Richard Leigh (1650–1728) was an English poet of gentry stock, whose work is classed as

metaphysical poetry The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyric ...

. He engaged in a pamphlet dispute with

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

Life

He was the younger son of Sir Edward Leigh (1603–1671), of Rushall,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

(a scion of the ancient family of West Hall, High Legh, Cheshire and cousin of the Lords Leigh), and Elizabeth Talbot (died 1707), a relative of the

Earls of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Irelan ...

. In 1666, aged 16, he entered Queen's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Sources rumour that after university, Leigh left

for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and became an actor in the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

's or

King's Company The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London, after the London theatre closure had been lifted at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged wit ...

. There were two other actors named "Leigh" during that period in the company,

Anthony Leigh Anthony Leigh (died 1692) was a celebrated English comic actor. Life He was from a Northamptonshire family, and was not closely related to the actor John Leigh (c.1689–1726?). He joined the Duke of York's company about 1672, and appeared in ...

and John Leigh, but no records of a Richard Leigh in either company survive. While he was a young man, Leigh wrote a prose tract attacking 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". His

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

, dated 22 March 1726, was proved on 12 September 1728. He was buried in the Leigh Chapel at St Michael's Church, Rushall.

Metaphysical poetry

Richard Leigh was among the English lyric poets of the 17th century known as the Metaphysicals. Though not all the poets of the school were aware of one another, most shared an interest in metaphysical matters.

Metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

is used in the sense of being based on abstract reasoning and transcending physical matter of the laws of nature. As a branch of philosophy, metaphysics concerns the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being and knowing. It is in these senses that it denotes the highly intellectual 17th-century English poets of the school, who are known for subtlety of thought and complex imagery. Their work is marked by bold and ingenious conceits, complexity, and subtlety of thought, frequent use of

paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...

, and often deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression. Metaphysical poetry is chiefly concerned with analysing feeling. It blends emotion and intellectual ingenuity, characterized by ''

conceit An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact bet ...

'', i. e. by sometimes forced juxtaposition of apparently unconnected ideas and things, which startles the reader out of complacency and into 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 an attacking pamphlet in 1673 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), which includes the following: Hugh Macdonald and Richard Leigh, "Poems, Upon Several Occasions, and, to Several Persons". 1675. Print. Google Book Search. Web. 24 Jan 2010. ''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.''

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Richard 1650 births 1728 deaths People from Rushall, West Midlands Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford 17th-century English poets 17th-century English male writers 18th-century English poets English male poets 18th-century English male writers

Life

Metaphysical poetry

Works by Richard Leigh

See also

References

Sources