British Restoration Era English Literature

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Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray was the author behind Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard , which has proven to be a timeless literary piece . Written and published in the 18th century , the said poem generally contemplates on death and morality . However , it does not speak of merely any kind of death . Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard mourns the loss of the common village folk , and the idea of loss discussed in the poem is that of

the dreams and opportunities that have been lost and unfulfilled by the common villager because of death

An elegy is a poem that mourns or grieves the deceased (Napierkowski From the title itself , it can be derived that the poem is about death However , Thomas Gray wrote the poem in such a way that the question of morality is focused on a single subject : the common man (Napierkowski Gray points out that unlike artists , poets , politicians and celebrities the common man dies without recognition , praise or applause . The author also dwells on the possibility of having a common man - who eventually dies - to actually gain similar recognition given to more famous or richer people , but were never able to do so because of the loss of their life (Napierkowski

The poem begins with the parting day ' or the end of the day (Gray Cummings . The author describes the disappearing landscape , which is that of the country churchyard , at dusk (Jung . Not until the third stanza within the poem is when reference to the dead is mentioned . It also states the underneath the trees are the graves of the forefathers (Gray . In the sixth stanza , Gray wrote , Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield / Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke

These two lines introduce the common people in the poem , and these folks are portrayed as workers of the land . Sickle is an instrument used in harvest it is most distinguished for its blade which is shaped like a crescent (Cummings . Furrow refers to the indentation created by a plow for purposes of planting . The word glebe ' means earth (Cummings

In the seventh stanza , the speaker starts his defense of common men Gray wrote , Let not Ambition mock their useful toil /Their homely joys , and destiny obscure ' This means that the hard work , simple desires and unrecognized efforts of common man must not be looked down upon . Gray continued , Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile / The short and simple annals of the poor ' The Grandeur ' referred to in this line are the wealthy and powerful the speaker states that these people have no right to be critical of the lives of the poor (Cummings In the eighth stanza , the speaker simply affirms that regardless of status in life , all people will die (Cummings . Gray therefore concluded that The paths of glory lead but to the grave (Cummings

The idea of loss in the poem is first conveyed in...