Thomas Gray

Introduction about Transitional poet Thomas Gray.

1. THOMAS GRAY (1716-1771) Prepared By Aakash Chavda Parthiv Bhil Jay Solanki Department of English, MKBU.

2. Introduction Gray was born in London and was educated at Eton college and Cambridge university. Regarded as “Transitional Poet” because he wrote poems between Neoclassical age and Romantic age. Second most important poet of 18 th century after Alexander Pope. He wrote only 13 poems in his life-time. Gray’s fame chiefly rest upon his one work, “The Elegy Written in Country Churchyard”.

3. Continue… Gray took to writing seriously after the death of his close friend “Richard West”. Horace Walpole said that “He never wrote anything easily”. Important writer of the Pindaric Ode. He was offered the position of poet Laureate in 1757 but he refused . Associated with “Churchyard poets”.

4. At Eton College Horace Walpole Thomas Gray Quadruple Alliance Richard West Thomas Ashton

5. Gray’s Works Frist Period Sonnet on the death of Richard West. Horatian Odes Hymn to Adversity. Ode on the Spring. Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College. (1747) Second Period The Elegy Written In Country Churchyard. (1751) Two Pindaric Odes Progress of Poesy. (1757) The Bard. (1757) Third Period The Candidate. Two Norse Poem The Fatal Sisters. (1761) The Descent Of Odin.

6. Churchyard or Graveyard Poetry Poetry set in Graveyard. Dark and gloomy theme. Expressed a feeling for the “Sublime” and “Uncanny”. Description of – “ skulls, coffins, epitaphs and worms”. Precursors of “Gothic literary gerne”. Major poets – Thomas Gray, Goldsmith, William Collins and Thomas Chatterton.

7. Elegy Written In Country Churchyard Gray wrote this elegy in the year 1742 but published in 1751. Elegy written after the death of his friend “Richard West”. He began this masterpiece in the graveyard of St. Giles Parish church in Stoke Poges , Buckinghamshire. Divided in 32 quatrains and 128 lines. In this poem Gray alludes to Milton, Cromwell and Hampden. Title of the Hardy’s famous novel “Far From The Madding Crowd” is taken from this elegy. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

8. Work Cited Long, William J. English Literature . Maple Press Pvt. Limited, 2012. Pandey, Prem Shankar. World Literature In Your Fist . Rigi Publication, 2019.