UNIT 6 THOMAS GRAY

Structure \

6.0 objectives
6.1 Introduction
, 6.2 Thomas Gray
6.3 Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard
6.3.1 Text
6.3.2 Interpretation
6.3.3 Poetic Devices
6.4 Let Us Sum Up
5.5 Anwers to Exercises

6.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit on Thomas Gray, you will read one of his well-known poems Elegy Written In
A Country Churchyard. Gray wrote this poem towards the second half of the 18th century.
Gray's poetry marks the transition from the neo-classical poetry of Pope and Dryden and
looks forward to the advent of Romantic poetry of Wordsworth and other poets of the 19tn
century. At the end of your study of this unit, you will be able to :
i) discuss Gray's Elegy in detail ' '

ii) identify the Ptrains of classicism and' romanticism in Gray's Elegiand

iii) appreciate the poetic techniques used in the Elegy.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
-

In Unit 3 of this block you studied Milton's Lycidas as a pastoral elegy. In this unit we
shall discuss Thomas Gray's Elegy as a poem of transitional period and thereby identify both
the strains of Romanticism and Classicism in his poetry. In the course of your study of
Gray's Elegy you will also notice that it is an elegy with a difference in the sense that he
does not mourn the death of a specific person. It partakes of elegiac characteristics through
its concern with the frailty of human life in the :ontext of death. We shall also discuss
features of landscape poetry which emphasised death, graveyard and gloom.
We would like you to first read the poem. Then you'should read it again, with the help of
interpretation of lines and words given in 6.3.2. After you have followed the interpretation,
read the note on poetic devices in 6.3.4. After you have read and understood the poem and
critical comments, write down the answers to the exercises. Your answers should then be
checked with the answers given by us at the e d of the unit.

6.2 THOMAS GRAY

I
I

THOMAS GRAY

Thomas Gray ($7 16-1771) began his career as a poet by writing Latip verses. Later he turned
:26 . - ... . . . -. . - . -. - .
 Distant Prospect of Eton College. With the exception of the Elegy (published in 1751), Thomas Gray
Gray's poetry can be broadly categorised into two groups :

i) poetry which grew out of his interest in medieval literature and history (for e.g. The
Progress of Poesy and The Barn) and written in the form of Pindaric odes with an
elaborate classical metric form and

ii) poetry which was realistic and contemporary in form and mood (for e.g. Ode On The
Death of a Favourite Cat).Gray was also a remarkable letter-writer and his
correspondence is one of the four or five finest in English language.

6.3 ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD

Gray's Elegy can be related to two of the distinct poetic traditions of the first half of the
18th century, namely the Elegy &d Landscape Poetry. In Unit 3, you studied Milton's
Lycidas as a pastoral elegy. Gray was influenced by Lyci&s and he introduces ethical and
philosophical discussions in his poem. The poem also partakes of certain features of
Landscape poetry that include the use of a scene oflhe countryside (churchyard) to embody
the poet's philosophic reflections. Gray's Elegy alternates between description and reflection
and this sets a pattern and contributes to the basic structure of the p e m . Frank H. Ellis in
his essay on Gray's Elegy has given the following analysis of the poem:

Lines
1-16 Description of the churchyard
17-76 Reflections on the scene
a) 17-28 The rural life which the dead no longer enjoy.
b) 29-44 Admonition to the 'proud' not to mock the poor people's graves
C) 45-76 Opportunities for good as well as possibilities for evil are denied to the
poor.
77-84 Description of the gravestones in the country churchyard
85-92 Reflections on the psychology of dying
93-1 1 1 Description of the stone cutter - his life and death
1 12-126 Reflections on the stone cutter - the Epitaph.

6.3.1 Text
Now let us read Gray's 'ElegyWritten in a Country Churchyard'
THE curfew tolls the knell of pafting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.
\
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,

And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheelghis droning flight,
' And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds:

Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower

-The moping owl does to the moon compiain
'Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade -
'@here heaves the turf in many a mouldeting heap,
,jEachuinhis narrow cell for ever laid.
'The rir& Forefathers of the hamlet sleep, c 16 27
Understanding Poetry The breeezy call of incense-breathing mom,
The swallow twittering from the straw built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

For them no more the blazing hearth shall bum

Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.

Oft did the harvest to their sickly yield,

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke!
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy storke!

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the Poor.
I

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour:-
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault

If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthemswells the note of praise.

Can storied urn or anihated bust

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid

Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre:

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page

Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.

