Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Thomas Gray wrote “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” in 1742, shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West who died from tuberculosis (“Gray, Thomas”). The death of his dear friend influenced him to write an elegy, which is a poem expressing sorrow or lamentation, especially towards one who has died (“Poetry for Students”). An elegy is usually a pensive or reflective poem that can be nostalgic or melancholy (“Elegy”). Gray uses figurative language and detailed description to get his message across to his reader. Instead of mourning for the people with wealth and high status, his elegy focuses on the common person. With detailed imagery and diction of the Augustan Era, Thomas Gray expresses the beauty of life and conveys the themes of death and self-search in his pastoral elegy, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”
The poem was written at the end of the Augustan Age and at the beginning of the Romantic Period, where both periods are evident in the poem. Gray combined in a unique way a classic form typical of the Augustan Era with contents and attitudes portrayed from the Romantic Period (“Gray, Thomas”). “On one hand, it has the ordered, balanced phrasing and rotational sentimental of Neoclassical poetry. On the other hand, it tends toward the emotionalism and individualism of the Romantic poets; most importantly, it idealizes and elevates the common man.” (Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” 73). His poem focuses on common people and really describes their lives and ponders on the things they could have accomplished if they were given the chance to do greater things. He also uses georgic verses, poetry that describes agriculture, which was popular in the eighteenth century. Gray also associates man and nature, which suggests a romantic attitude (“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” 78). He is able to combine both the Augustan Era and Romantic Period into his poem, making it unique and different from others.
This poem was written
The poem was written at the end of the Augustan Age and at the beginning of the Romantic Period, where both periods are evident in the poem. Gray combined in a unique way a classic form typical of the Augustan Era with contents and attitudes portrayed from the Romantic Period (“Gray, Thomas”). “On one hand, it has the ordered, balanced phrasing and rotational sentimental of Neoclassical poetry. On the other hand, it tends toward the emotionalism and individualism of the Romantic poets; most importantly, it idealizes and elevates the common man.” (Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” 73). His poem focuses on common people and really describes their lives and ponders on the things they could have accomplished if they were given the chance to do greater things. He also uses georgic verses, poetry that describes agriculture, which was popular in the eighteenth century. Gray also associates man and nature, which suggests a romantic attitude (“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” 78). He is able to combine both the Augustan Era and Romantic Period into his poem, making it unique and different from others.
This poem was written