Richard Leigh (poet)
Encyclopedia
Richard Leigh English poet, was the younger son of Edward Leigh (1603–1671) and Elizabeth Talbot (died 1707) of Rushall, Staffordshire
. He entered Queen’s College
, Oxford
in 1666 at age sixteen. Sources rumor that, after school, Leigh left Oxford for London
and became an actor in the Duke of York
’s or King's Company
. There were two other actors named “Leigh” during that period in the company, Anthony Leigh and John Leigh, but no records of a Richard Leigh in either company exist today.
While he was a young man, Leigh wrote a prose tract attacking poet John Dryden
(1631–1700), entitled “The Censure of the Rota on Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Granada”, an attack which annoyed Dryden who subsequently called Leigh ‘the Fastidious Brisk of Oxford’. Some of Leigh’s works include “Poems on Several Occasions and to Several Persons”, “Greatness in Little” (1675), “Sleeping on her Couch”, and “The Eccho”.
In Leigh’s will dated March 22, 1726, he directed that his body should be buried near his father’s, in the chancel of Saint Michael’s Church, Rushall, this came to be on September 12, 1728.
Metaphysical
- 1. Based on abstract reasoning; transcending physical matter of the laws of nature. 2. Denoting certain 17th century English Poets known for their subtlety of thought and complex imagery.
Metaphysics
- 1. The branch of philosophy concerned with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being and knowing.
Metaphysical Poetry- Highly intellectualized poetry written chiefly in 17th-century England. It is marked by bold and ingenious conceits, complexity, and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox, and often deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression. Metaphysical poetry is chiefly concerned with analyzing feeling. It is a blend of emotion and the intellectual ingenuity, characterized by CONCEIT---that is, by the sometimes forced juxtaposition of apparently unconnected ideas and things so that the reader is startled out of complacency and forced to think through the argument of the poem.
The following is an excerpted poem from “Poems upon Several Occasions and to Several Persons”.
The Whisper
Fairest, what means this close address,
As if you would a hearing steal?
Since words were given thoughts to express,
Why should soft words your thoughts conceal?
While thus your mind to breathe you teach
A language secret as your thought,
You sin against the end of speech,
Which when it hides to lie is taught.
The whispering air so soft does steal,
As conscious whom it must obey,
Your secret yielding to conceal,
Without the least sound slides away.
Unwilling to spread forth the news,
As dreading to displease the fair,
It does through secret pipes diffuse,
As loth to mix with common air.
Your words with silent motions glide,
As gently as from you they came;
From ways of noise they far divide,
And leave the road of common fame.
I’ll hunt thee out where’er they bear,
And, breathing close, their steps pursue,
And, as I gather in the air,
Each breath shall voice the winds anew.
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. He entered Queen’s College
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1666 at age sixteen. Sources rumor that, after school, Leigh left Oxford for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and became an actor in the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
’s or King's Company
King's Company
The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682.-History:...
. There were two other actors named “Leigh” during that period in the company, Anthony Leigh and John Leigh, but no records of a Richard Leigh in either company exist today.
While he was a young man, Leigh wrote a prose tract attacking poet John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
(1631–1700), entitled “The Censure of the Rota on Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Granada”, an attack which annoyed Dryden who subsequently called Leigh ‘the Fastidious Brisk of Oxford’. Some of Leigh’s works include “Poems on Several Occasions and to Several Persons”, “Greatness in Little” (1675), “Sleeping on her Couch”, and “The Eccho”.
In Leigh’s will dated March 22, 1726, he directed that his body should be buried near his father’s, in the chancel of Saint Michael’s Church, Rushall, this came to be on September 12, 1728.
The Style of Metaphysical Poetry
Richard Leigh was amongst the British lyric poets of the 17th century known as the metaphysical poets. Though not all the poets of this school were aware of one another, most of them shared an interest in metaphysical matters.Metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
- 1. Based on abstract reasoning; transcending physical matter of the laws of nature. 2. Denoting certain 17th century English Poets known for their subtlety of thought and complex imagery.
Metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
- 1. The branch of philosophy concerned with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being and knowing.
Metaphysical Poetry- Highly intellectualized poetry written chiefly in 17th-century England. It is marked by bold and ingenious conceits, complexity, and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox, and often deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression. Metaphysical poetry is chiefly concerned with analyzing feeling. It is a blend of emotion and the intellectual ingenuity, characterized by CONCEIT---that is, by the sometimes forced juxtaposition of apparently unconnected ideas and things so that the reader is startled out of complacency and forced to think through the argument of the poem.
Works by Richard Leigh
Leigh wrote “The Transposer Rehearsed, or the Fifth Act of Mr. Baye’s Play; being a Post-script to the Animadversions on the Preface to Bishop Bramhall’s Vindication”and a pamphlet in 1673 attacking a Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Grenada in a pamphlet entitled “A Censure of the Rota in Mr. Dryden’s Conquest of Granada”. Leigh also published Poems upon Several Occasions and to Several Persons (1675).The following is an excerpted poem from “Poems upon Several Occasions and to Several Persons”.
The Whisper
Fairest, what means this close address,
As if you would a hearing steal?
Since words were given thoughts to express,
Why should soft words your thoughts conceal?
While thus your mind to breathe you teach
A language secret as your thought,
You sin against the end of speech,
Which when it hides to lie is taught.
The whispering air so soft does steal,
As conscious whom it must obey,
Your secret yielding to conceal,
Without the least sound slides away.
Unwilling to spread forth the news,
As dreading to displease the fair,
It does through secret pipes diffuse,
As loth to mix with common air.
Your words with silent motions glide,
As gently as from you they came;
From ways of noise they far divide,
And leave the road of common fame.
I’ll hunt thee out where’er they bear,
And, breathing close, their steps pursue,
And, as I gather in the air,
Each breath shall voice the winds anew.