Why is Cowper still read? Not for his outworn system of theology, nor for his thought; in nature-poetry Wordsworth far surpassed him; his lyrics pale in the light of Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Browning; Byron has shown how satire should be written. And yet Cowper remains a fixed star, shining as steadily now as he shone when his first volume appeared nearly 140 years ago. At first his popularity may have owed something to his connexion with Newton and the Evangelical party, but that special cause has long since ceased to operate in his favour, and his insistence on certain definite dogmas tends to repel instead of attract most of his modern readers. It is true, too, that his two volumes appeared (in 1782 and 1785) at a barren time, and in consequence gained an immediate and almost undisputed hearing; but this is now only of historical interest, and does not explain his continued popularity.<br><br>He has been less subject to changes of fashion than almost any other English poet; he was not neglected or scorned during his lifetime; nor put on such a lofty pinnacle that the next generation could do no less than pull him down; nor eclipsed and rediscovered. In the main he was appreciated at once for his proper qualities and in fit measure, and there has been no need for revaluation of either.<br><br>Such discussion as there has been during the last century has fastened on personal details of his life, of no importance to an appreciation of his writings: for instance, the influence of Newton on his state of mind, and his relations with Mrs. Unwin and Lady Austen.