Richard Leigh (poet) facts for kids
Richard Leigh (born 1650, died 1728) was an English poet from a well-known family. His poems are part of a style called metaphysical poetry. He was also known for a written argument he had with another famous poet, John Dryden.
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Richard Leigh's Life Story
Richard Leigh was the younger son of Sir Edward Leigh (1603–1671). His family lived in a place called Rushall, in Staffordshire. His mother was Elizabeth Talbot (died 1707).
In 1666, when Richard was 16, he started studying at Queen's College at Oxford. Some stories say that after university, Leigh moved to London and became an actor. He might have joined a theater group like the Duke of York's Company or the King's Company. However, there are no official records that show a "Richard Leigh" acting in these groups.
When he was young, Leigh wrote a paper that criticized the poet John Dryden (1631–1700). This paper was called "The Censure of the Rota on Mr. Dryden's Conquest of Granada." Dryden was annoyed by this and later called Leigh "the Fastidious Brisk of Oxford."
Some of Leigh's writings include "Poems on Several Occasions and to Several Persons," "Greatness in Little" (from 1675), "Sleeping on her Couch," and "The Eccho."
Richard Leigh's will, which is a legal document about his wishes after death, was written on March 22, 1726. It was officially approved on September 12, 1728. He was buried in the Leigh family chapel at St Michael's Church in Rushall.
What is Metaphysical Poetry?
Richard Leigh was one of the English poets from the 1600s who wrote in a style called Metaphysical poetry. These poets often explored deep, philosophical ideas in their work.
The word "metaphysical" here means thinking about things that are beyond the physical world or the usual laws of nature. It's like a branch of philosophy that looks at big ideas such as what it means to exist or to know something. Metaphysical poets were known for their clever thinking and complex ways of using images in their poems.
Their poems often used surprising and clever comparisons, called conceits. They also showed complex thoughts and often used paradoxes, which are statements that seem to contradict themselves but might be true. Sometimes, their language could be a bit rough or stiff on purpose. Metaphysical poetry often tries to understand feelings by blending emotions with smart ideas. The clever comparisons they used would sometimes connect ideas that seemed totally unrelated. This was meant to make the reader stop and think deeply about the poem's message.
Richard Leigh's Published Works
Richard Leigh wrote several pieces during his life. One of his works was "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." In 1673, he also wrote a critical paper called "A Censure of the Rota in Mr. Dryden's Conquest of Granada."
In 1675, Leigh published a collection of his poems titled Poems upon Several Occasions and to Several Persons. This collection includes the poem below:
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.
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