.”
WILLIAM COWPER,
Born, November 15, 1731. Died, April 25, 1800.
THE DIVERTING HISTORY OF JOHN GILPIN.
Showing how he went farther than he intended, and came safe home again.
The story of John Gilpin’s ride was related to Cowper by his friend, Lady Austen, who had heard it as a child. It caused the poet a sleepless night, we are told, as he was kept awake by laughter at it. During these restless hours he turned it into the famous ballad. It appeared in the “Public Advertiser,” November 14th, 1782, anonymously.