Selected Poems

Crashaw Richard

One of the greatest English poets of the mid-seventeenth century, Richard Crashaw is still widely neglected and misunderstood. Published to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his birth, this new selection of his work aims to help restore him to his rightful place. Skilfully and sensitively arranged by Robin Holloway, Professor Emeritus of Musical Composition at the University of Cambridge, this selection unfolds in a sequence of movements and intermezzi, Crashaw's secular verse forming a lively counterpoint to his beautiful devotional poetry. The selection also includes some of Crashaw's Latin verse, with wholly new English translations.

About the Author

Richard Crashaw was born in London in 1613, the son of a Puritan priest. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and then began to publish religious poetry and to teach at Cambridge. However, his conversion from to Roman Catholicism led to his removal from Cambridge and forced him into exile. In 1649 he died, supposedly poisoned, in Italy.

Reviews

"[Crashaw exhibits] a deliberate conscious perversity of language... like that of the amazing, impressive interior of St. Peter's" – T. S. Eliot

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