Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray

Presented By: Monir Hossen

1. “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” By Thomas Gray Presented By: Monir Hossen Lecturer Department of English CCN University of Science & Technology, Comilla Bangladesh Phone: [phone] Email: [email protected]

2. Born:  December 26 , 1716 Birthplace: Died :  July 30 , 1771 Location of death: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Remains: Buried, St. Giles Churchyard, Stoke Poges , Buckinghamshire, England Religion:  Deist Sexual orientation:  Gay

3. Early Life   F ifth of 12 children T he only child of Philip and Dorothy Gray to survive infancy . He lived with his mother after she left his abusive father .

4. E ducation Educated at  Eton College where his uncle was one of the masters . A delicate and scholarly boy who spent his time reading and avoiding  athletics   Three close friends at Eton: Horace Walpole, son of the Prime Minister Robert Walpole; Thomas Ashton, and Richard West 1734  , went to  Peterhouse , Cambridge Left without a degree Receipt of legacy from his paternal aunt meant that he had no urgent need to find a job

5. Poetry 1745 (29) his friendship with Walpole was renewed Walpole admired his poetry and persuaded him to publish 1747 (31) – Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, Ode on Spring , Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat , Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes His ELEGY ON A COUNTRY CURCHYARD TOOK HIM 9 YEARS BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED. FROM 1742 (26)- 1751 (35) 1757 – The Bard and the Progress of Poesy Norton Nicholls – his love interest . An undergraudate wose knowledge of Dante impressed him. 1751- Journey among te English Lakes 1768 (52) – Fatal Sisters, The Descent of Odin and The Triumphs of Owen

6. Last Years 1751 – He proposed to visit Bonstetten in Switzerland during the summer but was struck by a sudden illness and died after a few days He was buried in St. Giles churchyard in Stoke Poges nect to his mother

7. About the Poem 128 line poem It is about the subject of human mortality The speaker urges the reader to remember him for his human frailty , that he is indeed common with everyman poem invokes the classical idea of  memento mori , a Latin phrase which states plainly to all mankind, "Remember that you must die .“ in death, there is no difference between great and common people . it idealizes and elevates the common man.

8. Summary It was an evening time. The poet is standing in the church yard. The ringing of a curfew bell is heard. A herd of cattle from pasture started returning home. Farm workers, after hard work, started going homes, indicating that the activities of day time are drawing to a close. The poet is then left alone to contemplate the isolated rural scene. The poet sets a melancholy atmosphere by describing the ringing of curfew bell in somber tone. The curfew bell does not simply ring; it "knells"—a term usually applied to bells rang at a death or funeral. From the very beginning, Gray reminds us of human mortality.

9. There is a tone of sincere melancholy throughout. He started composing the verses of this poem by bringing before his mind`s eyes the Churchyard at Stock- Poges . The poem begins with the description of the Church Yard at Stock- Poges towards sunset. He alone stands by the side of the graveyards. The curfew or the evening bell warning the people to retire to rest has tolled. The farmer is returning home after his day`s work. It is dark all around and the air itself is silent in a solemn manner without any breeze. The cattle are going homeward and none is to be seen except the poet standing by the side off the graveyards. The whole atmosphere is serene. Nothing is heard except the hooting of the owl and the drowning sound of the beetle and tinkling of the bells of the herd in distant folds in the village.

10. Even those noises are feeble, showing that the beetle and Cattle are tired. There is indeed one sound which is not “drowsy”. The sound of an owl hooting intrudes upon the evening quiet . The hooting of the moping Owl appears that it complains to the moon that the poet is trying to destroy her ancient solitary reign.  

11. The hooting of Owl adds to the gloom, since it appears to be complaining about persons that go near her lonely living place. There is no companion for the poet at that time except darkness. In such an atmosphere, the poet is found by himself by the side of the church yard. The melancholy atmosphere is suited to the poem.

12. Theme It mourns the death not of great people but of common men and meditates on the nature of human mortality. That in death there is no difference between great and common people if among the lowly people buried in the churchyard there had been any natural poets or politicians whose talent had simply never been discovered or nurtured

13. Elements Classical elements use of alternately quatrains of iambic pentameters already present in Dryden use of abstract personifications (ambition, grandeur etc.) universality of themes (death, obscurity, contentment, etc.) idyllic view of country life excessive time required to polish each stanza, thus excluding immediacy of inspiration clear influence of poetic classics such as Dante (opening lines); Lucrezius (stanza 6); Petrarch(ending)

14. Graveyard Poetry  A type poetry presenting melancholic reflection on morality, framed in narratives involving visits to graveyards and other reminders of death. One of the most celebrated examples of this type of verse is Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. With its personal and introspective concerns, such verse has been seen as significant as part of a transitional phase between publicly focused neoclassical verse and Romantic lyricism, but it is of interest not only as a stepping-stone in literary history. Involving a focus upon loss, and with extensive analyses of feelings , such verse played a part in the wider culture of sensibility.

15. Meter and Rhyme Scheme Gray wrote the poem in four-line stanzas (quatrains ) Each line is in iambic pentameter Each line has five pairs of syllables for a total of ten syllables In each pair, the first syllable is unstressed (or unaccented), and the second is stressed (or accented), as in the two lines that open the poem:.......The CUR few TOLLS the KNELL of PART ing DAY.......The LOW ing HERD wind SLOWly OER the LEA .......In each stanza, the first line rhymes with the third and the second line rhymes with the fourth ( abab ), as follows

16. The speaker uses sad diction and symbols such as owl , death, grave, sleep also, the owl symbolizes death. The setting The time is the mid 1700s, about a decade before the Industrial Revolution began in England. The place is the cemetery of a church. Evidence indicates that the church is St. Giles, in the small town of Stoke Poges , Buckinghamshire, in southern England. Gray himself is buried in that cemetery. William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, once maintained a manor house at Stoge Poges .

17. Figures of Speech Alliteration Repetition P lowman homeward plods his weary way (line 3) The cocks shrill clarion, or the echoing horn (line 19 ) Nor cast one longing, lingring look behind? (line 88) Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn (line 107) Or crazd with care, or crossd in hopeless love. (line 108)

18. Metaphor Full many a gem of purest ray serene , The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear . Full many a flower is born to blush unseen , And waste its sweetness on the desert air. (lines 53-56 ) - Comparison of the dead village people to gems and flowers Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride With incense kindled at the Muses flame. 

19. Metonymy Use of a word or phrase to suggest a related word or phrase To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land Land stands for people .

20. Personification 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. (lines 29-32 ) Ambition and Grandeur take on human characteristics . But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page Rich with the spoils of time did neer unroll (line 49-50 ) Notice that Knowledge becomes a person, a female . Fair Science frown’d not on his humble birth, And Melancholy mark’d him for her own. (lines 119-120)

21. Thank you