Full many a gem df purest.ray serene

The dark unfathom'd caves of.ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast

The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood.

Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,

' The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land.
And read their history in a nation's eyes

Their lot forbade: nor circumscribed alone

Their growing vimes, but theircrimes confined;
 Thomas Gray
Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind;

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,

To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife

Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
*
Yet e'en these bones from idsult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd Muse,

The place of fame and elegy supply:
And many a holy text around she strews
That teach the rustic moralist to die.

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,

This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?

On some fond breast the parting soul relies,

Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires.

~bf.thee,who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead,

Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Spme kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,-

Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,

Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
i Brushing with hasty steps the dews away,
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.

There at the foot of yonder nodding beech

That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noon-tide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,

Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove;
Now drooping, woful-wan, like one forlorn,
Or crazed with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.

One morn 1 miss'd him on the custom'd hill,

Along the heath, and near his favourite tree;
Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;

The next with dirges due in sad array

Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne,-
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay
Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn
Understanding Poetry The Epitaph

Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth

A Youth, to Fortune and to Fame unknown;
Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere;
Heaven did a recompense as largely send;
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
He gain'd from Heaven, 'twas all he wish'd, a friend.
No father seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)
The bosom of his Father and his God.

- T. GRAY

6.3.2 Interpretation
Lines 1-16
In the description of the churchyard the poet does not give a pictorial representation of the
place. but by apt images, he evokes a sense of weariness, darkness, gloom and parting and
thereby sets the scene of the poem.
I ,

The opening line states "The curfew tolls the knell" where the three words "curfew" "tolls"
and "knell" have associations with the sound$g of bell at a funeral or death.
"Curfew": the ringing of a bell as a signal to put out all fires and lights. This practice began
in the medieval times and had continued as a traditional custom.
"tolls" : to sound a large bell to announce the death of someone.
"Knell" : the sound of a bell at a death or funeral.
Here the announcement is about the parting day. The'image of the curfew bell tolling
contributes to the solemness and gravity of the scene that is evoked. The philosophic
reflections that are made in the course of the poem are occasioned b. the scene evoked in the
opening lines. The next 15 lines (after the opening line) intensify the atmosphere and build a
sensation of a world closing in. The oxen wind their way slowly home to be followed by the
weary ploughman plodding homeward and the world grows dark with the approach of the late
evening.

Line 4 The reference to "me" at the close of the line identifies outer and inner darkness and
this shift from outer darkness to inner darkness involves shift from the outside world to the
poet-observer whose reflections are to follow. The world has gone dark and this darkness
closes in on the poet-spokesman. What happens to him is symptomatic of what happens to
mankind. THe poet, who s t d h s for Mankind will now reflect upon death gs it overtakes all
men.

Stanzas 2-4 (Lines 5-16) present a picture of a gloomy world. Can you identify the imagery
in these lines? Read the lines and then read our analysis of the imagery given below :

The landscape fades, there is a solemn stillness, the beetle is droning and the tinkling of
cattle bells is feeble. The images of sight and sound reinforce the picture of a gloomy world
pervaded by death. The reference to the "yew tree" is significant i s it is planted in a
churchyard. Line 14 "Where heaves the turf in a mouldering heap" directly points to the
burial ground where "each in his narrow cell (is) forever laid" (15). The opening four stanzas
describe the churchyard through the eyes of the poet-spokesman standing there.

Stanzas 17-76

The next fifteen stanzas (Lines 17-76) are reflections on the scene that has been unfolded.
Stanzas 5-7 assert the sovereignty of death through the repetition of the phrases -"No more"
And "For them no more" -phrases which toll the death knells of the "rude (rugged) fore -
fatheis". They shall not be awakened from their eternal \leep neither by the sweet fragrance
 of the morning or the cooing of the birds or by the demands made on them by their families. Thomas. Gray
Their sturdy and jocund activities were of the past and they shall be of no avail to prop them
up from their present resting places in the graves.

