On The Wounds Of Our Crucified Lord Analysis

Richard Crashaw was born in London as the only child of a Puritan preacher who was also an anti-Catholic. By the time Crashaw reached the age of fourteen, both his parents had died. Being that Crashaw grew up in a religious household and surrounding, he furthered his education at Pembroke College which is a High Church college. Following his graduation, he published Epigrannatum Sacrorum which is a book of Latin verse on scriptural Subjects. According to the British biography, Crashaw reflected little of the contemporary English metaphysical poets, adhering, rather, to the flamboyant imagery of the continental Baroque poets. Crashaw used conceits to draw analogies between the physical beauties of nature and the spiritual significance of existence. Crashaw’s verse is marked by loose trains of association, sensuous imagery, and eager religious emotion. The selection I have chosen for the essay assignment is “On the Wounds of Our Crucified Lord” by Richard Crashaw. I think this poem contributes to our understanding of 17th century poetry by first expanding on the metaphysical conceits that seventeenth century poetry is prominent for. Secondly, this poetry selection is formal in that it uses meter, rhyme, and stanza forms as structure and in this case, it is iambic tetrameter with a continuous rhyme scheme. These two details alone are beneficial in understanding 17th century poetry. The subject in this poem is Christ which is a common subject we have visited throughout this