Introduction

Biography

Richard was the son of min­is­ter Will­iam Cra­shaw.

He was edu­cat­ed at the Char­ter House and Pem­broke Hall, and Pe­ter­house, Cam­bridge. He be­came a Fel­low of Pe­ter­house, and dis­tin­guished him­self both in La­tin and Eng­lish po­et­ry.

After join­ing the Ro­man Ca­tho­lic church, he went to Pa­ris, seek­ing pre­fer­ment. Fail­ing for a time, he was as­sist­ed by Cow­ley, the po­et, who in 1646 re­com­mend­ed him to Queen Hen­ri­et­ta Ma­ria, then re­sid­ing in Pa­ris.

Under her pa­tron­age he tra­veled in It­aly, and sub­se­quent­ly became a Ca­non in the Church of Lo­re­to.

Before leav­ing Eng­land, he wrote his Steps to the Tem­ple (1646), in which are giv­en ver­sions of two Psalms; and sub­se­quent­ly The De­lights of the Mus­es.

Car­men Deo Nos­tro was pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in 1652. It con­tained hymns both orig­in­al and trans­lat­ed.

His po­ems were ed­it­ed by Turn­bull (1856) and Dr. Gro­sart (1869).