L. 26 "glebe" : (archaic) the soil or clod or field

"jocund" : (archaic) mirthful, merry

s!tanzas 8-11In continuation of the preceding four stanzas present the supremacy of death
against which honour, heraldry, power, wealth and glory prove no match to sustain the
living. The poet is not contrasting the rich against the poor, but the introduction of the rich
at this point is part of a larger statement of the poem that death is common to both the rich
and the poor. At no stage in the poem does the poet romanticise about the virtues of the
poor nor attempt to eulogise these underprivileged classes, but he makes it explicit that
mortality is a common fact of existence that spares neither the lowly nor the great. The
reading of the poem on these lines depends on the emphasis that the reader places on line
36 : "The paths of glory lead but to the grave." If the emphasis is upon the word "glory", the
line suggests that the paths or the pursuit of glory will lead to the grave only, as though
holding out a consolation to the poor that they need not therefore feel cheated in life. If the
emphasis is shifted to "grave", then it hammers in the fact of common doom that awaits
alike the famous and the obscure.
,--

The poet thus balances the two classes - the rich and the poor- and thereby admonishes
the rich not to scorn "the short and simple annals of the poor." He addresses the rich with
unflattering epithets such as "Ambition", "Grandeur", "boast", "pomp", "proud", "Flattery"
and states that their story painted on the urns or their images carved in animated bust cannot .
save them from death or bring them back to life. These sculptured figures of the rich are to
be seen all through "the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault" (39) of the great cathedrals.
["fretted" : ornamented or decorated with interlaced work.] The Poet develops the contrast
between the different burial customs of the two classes. "The boast of heraldry" (1. 33) is
contrasted with "the short and simple annals of the poor" (1. 32), "the animated bust" (1. 41)
. with "the shapeles sculptures" (79) ; "lhe fretted vault" (1. 39) with "the lap of earth" (1 17) ;
"storied urn" (1. 41) with "frail memorial" (1. 78) etc., only to emphasise the inevitability of
death and the common desire of mankind to be remembered after death through erection of
m~morials.
The Poet makes the observation that man fears ob1i"ion and seeks posthumous remembrance
through some frail or resplendent memorial. This is reinforced a little later in 1. 91-92.
"E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires."
Human desire to be remembered even after death is so strong that it is imagined to smoulder
in the ashes of the dead. Men are pretty much alike in their fundamental fears and desires and
their difference in rank and status in society is only a matter of chance.
1.45-60 make reference to the poor who lie buried in the country churchyard. The poet says,
some among them could have been as talented and skilled as any of the rich who lie buried in .
the great cathedrals. Had the poor been educated or granted opportunity, they could have
attained far greater worldly success than their rich brethren. The poet imagines potential
Hamdens, Miltons and Cromwells among the dead poor whose talents had remained latent
without ever seeing the light. They had no access to knowledge which with the passage of
' time gains weight and substance. -

Lines

, 53-56 These are memorable lines which have come to stand for the whole poem.
While these lines do offer consolation to the deprived but talented poor whose
brilliance had gone unnoticed, it is important to remember that the emphasis is
on balancing the rich and the poor in the context of death'and not on giving prop
to the underprivileged classes. Whether the Hampdens, Miltons and Cromwells
were vocal and active or mute and passive, death makes no distinction between
them. Hampden as Leader of the Opposition resisted what he regarded as the
tyrannous taxation of Charles I. He was killed in the Civil Wars. The gem and
flower metaphors are introduced as illustrations of unrecognised talent. Both gem
Undemtbndbg Poetry and flower are symbolic of perfection of form and beauty. But the gem embedded
\ in the deep ocean and the flower blooming in the desert remain only latent
beauty for they are invisible to human eyes. The poor also possess talent and
inspiration, but they do not surface forth f ~ want
r of opportunity and fortuitous
circumstances.
Inglorious : not in the sense of infamous but in the sense of without a ~ h i e v i n ~ ' ~ l o r y .
Lines
60 Cromwell ...blood: One who had-the potentiality of a Cromwell but who did not
realise Cromwell's crimes. This line ironically suggests that there can be no
Cromwell without blood guilt. The village Hampdens and Cromwells who were
denied the opportunity to express their anger ("Their lot forbade" (65)) might
have otherwise indulged in the worst of "heroic" crimes-waded
"...through slaughter to a throne

And shut the gates of mercy on mankind". (67-68)

The mute inglorious Milton might have indulged in expressing praise for the
-rich that is against all artistic ethics or norms. He might have lavished panegyric
verses on the

"..,Shrine of Luxury and Pride

With incense kindled at the Muse's flame" (71-72)

h e poet spokesman does not attribute virtues to men because they are poor and
humble, but he says that all their virtues (of not committing criminal offences)
were a result of denied opportunities. The poet says "don't cry over the
Hampdens, Miltons & Cromwells buried in the Churchyard. If they lacked the
glories of life, they lacked their excesses as well.
circumscrib'd : a finite verb governed by'the subject "lot".
i.e. to flatter with panegyrical poetry
madding : frenzied, confusedly hastening about
sequester'd :quiet, secluded
tenor : steady course

noiseless tenor : quiet uneventful life.

