Q-1- Critical analysis of the
poem "Elegy Written in a country churchyard." OR
Poetic qualities of the poem
"Elegy Written in a country churchyard."
Write the development of thoughts in
the poem "Elegy Written in a country churchyard."
Answer
Introduction
With a carefree attitude and democratic thoughts, Thomas Gray visited
many countries and develop a liberal mind. His heart was full of generosity for
the poor and ‘Elegy written in a country churchyard’ is one of the best poems written
by Thomas Gray to show his generosity. He mourned the sufferings of the common
(dead) peasant and their fate. The graveyard (in the church in Stoke Poges,
Buckinghamshire) and nature, both, were noticed keenly by the poet. The elegy discloses
the liberal thoughts of the poet and democracy in its theme. The theme of the
elegy touches the hearts of common people and their life rather than, lamenting
the death of a famous personality. Theme belongs to the inevitable fate of every
human being.
Elegy and Thomas gray
Elegy is a sad lyrical poetic composition that laments the death of
near and dear ones or the very adorable things. Not only words but the music of
the poem also has this lamentation. But the treatment of Thomas Gray was
different; he lamented the poor and difficult life of poor villagers rather
than an imminent personality.
Summary
In “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” Thomas Gray (poet) listens
to the bells of the church indicating the departure of the day; he is sand and completely
lost in his thoughts. Farmers, animals, birds, etc. are returning to their
homes but the poet is still in the graveyard; watching the graves of buried
people. He thinks about the simple people and happy moments of their life. Poet
is proud of the honest life of poor villagers as they never play tricks to get
wealth, throne, and favor from well-known people and speaks to the rich,
famous, and wealthy people not to mock their life. These simple villagers may
be famous people like Milton, Cromwell, etc. if they have been given a chance
by their fate.
He becomes philosophical and explores the unbiased fate of all the men
on the earth. He says that though there are differences in the life status of
common villages and famous persons. At the end of the day, they all will meet
the same end unbiasedly- i.e. death.
Death is an unavoidable and natural thing in everyone’s life. Hence,
one day poet imagines that a spirit visits the poet's tombstone and a villager
shows his unawareness about the poet. Poet ends his poem by writing an epitaph of
his own. He describes his life difficulties, sadness, and depression. He asks
the readers not to judge anyone who is laying here in that graveyard. He
concludes that man’s efforts and struggles to succeed in life comes to an end
in death. Thus, death conquers man regardless of his successes or failures or
powers or wealth or poverty in his endeavors during his life.
Development of thoughts
In the evening, the poet was moving alone in the street of a village
and reach the church. The ringing of the bell reminds him of the evening time.
He noticed the movements of animals, birds, and farmers towards their homes and
suddenly he saw the graveyard where dead people of the village were buried.
unlike famous and rich people, they were unprivileged by fate. He became
philosophical and asked rich and famous people not to laugh at the poor people
because the end of every life is the same. We all will die one day and will
remain buried under our graves.
Theme of elegy
The theme of the poem and its treatment show the classical impression
on the poet. He laments the misfortunes of ordinary people. It is an elegy for
poor villagers. They are simple honest but not powerful and famous. The poet
has generosity for the poor so he has written this poem for honoring them. The
poem talks about the unbiasedness of death. Rich or poor, no man, can escape
death. The power, wealth, kingdom, etc. cannot bring life to a dead person. Besides, nothing including any amount of
rich or glory can bring the dead to life. Hence; all, even poor people deserve
respect for their death. They would have been famous if fate had favored them,
The setting of Elegy:
The poem is set in a rural area and is written at the time of departing
day. As the poem opens, we see that the speaker is standing at the churchyard
and he hears many sounds - the ringing of a church bell, sounds of returning
animals and farmers, etc- that suggest the parting day. The atmosphere is gloomy,
subdued, and melancholic. Darkness and silence fill the place. Only the hooting
of the owl, the buzz of the beetle, and the ringing of the bells break that
gloomy silence. Regardless of all this gloom, the speaker stands in the middle
of tombstones in the graveyard and imagines the lives of the dead people who were
silently sleeping there.
Beauty of Nature
As the poem is set in a pastoral area, the poet used various activities
birds, owl, animals, cock, sheep, beetle, etc. he also mentions the atmosphere
and scene from nature like- evening, shining of the moon, caves, beautiful
flowers, ocean, shades of trees, murmuring stream, forests, etc. the poem has
few stanzas full of the description of nature.
