The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw

by Richard Crashaw

HardPress Classic Books Series

Genres: Poetry

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Born in 1613, Richard Crashaw was an English poet, teacher, High Church Anglican cleric and Roman Catholic convert, who was one of the major metaphysical poets in 17th-century English literature.

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the free Kindle version. Of the 237 pages, roughly ten percent is introduction. When you finally get to the poetry, it is difficult to read because it retains the original, antiquated spelling: syluer for silver, vp for up, ioy for joy, Iiesu for Jesu. But determined poetry lovers will uncover quite a few gems.

Richard Crashaw lived from 1613-1649, arriving on the scene shortly after the likes of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth. He is mostly remembered for his metaphysical poetry. I have seen some of his poems in poetry compilations (with modernized spelling) and have appreciated their piety and beauty. The formatting of this book made it difficult to read, but I was able to cull out a few gems.

On the incarnation:
"That He whom the sun serves, should faintly peep
through clouds of infant flesh; that He the old
Eternal Word should be a child, and weep;
That He who made the fire, should fear the cold.”

On Christ's Death:
"Christ when He died
Deceived the cross;
And on Death’s side
Threw all the loss.
The captive world awaked and found
The prisoner loose, the jailer bound."

On the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil vs. the Cross:
"By that first fatal tree
Both life and liberty
Were sold and slain;
But by this they look up, and live again…
O sad, sweet tree!
Woeful and joyful we
Both weep and sing in shade of thee."

Now that I know I'm a fan, I'll be on the lookout for a more accessible version of his works.

[Lilly]

Since I'm writing my English thesis on this, I'm not going to "rate" it. While he lacks the breadth of Donne or Herbert, to whom he is often (usually unfavorably) compared, and recycles poetic imagery like nobody's business, the man is also responsible for some of the most gender-bending, stomach-turning, unapologetically extravagant conceits in the English language. Most critics have either turned up their noses or thrown up their hands in exasperation at him, but that makes him, in my mind, to be more and not less worth reading. It's a bit daunting to take on something most critics have had a remarkably difficult time chewing on, but to me that's what makes it worthwhile--as worthwhile as an English thesis is going to be, anyway. If you enjoy literature, the Early Modern period (if you like Shakespeare, this means you!) and/or bizarre poems about blood, breasts, tears, and Christ, reading Crashaw is a must!