Tastes of Richard Crashaw

A Mystical Metaphysical Poet

Dear bookish friend,

For a while, you’ll be getting cast-offs from my upcoming Advent Old Books with Grace series, because that’s what I’m reading these days. The poetry won’t be overtly Advent-themed—don’t worry, I’m not jumping the gun on getting the season started!

You might have noticed I’ve been into the metaphysical poets lately—that group of seventeenth-century English poets who used surprising imagery to convey sometimes heavily theological, at other times erotic (and sometimes, both at once) content. Today’s poetry is from Richard Crashaw, who like Thomas Traherne of a few weeks ago, is sometimes overlooked in favor of the heavy hitters like John Donne or George Herbert. I’m a huge fan of both those esteemed gentlemen, but it’s fun to do deep dives and find the poems slightly off the beaten path.

You can really see how much Crashaw was influenced by George Herbert in the title and themes of this collection (Herbert’s was entitled “The Temple”)!