Birth date: 
1612
Death date: 
1649
Birth town: 
Country: 
England

Richard was the only son of William Crashaw, a puritan preacher in London who had officiated at the burning of Mary, Queen of Scots. In defiance of his father's views on religion, Crashaw went to a High Church college at Cambridge, Pembroke. He later became a fellow of Peterhouse College but was forced to resign because of his Roman Catholic leanings.

Victory for Oliver Cromwell's Puritans in the Civil War made England a dangerous place for Catholic sympathisers like Crashaw, and in 1644 he fled to France. He became a Catholic sometime around 1645. His friend Abraham Cowley found him living in poverty in Paris, and introduced him to Charles I's Queen, Henrietta Maria. She sent Crashaw to Rome with a recommendation to the Pope. On his arrival in Italy however, Crashaw was simply allotted a position in a cardinal's household. Four months before he died, he was made a sub-canon of the Cathedral of Santa Casa in Loreto.

Crashaw was much influenced by the Italian poet Marino, as well as his reading of the Italian and Spanish mystics. Though his verse is somewhat uneven in quality, at its best it is characterised by brilliant use of extravagant baroque imagery.

Poems by this Poet

Displaying 111 - 120 of 156
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The Shepherd's Hymn 29 November 2013
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The Tear 19 May 2014
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The Weeper 31 July 2013
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The Widow's Mites 31 July 2013
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The Widow's Mites 29 November 2013
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To a Young Gentle-Woman, Councel Concerning Her Choice 19 May 2014
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To Our Blessed Lord upon the Choice of His Sepulchre 19 May 2014
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To our Lord, upon the Water Made Wine 31 July 2013
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To Pontius Washing His Blood-Stained Hands 29 November 2013
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To Pontius Washing His Hands 19 May 2014
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