Without being sentimental about the poor, the poet says that our rustic
forefathers would have ended as cruel, vain sycophants had they "learn'd to stray
from the "cool sequester'd life" of "noiseless tenor;' (quiet and uneventful life).
The portrayal of the villagers has been realistic and not sentimental.
The poor and the rich share alike the essential destiny of mankind - namely, the
graves. The essential and fundamental ambition of mankind is the desire for self-
perpetuation after death. Stanzas 20-23 (1. 77-88) discuss this desire for self-
perpetuation. Man does not wish to become a "prey to a dumb Forgetfulness"
(85) and there is the instinctive urge in him that cries even from the tomb. Thus
the churchyard has its memorials with uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculptures
on the rustic graves. The short -simple annals of the poor are inscribed on the
tombs-not in artful rhymes, but in artless tales (1. 94). Read lines 77-84. But
who erected the rhymes on the graves? It is the illiterate village poet who
scribbled these lines often quoting not too assuredly from the Holy Bible and
thereby paying his tribute to the dead.

The Poet wonders who is the man, who can resign himself to become a prey to
dumb forgetfulness? Who likes to be forgotten? Who among Men can leave the
world without casting back a look of regret? Neither the rich nor the poor likes
to be forgotten. Once again the poet highlights the similarity between the two
 classes, bringing them together in a commoq humanity. Both are deeply human
in theii impulse to hold on to life.
Lines
93 Introduces the stone-cutter Poet, "Thee" is a reference to this stonecutter who
has inscribed the uncouth rhymes as memorial to the dead fellow rustics. The
poet-observer has created the stonecutter in his imagination. In the same way
"the kindred spirit" is the projection of the poet-spokesman. The poet-spokesman
spe&s of the stone-cutter as one who mindful of the dead "dosr in these lines
their artless tale relate." Why does the poet use present tense? This implies that
the stone-cutter is imagined by the poet to be living (at the time of the
composition of the Elegy) and t h e r e r e in 1.96, the poet says if some kindred
spirit shall inquire."The future tense suggests that the poet imagines the
imaginary stone-cutter's death as a future event to occur after the poem's
utterance.
In a similar fashion, he imagines the "hoary-headed swain" -an illiterate old man to speak
of the stone-cutter's life. Hence the swain's reply is in pastoral language and thus the
imaginary swain leads the imaginary kindred spirit to an imaginary epitaph. Who is it that
the poet imagines has written the epitaph? The last line of the 2nd stanza of the epitaph (1.
124) states "He gained from Heaven, it was all he wished, a friend". An imaginary friend has
written it -aq imaginary friend of the imaginary stone-cutter composes this epitaph in an
'imaginary churchyard. Lines 98- 115 describe the life of the simple rustic who had preserved
in artless tales the memory of the "unhonoured dead" and rural solitude.
Explain the activities of the rustic poet in the above lines.
He-was up early at dawn walking along the dew-covered grass and greeted the rising sun upon
the upland lawn of the Churchyard. At noon he would stretch himself at the foot of the tall
beech tree and quietly reflect upon the murmuring brook. But his quietness masked the
tension within him -for he was lonely and lost, in wony and care and was weigheddown
* by the woes of life.
I But one fine day he did not show up either on the heath or near his favourite tree.or up the
lawn. He was soon after seen borne to his grave.
I; The Epitaph : Here lies a young man, who had known neither fortune nor fame. He was
of humble birth but fair science (native wisdom) did not frown upon his humble birth. He
was apart from the rest of the villagers as he possessed both intelligence and melancholic
sensitivity. It is this that made him respond to their suffering with generosity and
compassion. "He gave to Misery all he had, a tear1'- in the form of uncouth rhymes. The
lack of earthly riches was amply compensated by heaven's bounty that gave him a generous
heart and a genial soul. At the end he received heavenly blessings. This epitaph praises one
of the literate poor who was rich in the possession of Heaven's blessings. No one need know
further his merits and faults for he (with his merits and faults) has earned his repose in the
bosom of the lord. .-
The poem is thus an elegy for the poor and of the poor. Some critics lead the last few lines
(94-128) as a reference to Gray himself and ascribe the epitaph to his memory. Do you
agree?

