Levi, Peter (1931–2000)

English poet, prose writer, critic, and classical scholar. In 1977 he resigned from the priesthood and from the Society of Jesus, of which he had been a member since 1948. His first volume of verse was The Gravel Ponds (1960). His poetry has striking images, and draws on classical and archaeological themes, Christianity, and nature. Collected Poems 1955–1975 was published in 1976. He has written critical biographies of Tennyson (1993), Lear (1995), Milton (1996), and Horace (1997).

Levi was born in Ruislip, Middlesex, and studied at Campion Hall. He was a lecturer in classics at Oxford at Campion Hall 1965–77 and Christ Church 1979–82. He was professor of poetry at Oxford from 1984–89. His poetry lectures at Oxford are in The Art of Poetry (1991).