Peter Chad Tigar Levi (16 May 1931, in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is a suburb in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London. Prior to 1965 it was in Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

– 1 February 2000, in

Frampton-on-Severn Frampton on Severn is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. The population is 1,432. Geography The village is approximately south of Gloucester, at . It lies on the east bank of the River Severn, and on the west bank of the ...

) was an English poet,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest,

travel writer The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...

, biographer, academic and prolific reviewer and critic. He was

Professor of Poetry The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the University of Oxford. The chair was created in 1708 by an endowment from the estate of Henry Birkhead. The professorship carries an obligation to deliver an inaugural lecture; give one p ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

(1984–1989).

Early life and education

Levi was born in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. The family of his father (Herbert Simon Levi) came from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and that of his mother (Edith Mary Tigar) was English. His mother was a devout

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and his

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

father converted to that religion; their three children all entered

religious orders A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their founders, and have a d ...

. He was educated in private

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

establishments starting at Prior Park near

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, run by the Christian Brothers. When he was 14,

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

had become his literary idol. Wilde had said that ''the Greek text of the Gospels was the most beautiful book in the world'',Levi, Peter. (1980) ''The Hill of Kronos''. so a school with more Greek was demanded and he changed schools to

Beaumont College Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a Public school (UK), public school in Old Windsor, Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while l ...

, a

school in

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old Eng ...

, Berkshire. While at Beaumont, at the age of 17 he joined the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

as a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

. He was to remain a Jesuit until he resigned the priesthood 29 years later in 1977. Levi trained for the priesthood at

Heythrop College Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with soc ...

and read

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

at Campion Hall. During his teenage years he suffered from

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

and as an undergraduate was knocked down by a car – the after-effects of these were to affect him throughout his life. While at Heythrop, then a country house near

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 201 ...

in Oxfordshire, he was not the most ruly of seminarians. This and possible doubts about his vocation led to his ordination being delayed for a year: :"We used to translate psalm 19''Beati immaculati in via'' at Heythrop as ''Blessed are those who are not spotted on the way out''. I was spotted too often...." This delay had the side effect of enabling his first visit to Greece in 1963. He travelled through Afghanistan with

Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storytelling, s ...

in 1970, looking for traces of Greek culture.

After the priesthood

He left the priesthood in 1977. He subsequently married Deirdre Craig (granddaughter of Lord Craigavon), widow of

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...

. He spent a year as archaeological correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' before returning to academic life. In 1984, he was elected Oxford Professor of Poetry, an appointment requiring only a minimal number of public lectures. In 1988, he claimed to have found a previously unknown poem by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in a manuscript at the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United State ...

San Marino, California San Marino is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2020 United States census the population was 12,513, a decline from the 2010 United States census. History Origin of name Th ...

. However, the claim has not been accepted by most scholars.

Works

Most of this data retrieved from

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

catalogue July 2006.

Poetry

* 1960: ''The Gravel Ponds''. London: Andre Deutsch. * 1962: '' Water, Rock and Sand''. London: Andre Deutsch. * 1965: ''The Shearwaters''. Clive Allison (Harlequin Poets). In ''Longer Contemporary Poems'' (ed. David Wright, 1966). Penguin Books. * 1966: ''Fresh Water, Sea Water''. London: Black Raven Press. * 1968: ''Ruined Abbeys''. Northwood: Anvil Press. * 1968: ''Pancakes for the Queen of Babylon''. Northwood: Anvil Press. * 1970: ''Ο τόνος της φωνής του Σεφέρη'' (Mr Seferis' Tone of Voice). * 1971: ''Death is a Pulpit''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1971: ''Life is a Platform''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1973: in ''Penguin Modern Poets vol 22''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. * 1976: ''Collected Poems, 1955–1975''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1977: ''The Noise Made by Poems''. London: Anvil Press. * 1978: ''Five ages''. London: Anvil Press. * 1979: ''Comfort at Fifty for my brother''. Pamphlet. * 1980?: ''Music of dark tones''. (With an engraving by Simon Brett.) Marlborough: Paulinus Press. * 1981: ''Private Ground''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1983: ''The Echoing Green: Three Elegies''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1985: ''Shakespeare's Birthday''. London: Anvil Press. * 1989: ''Shadow and Bone: Poems 1981–1988''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1994: ''The Rags of Time''. London: Anvil Press. . * 1997: ''Reed Music''. London: Anvil Press. . * 2001: ''Viriditas''. London: Anvil Press. .

Autobiography and travel

* 1980: ''The Hill of Kronos''. Collins. . * 1984: ''The Light Garden of the Angel King: Journeys in Afghanistan''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. * 1996: ''A Bottle in the Shade: a Journey in the Western Peloponnese''. London:

Sinclair-Stevenson Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd was a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson. Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British p ...

. .

Greece and the ancient world

* Levi, Peter (1980). ''Atlas of the Greek world''. Oxford: Phaidon. . * Levi, Peter and Porter, Eliot (1981). ''The Greek World''. London: Aurum. * Levi, Peter (1985). ''A History of Greek Literature''. Harmondsworth: Viking (Penguin). . * Brewster, Harry (1997). ''The River Gods of Greece: Myths and Mountain Waters in the Hellenic World''. London: I.B. Tauris. . (Preface by Peter Levi).