I&is difficult to concur with such a view. In the context of the opening quatrain of the poem
that places the poet in a country churchyard at a'late hour in the evening (14), it is difficult
to explain the poet's address -"for thee" -as an address to himself. The rest of the lines
relating to the daily activities of the "Kindred spirit" as told by the "hoary headed swain"
seem to be true of a rustic semi-literate poet than of the educated poet who writes this
elegy. The last but one line before the epitaph that says "thou cans't read" can only be a
reference to a kindred spirit like the poet who sings this elegy.

The Elegy is a unique poem fusing neo-classical objectivity with romantic subjectivity. The
objectivity is seen in the analysis of the poor which is not sentimental nor a glorification of
the poor in ideal terms. The subjectivity is seen in the Poet's intense empathic response to
the humble and unexciting life of the poor and in his heightened feeling of kinship with
d
them. *,
Understanding Poetry In this context, it will be worthwhile to study the table given below which gives a broad
outline of the distinction between ~eo-classicismand Romanticism.

Neo-Classicism Romanticism
Turning from

Reason to senses, feelings, imagination and

intuition

the civilised, modem and to the primitive. medieval and

sophisticated society natural life

urban society to rural solitude

preoccupation with human nature to preoccupation with the aesthetic

and spiritual values of'Nature

Mundane activities to the visions of the mysterious, the

ideal and the Infinite
Satire to myth

the expression of accepted moral truth to the discovery of "Beauty That is

Truth"

8) Belief in God and evil to belief in Man and Goodness

9) Established religious and philosophical to individual speculation and
creeds revelations
' 10) Objectivity to subjectivism
11) Public to private themes
12) Formal correctndss to individual expressiveness
13) The ideal of order to the ideal of intensity

14) The poetry of prose statement to the poetry of images and symbol
15) Poetic diction to common familiar Language -"the
language of man"
16) Self-conscious traditionalism to conscious originality
17) Rational sobriety of LatineLiterature to Romantic Hellenism
Each quatrain of the elegy brings out some feature of these two strains as can be seen
below. Where "Neo-classical" is not specified, it relates to the "romantic" strain
1-3 description of Nature/rural solitude
4 Focus on the primitive life of the rural people.
6-7 description of nual life
8-11 the urban people (neoclassical)
12-15 Belief in Man and his potential
14-15 ' Poetry ofimage and symbol
16-19 Objective analysis of the podr - no glorifying of their resistance to, Criminal
activities (neoclassical)

25-29 Focus on rural life.

 6.3.4 Poetic Devices Thomas Gray

1) Gray uses the four-lined stanza or thequatrain in his Poem. Gray prefers the
quatrains to the pentameter couplets that Pope used. Can you explain why Gray
chose the quatrain?
The couplets essentially give a poem a quicker pace or measure which does not suit
the Elegy. The quatrains on the other hand, give the Elegy a slow and languid
measure that is essential to produce the desired effect.
2) The position of the Caesura in a line :-
Pope uses Caesura to serve the purposes of antithesis.
I
Recall this line from The Rape of the Lock as an example of antithesis served
by a Caesura.

!
Dost sometimes Counsel take, and sometimes tea (L.8)
(Canto 111 - Rape of the Lock (Unit V))
But Gray avoids all antithesis. So most of his lines are without a middle
punctuation. Whenever he introduces any punctuation, there is no hint of anti-
I thesis. On the contrary it serves to suggest the parallel between the two halves of
the line. For example :
I The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave. (33-34)

3) The Elegy is a carefully patterned poem. The commonest line pattern follows
the general sequence adjective-noun-adjective-noun as for example, "The breezy call
of incense-breathing Morn" (17) or "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,"
(33) or "Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast" (57). Such a
pattern is often seenin the first line of a quatrain. There is a different pattern to be
observed in the fourth line of a quatrain: verb-noun-adjective-noun.
"To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land" (63)

I "And read their history in a nation's eyes" (64)

(v) (n) (ad.) (n)

I
4) The poem abounds in adjectival and adverbial epithets which lend sonority and
dignity to the poem. For example.

. . Parting day; lowing herd, wearily plods, winds slowly (1-3)

If these epithets are removed, the lines will still make sense, though they will
' sound bland.

5) Diction - Gray uses a considerable number of archaic words like "jocund",

"oft", "yonder", "glebe" etc. Most of the nouns and verbs are everyday words and
usually monosyllabic. The language of the Elegy, unlike that of the language of
18th century poetry consists of "words as they are used and not as separate and
independent entities" (Ian Jack) There is hardly a word that is not used in
conversation, but the way these words are made to work is not the prose way.

