The current consensus on the early seventeenth-century English poet Richard Crashaw can best be summarized in the language of the Norton Anthology of English Literature, reading from the first volume of the seventh (and current) edition:

Central to this characterization are of course two points: one, that Crashaw is unique among writers of this period in his “religious and aesthetic sensibility,” and two, that his uniqueness is related to his conversion to Roman Catholicism, which, through his deep “commitment to its rituals and devotions,” served as the source of inspiration for his “religious and aesthetic sensibility.” In the words of the Norton Anthology, again, “Crashaw's favorite subjects are the baroque artist's favorites [and] Crashaw's attraction to Roman Catholicism was a natural expression of his temperament.”