Thomas Gray's "Elegy" - A Critique

A critique of Thomas colorise `s poetry Elegy written in a country churchyard
An elegy is a poem which laments the dead. Thomas Gray, the author of this poem, has not followed English elegiac conventions. Grays Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is noteworthy in that it mourns the death not of great or famous people, but of common men. grey sees a country churchyard at sunset, which impels him to meditate on the nature of human mortality. The poem invokes the classical idea of souvenir mori, a Latin phrase which states plainly to all mankind, think about that you are mortal.
The theme of this poem is in tune with Gray`s life and his character. He was shy and reserved. He did not desire to push himself forward. He was unknown to fame and fortune. His life was pass mostly in the quiet atmosphere of the countryside. When he was offered the honored position of poet-laureate he politely refused .He took up his residence at Cambridge and paid frequent visits to Stock-Poges, where his mother and aunt were living. He was contented with paying his tributes to the short simple annals of the woeful, among whom he lived. It was in the midst of the simple and poor that he was buried. His body was dictated by the side of his mother in the churchyard at Stock-Poges, which forms the background for this elegy.




Thomas Gray has drawn the oversight of the readers to the ravishing and calm atmosphere of the countryside, as contrasted with the ugliness of city life. The poet stresses that the poor people, who lived in villages, had many virtues, unknown to the city dwellers. The poet then turns his attention to the row of narrow graves in which the rude forefathers of the crossroads sleep. He reflects a while on the plain life, before introducing the poems main theme - the inevitable tragedy of lives wasted, of effectiveness crushed by Chill Penury. The Elegy ends with a mirror image on a particular grave (his own) and its epitaph.
Gray started opus the poem by bringing before his...If you want to put a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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