"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is the British writer Thomas Gray's most famous poem, first published in 1751. The poem's speaker calmly mulls over death while standing in a rural graveyard in the evening. Taking stock of the graves, he reflects that death comes for everyone in the end, and notes that the elaborate tombs of the rich won't bring their occupants back from the dead. He also commemorates the common folk buried in the churchyard by imaging the lives they might have lived had they been born into better circumstances, and considers the benefits of anonymity. The poem ends with his own imagined epitaph.
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The Full Text of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
1The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
2 The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
3The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
4 And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
5Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight,
6 And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
7Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
8 And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;
9Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r
10 The moping owl does to the moon complain
11Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r,
12 Molest her ancient solitary reign.
13Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
14 Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,
15Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
16 The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
17The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
18 The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed,
19The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
20 No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
21For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
22 Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
23No children run to lisp their sire's return,
24 Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
25Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
26 Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
27How jocund did they drive their team afield!
28 How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!
29Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
30 Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
31Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
32 The short and simple annals of the poor.
33The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
34 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
35Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
36 The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
37Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,
38 If Mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
39Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
40 The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
41Can storied urn or animated bust
42 Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
43Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
44 Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?
45Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
46 Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
47Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
48 Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.
49But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
50 Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;
51Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
52 And froze the genial current of the soul.
53Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
54 The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
55Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
56 And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
57Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
58 The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
59Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
60 Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
61Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,
62 The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
63To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
64 And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes,
65Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone
66 Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd;
67Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
68 And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,
69The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
70 To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
71Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
72 With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.
73Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
74 Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
75Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
76 They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
77Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect,
78 Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
79With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
80 Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
81Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd muse,
82 The place of fame and elegy supply:
83And many a holy text around she strews,
84 That teach the rustic moralist to die.
85For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
86 This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
87Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
88 Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?
89On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
90 Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
91Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
92 Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires.
93For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead
94 Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
95If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
96 Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,
97Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,
98 "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
99Brushing with hasty steps the dews away
100 To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.
101"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
102 That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
103His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
104 And pore upon the brook that babbles by.
105"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
106 Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove,
107Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
108 Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.
109"One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,
110 Along the heath and near his fav'rite tree;
111Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
112 Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;
113"The next with dirges due in sad array
114 Slow thro' the church-way path we saw him borne.
115Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
116 Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."
THE EPITAPH
117Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
118 A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.
119Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,
120 And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.
121Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
122 Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:
123He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear,
124 He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.
125No farther seek his merits to disclose,
126 Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
127(There they alike in trembling hope repose)
128 The bosom of his Father and his God.
The Full Text of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
1The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
2 The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
3The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
4 And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
5Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight,
6 And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
7Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
8 And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;
9Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r
10 The moping owl does to the moon complain
11Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r,
12 Molest her ancient solitary reign.
13Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
14 Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,
15Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
16 The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
17The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
18 The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed,
19The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
20 No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
21For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
22 Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
23No children run to lisp their sire's return,
24 Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
25Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
26 Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
27How jocund did they drive their team afield!
28 How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!
29Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
30 Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
31Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
32 The short and simple annals of the poor.
33The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
34 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
35Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
36 The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
37Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,
38 If Mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
39Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
40 The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
41Can storied urn or animated bust
42 Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
43Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
44 Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?
45Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
46 Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
47Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
48 Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.
49But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
50 Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;
51Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
52 And froze the genial current of the soul.
53Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
54 The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
55Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
56 And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
57Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
58 The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
59Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
60 Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
61Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,
62 The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
63To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
64 And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes,
65Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone
66 Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd;
67Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
68 And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,
69The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
70 To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
71Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
72 With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.
73Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
74 Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
75Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
76 They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
77Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect,
78 Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
79With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
80 Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
81Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd muse,
82 The place of fame and elegy supply:
83And many a holy text around she strews,
84 That teach the rustic moralist to die.
85For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
86 This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
87Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
88 Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?
89On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
90 Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
91Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
92 Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires.
93For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead
94 Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
95If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
96 Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,
97Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,
98 "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
99Brushing with hasty steps the dews away
100 To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.
101"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
102 That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
103His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
104 And pore upon the brook that babbles by.
105"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
106 Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove,
107Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
108 Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.
109"One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,
110 Along the heath and near his fav'rite tree;
111Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
112 Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;
113"The next with dirges due in sad array
114 Slow thro' the church-way path we saw him borne.
115Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
116 Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."
