Richard Barnefield 1574-1620
Richard Barnefield was born in Norbury, Staffordshire in 1574, the son of a gentleman, and grew up in Newport, Shropshire. It is believed that he was brought up by his aunt after his mother died in childbirth when he was six. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating with a BA in 1592. He did not proceed to obtain his MA and it is thought that he may have been asked to leave on account of either his behaviour or his debts. He is believed to have moved to London in 1593 where he came into contact with other writers of the period, including Shakespeare.
He published The Affectionate Shepherd anonymously in 1594, a male to male love poem based on Vergil’s Second Eclogue, which he dedicated to Lady Penelope Rich, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne. The poem’s content is overtly homoerotic and later Barnefield attempted to distance himself from criticism by maintaining he was only imitating Vergil. A few months later he published Cynthia with certain Sonnets and the legend of Cassandra, a panegyric on Queen Elizabeth which he dedicated to William Stanley, The Earl of Derby.
In 1598 he published The Encomium of Lady Pecina, a poem in praise of money. He also wrote two sonnets in The Passionate Pilgrim, published in 1599, which were wrongly attributed to Shakespeare at the time. His poetry is sweet, clear and musical and is best reflected in his sonnets which are full of same sex references. Whether he was a practising homosexual himself is open to question, as he would not have admitted it, it being a capital offense at the time, but there is no doubt from his poetry that he was spiritually homosexual. Two of his best known works are Against the Dispraisers of Poetry and To His Friend Master R L, If Music and Sweet Poetrie Agree.
Barnefield died in 1620. It was once thought that he died in 1627, but evidence reveals that this date refers to his father’s death, and his father’s will published soon afterwards shows that he was disinherited in favour of his younger brother. We can only guess why.
Works include
Books you might enjoy
Richard Barnfield: The Complete Poems
G. Klawitter (Editor)