Biography and literature

* Levi, Peter (1961). ''Beaumont, 1861–1961''. London: Andre Deutsch. * Pope, Alexander. Ed. Peter Levi (1974). ''Pope. Selected by Peter Levi''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. . * Levi, Peter (1983). ''The Flutes of Autumn''. (Autobiography). London: Harvill. . * Boswell, James, and Johnson, Samuel. Ed. Peter Levi (1984). ''A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. . * Levi, Peter (1988). ''The life and times of William Shakespeare''. London: Macmillan. . * Levi, Peter (1988). ''A Private Commission: new verses by Shakespeare''. London: Macmillan. . * Levi, Peter (1989). ''Goodbye to the Art of Poetry''. London: Anvil Press. . * Levi, Peter (1990). ''Boris Pasternak''. London: Hutchinson. . * Levi, Peter (1993). ''Tennyson''. Macmillan. . * Levi, Peter (1995). ''Edward Lear: a biography''. London: Macmillan. . * Levi, Peter (1996). ''Eden Renewed: the public and private life of John Milton''. London: Macmillan. . * Levi, Peter (1997). ''Horace: a life''. London: Duckworth (2001). . * Levi, Peter (1998). ''Virgil: his life and times''. London: Duckworth.

Translations

* Yevtushenko, Yevgeny. Trans. Peter Levi and Robin Milner-Gulland (1966). ''Poems: chosen by the author''.London: Collins and Harvill. * Pausanias. Trans. Peter Levi (1971). ''Guide to Greece'' (2 vols: Central and Southern Greece). Harmondsworth: Penguin. * The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1976). ''The Psalms''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. . * Pavlopoulos, George. Trans. Peter Levi (1977). ''The cellar''. London: Anvil Press. . * Papadiamantis, Alexandros. Trans. Peter Levi (1983). ''The murderess''. London: Writers and Readers. * Unknown. Trans. Anne Pennington and Peter Levi (1984). ''Marko the Prince: Serbo-Croat heroic songs''. London: Duckworth. . * The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1985). ''The Holy Gospel of John''. Worthing: Churchman. . * de Courcel, Martine. Trans. Peter Levi (1988). ''Tolstoy: the ultimate reconciliation''. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. . * The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1992). ''The Revelation of John''. London: Kyle Cathie. . * Papadiamantis, Alexandros. Trans. Peter Levi (1995). ''The murderess''. London: Loizou. .

Religious

* The Bible. Compiled. Peter Levi (1974). ''The English Bible, 1534–1859''. London: Constable. . * Levi, Peter ed. (1984). ''The Penguin Book of English Christian Verse''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN Link0140422927. * Levi, Peter (1987). ''The Frontiers of Paradise: a study of monks and monasteries''. London: Collins Harvill. . * Bernard, Bruce and Lloyd, Christopher (1987). ''The Queen Of Heaven – A Selection of Paintings of the Virgin Mary''. London: Macdonald Orbis. (Introduction by Peter Levi).

Articles and lectures

* Levi, Peter (1975). ''John Clare and Thomas Hardy''. University of London: The Athlone Press. * Levi, Peter (1975). ''In Memory of David Jones: a sermon''. In ''The Tablet''. * O'Connell, Eileen. Trans. Eilís Dillon (1984). ''The Lamentation of the Dead'' with "The Lament For Arthur O'Leary". . * Levi, Peter (1990). ''Hopkins a'i Dduw'', (Hopkins and his God). North Wales Arts Association. ISSN 0260-6720. * Levi, Peter (1991). '' The Art of Poetry: The Oxford Lectures, 1984–1989''. New Haven: Yale University Press. .

Novels

* Levi, Peter (1979). ''The Head in the Soup''. London: Constable. . * Levi, Peter (1985). ''Grave Witness''. London: Quartet. . * Levi, Peter (1986). ''Knit One, Drop Oone''. London: Quartet. . * Levi, Peter (1988). ''To the Goat''. Hutchinson. . * Connolly, Cyril (1903–1974), concluded by Peter Levi (1990). ''Shade Those Laurels''. London: Bellew. .

References

External links

* *Jannika Hurwitt
"Peter Levi, The Art of Poetry No. 24"
(interview), ''The Paris Review'', Issue 76, Fall 1979.

* ttp://bc-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/bclib:lib_BURNS:ALMA-BC21321997950001021 Peter Levi Papers at John J. Burns Library, Boston College {{DEFAULTSORT:Levi, Peter 1931 births 2000 deaths 20th-century English biographers 20th-century English Jesuits 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English poets Academics of the University of Oxford Alumni of Campion Hall, Oxford Alumni of Heythrop College English Catholic poets English male biographers English male poets English people of Turkish-Jewish descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Former Jesuits Laicized Roman Catholic priests Oxford Professors of Poetry People educated at Prior Park College People from Ruislip Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London