THE EPITAPH
117Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
118 A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.
119Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,
120 And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.
121Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
122 Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:
123He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear,
124 He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.
125No farther seek his merits to disclose,
126 Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
127(There they alike in trembling hope repose)
128 The bosom of his Father and his God.
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Summary
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Themes
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The Inevitability of Death
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The Value of Commemorating the Dead
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Anonymity vs. Fame
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
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Lines 1-4
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me. -
Lines 5-8
Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds; -
Lines 9-12
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r,
Molest her ancient solitary reign. -
Lines 13-16
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. -
Lines 17-20
The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. -
Lines 21-24
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
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. -
Lines 25-28
Oft did the harvest to their sickle 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 stroke! -
Lines 29-32
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 33-36
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. -
Lines 37-40
Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,
If Mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. -
Lines 41-44
Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death? -
Lines 45-48
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 wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre. -
Lines 49-52
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. -
Lines 53-56
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. -
Lines 57-60
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. -
Lines 61-66
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 hist'ry in a nation's eyes,
Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd; -
Lines 67-72
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. -
Lines 73-76
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. -
Lines 77-80
Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect,
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. -
Lines 81-84
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. -
Lines 85-88
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, ling'ring look behind? -
Lines 89-92
On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires. -
Lines 93-94
For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate; -
Lines 95-100
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,
Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
Brushing with hasty steps the dews away
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn. -
Lines 101-104
"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by. -
Lines 105-108
"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove,
Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love. -
Lines 109-114
"One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,
Along the heath and near his fav'rite 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 thro' the church-way path we saw him borne. -
Lines 115-116
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn." -
Between Lines 116-117, Lines 117-120
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. -
Lines 121-124
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear,
He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend. -
Lines 125-128
No farther 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.
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Symbols
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Darkness and Night
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Light and Fire
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The Beetle
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The Rod of Empire
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The Lyre
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Alliteration
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Imagery
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End-Stopped Line
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Allusion
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Metaphor
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Personification
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Parallelism
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Anaphora
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Enjambment
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Country Churchyard
- Curfew
- Tolls
- Knell
- Parting Day
- Lowing
- Wind
- O'er
- Lea
- Plowman
- Plods
- Glimm'ring
- Solemn
- Wheels
- Tinklings
- Lull
- Folds
- Yonder
- Ivy-Mantled
- Bower
- Molest
- Yew Tree
- Heaves
- Turf
- Mould'ring
- Narrow Cell
- Rude
- Forefathers
- Hamlet
- Incense-Breathing Morn
- Twitt'ring
- Cock
- Clarion
- Horn
- Rouse
- Lowly
- Hearth
- Ply
- Care
- Lisp
- Sire
- Oft
- Sickle
- Yield
- Furrow
- Glebe
- Jocund
- Team
- Afield
- Bow'd
- Stroke
- Ambition
- Obscure
- Grandeur
- Annals
- Heraldry
- Pomp
- E'er
- Ye
- Impute
- Trophies
- Long-Drawn Aisle
- Fretted Vault
- Pealing Anthem
- Storied Urn
- Animated Bust
- Mansion
- Fleeting
- Provoke
- Flatt'ry
- Celestial Fire
- Rod of Empire
- Sway'd
- Ecstasy
- Lyre
- Ample
- Spoils
- Chill Penury
- Rage
- Genial Current
- Serene
- Unfathomed
- Bear
- Blush
- Hampden
- Dauntless Breast
- Little Tyrant
- Mute Inglorious Milton
- Cromwell
- Lot
- Forbade
- Circumscrib'd
- Virtues
- Slaughter
- Pangs
- Ingenuous Shame
- Luxury and Pride
- Muse
- Madding Crowd
- Ignoble Strife
- Sober
- Sequestered Vale
- Tenor
- Nigh
- Uncouth
- Deck'd
- Implores
- Unletter'd
- Elegy
- Rustic Moralist
- Dumb Forgetfulness
- Resign'd
- Precincts
- Fond Breast
- Pious Drops
- Wonted Fires
- Thee
- Dost
- Artless
- Chance
- Kindred Spirit
- Thy
- Haply
- Hoary-Headed Swain
- Peep
- Dews
- Upland Lawn
- Nodding Beech
- Wreathes
- Listless Length
- Noontide
- Pore
- Yon
- Wood
- Wayward Fancies
- Woeful Wan
- Forlorn
- Care
- Custom'd
- Heath
- Rill
- Dirge
- Array
- Lay
- Thorn
- Youth
- Fortune
- Fair Science
- Melancholy
- Bounty
- Recompense
- Disclose
- Abode
- Bosom
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Speaker
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“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
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More “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” Resources
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External Resources
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A Reading of the Poem — Listen to a reading of Gray's full poem.
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Gray's Biography — Read a detailed biography of Thomas Gray from the Poetry Foundation, featuring analyses of many of his poems.
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The Thomas Gray Archive — Visit an online archive featuring a trove of information about Gray's writings.
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The Village that Inspired the Poem — Read a short article on Stoke Poges, the village that Gray in lived in when he wrote the poem, and see a photo of the church that probably inspired him.
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Gray's Monument and Gray's Field — Find information on a monument to Gray in Stoke Poges, as well as an overview of Gray's life and the countryside he lived in.
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