Light Shining Out of Darkness

While readers should always be wary not to confuse the speaker of a poem with the author themself, it is probable that life events and other details from an author’s life will have an influence and provide some form of inspiration for their work. Therefore, looking at a work from a biographical context can prove beneficial to more fully comprehending a text. In the case of Cowper, the religious influence found in his hymn “Light Shining Out of Darkness” can be traced back to his childhood. Throughout his entire life, Cowper maintained associations and friendships with ministers and other religious individuals. Cowper’s father was an Anglican minister, so Cowper’s interaction with religious institutions began at birth. After his mental breakdown and during his stay at Nathaniel Cotton’s Collegium Insanorum, Cowper converted to the Evangelical tradition. Later in his life, during his relationship with the Unwins and with John Newton, he encountered the Calvinist tradition. His interactions with all of these denominations coincided with his deteriorating mental state. As a child he experienced the death of his mother and relentless bullying at school. The prospect of being publicly examined for his clerkship position sent Cowper to the asylum, and the engagement to Mary Unwin further spiraled Cowper’s mental state, resulting in depression.