Richard Corbet

Born in 1582 in Surrey, Richard Corbet was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. He became known both as a poet and as a rising figure in the Church of England, building a reputation for lively, playful verse as well as for his connections in university and court circles.

Corbet eventually served as Bishop of Oxford and later Bishop of Norwich. Alongside his church career, he wrote poems that stood out for their wit, ease, and fondness for anecdote and satire, which helped keep his name alive long after his death in 1635.

He is often remembered as one of those writers who captures a social world as much as a literary one: learned but not stiff, and humorous without losing polish. That mix of cleric, court figure, and entertaining poet gives his work much of its lasting charm.