6) Gray uses personifications not to bring them to life, but to gain weight and
conciseness.-Take L. 49-50
\
But knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did n'er unroll.

Knowledge is not described here in terms of a human being involved in the activity
of unrolling the pages, but personification is here employed as "abstract
personification" where the abstract concept of Knowledge is presented in a non-
pictorial way. .
Understanding Poetry 7) Can you identify the sound effects such as ~ n o h a t o ~ o e i Alliteration
a, and %

vowel sounds.in the Elegy ?

Onomatopoeia :. "beetle wheels his dronin'g flight" (7) ,

"And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds (8)

"The Swallow tittering " (4)
"The Cock's shrilC clarion or the echoing horn" (19)
'
Alliteration : 'The lowing hero wind slowly o'er the lea" (2)
"The ploughman homeward plods his weary way"
Vowel sounds : "And leaves the world to darkness and to me" (3)
"The breezy call of incense-breathing mom," (17)

8) The elegy is also remarkable for its striking images and metaphors. The gem
and fldwer metaphor in L. 53-57 has been analysed in the section on interpretaion
(6.4). Can you identify a few more in the poem?

9). The poem uses the figure of speech, metonymy as in "mute ingbrious Milton"
(for a poet), "village-Harnpden" (one who resists tyranny).
b

10) the syntax is notable for its inversion, where the verbs are often used at the end of a
line. .
"And all the air a solemn stillness holds (6)
"Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield" (25)

I I) The poem is ful4 of ironic contrast as is evidenced in the contrast between the
Cathedral tombs and the churchyardgraves. But the contrast serves to balance the
rich and the poor and to eiluate them on a fundamental common ground despite the
apparent contrast. There is balance even in speaking of poor when the poet says that
they were not only denied oppo.rtunity to do good, but also to do evil. They were
denied not only "glory" but also "ignoble strife".
Exercises ,
I Giay was writing about the rude f&efathers as little honoured in life as in death. Discuss
the statement in the light of thoughts and emotions conveyed in the poem (about 150
words). "
2 Discuss the significance of the epitaph in the poem (100 words).
3 How,does Gray evoke the atmosphere of an elegy in the first twelve lines ? .
(50 words)

6.4 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have discussed Thomas Gray's Elegy. We learnt that :

1) Gray's elegy is remarkable for its use of classical form and its anticipation of rural
Romanticism. , I
2) It is also remarkable for blending landscape poetry with funeral elegy.

3) The Poetic devices show Gray's mastery over language. This is exemplified in his I 1'!
diction, syntax and figures of speech -all of which contribute to the heightening of the
emotional effect of the Elegy.
- I
6.5 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES
1 Gray's elegy is addressed to the memory of the humble countrymen, the simple rustics
who lie in neglected graves after a life of hardroil, sturdy and jocund activities and
'
brilliance that has gone unnoticed. He consoles the poor that pursuit of glory leads @
!
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the grave. In other words mortality is commonto both. The poem balances the two Thomas Gray
classes -the rich and the poor- and thereby admonishes the rich not to scorn the
poor. Whether the Hampdens, Miltons and Cromwells were vocal and active or mute or
passive. death makes no distinction between them. The gem and flower metaphors are
introduced as illustrations of unrecognised talent. Both gem and flower are symbolicof
perfection of form and beauty. But the gem embedded in the deep ocean and the flower
blooming in the desert remain only latent beauty for they are invisible to human eyes.
The poor also possess talent and inspiration, but they do not surface forth for want of
opportunity and fortuitous circumstances.
Some critics read the epitaph as a referei'ce to Gray himself and ascribe the epitaph to
his memory. "For thee" is interpreted as an address to Gray himself. But it is difficult to
concurwith such a view. The rest of the lines seem to be true of a rustic semi-literate
poet than of the educated poet who writes this elegy. The last but one line before the
epitaph that say "thou cans't read can only be a reference to a kindered spirit like the
poet who sings the elegy.

The poet employs words such as tolls, knell, parting day, slowly, plods, weary way,
leaves the world, darkness, owl, fades, glimmering, solemn stillness, droning flight and
drowsy that associate with Slowing of movement and gloom and darkness, thus setting
the scene for the reader to identify with the 'narrow cell' and recognise the indisputable
fact of mortality.