Autobiographical note
In the poem poet also write about him. He wrote the last nine
paragraphs about the testimony of his death. He wants to connect himself to the
poor villagers and writes the same fate for himself. He also writes his epitaph
is also written.
Form and Style of Elegy
This elegy mourns the difficult lives as well as the death of ordinary
men. The poem follows all the conventions of the elegiac tradition. Though
Thomas Gray loved the classical style, he used quatrain rather than heroic
couplet in his poems. Similarly, the poem "Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard" consists of
·
33 stanzas.
·
Each stanza has four lines.
·
Each line has iambic pentameter. A pentameter consists of ten syllables.
·
The rhyming scheme is abab.
·
The poem ends in the poet's epitaph.
In addition to its great content, the poem has beautifully executed
figures of speech in
the stanza that talk about 'hidden gems' and 'desert flowers'. The content is
sublime and there is a pastoral setting. the lofty tone makes this poem elegant
and supreme. One of the examples of lofty tone is-
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.
Conclusion
Scholars look at this poem as a representative piece of literature for
the genre of elegy. The poem is worth praising in every manner. The theme, the
style, the content, and the use of figures make this elegy the best in its
form. The sublime treatment of the universal subject makes this elegy worth
praising.
Question-2- Write down the
poetic qualities of Thomas Gray?
Answer- Introduction
Thomas Gray, born on December 26, 1716, in London,
was one of the most important poets of the eighteenth century. The scholar and
poet, Thomas Gray was very famous for his immortal poem "Elegy Written
in a Country Churchyard."
He belonged to both the ages-Neo-Classical and
romantic. He is supposed to be a versatile poet as he wrote poems on the themes
like melancholy, nature, romance, etc. He wrote his romantic poems so impressively
that he is said as a pioneer of the romantic school of poetry. For his poetic
excellence, he is considered as the greatest poet between Milton and
Wordsworth. He is also called the poetical classic of the 18th century. He
was a man of letters and a scholar. His style of expressing universal human
feelings is derived from Greek and Roman literature. Although his output was
small, he introduced new subject matter to poetry.
Thomas Gray
as elegy poet
Thomas Gray is known as a
great elegiac poet in the history of English poetry. His elegies are a sincere
song of mourning. We can say that he is matchless as far as elegy writing is
concerned. He completely indulged himself in the pain and tears. The
distinguishing features of his poems are sufferings and melancholy. His elegies
contain a lot of sorrow, suffering, disease, death, and all sort of painful
moments. As a true mourner, Gray didn’t mourn for a single person rather he mourned
the tragic fate of mankind. His elegies always deal with the mortality and emptiness
of human life. Thus, Gray is par excellent as a poet of mourning the human
sufferings.
Thomas Gray
as transition poet
The poetry of Thomas Gray belongs to both the
ages-Neo-Classical and romantic; hence he is called a transitional poet. He
showed his merit between the Neo-Classical and Romantic Ages. It is said that he began his career as a
Classical poet but ended as a Romantic poet. He showcased his command over
poetic qualities of both the era.
Thomas
Gray as a classical poet
Thomas Gray was a great admirer &f classical
literature. He had personal interests in the beauty of ancient and classical
poetry. He travelled to many countries, to satisfy his thrust for the love of
ancient scripture. He could not bound himself to one style. He adopted the
classical merit of style and manner. His style is elevated and matchless. He
has aphoristic qualities in his poems. His poems contain classical simplicity
of themes, contents, and emotions. Though sometimes language seems to be
forced, his love for classical literature is seen in his poems. One of the
examples of lofty tone is-
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.
Thomas Gray
as a romantic poet
Towards the last phase of his career, he started
writing romantic poetry but he didn't follow the conventional verse of
romanticism. He tried to write romantic poetry in his own style. He stood strongly against
the predefined rules, conventions, and customs. He sought and found inspiration
in the literature of the past. In the
later phase, Thomas Gray moved towards romantic poetry. In his poem ‘an elegy
written in country churchyard’, he mourned the obscure destiny of the poor
villagers. He noticed nature and narrated its beauty in his poems. The
description of birds, graveyards, farmers’ life gives us the pleasure of
romance but the theme of the human life cycle is classical. His treatment of
love towards life and nature makes him excellent in writing romantic poems.
Thomas
Gray as an Ode poet
Gray was a great lover of classical literature and this
thing is, clearly, seen in his ode. He followed Pindar in ode writing but his content belongs to classical as well
as romantic age. He wrote an ode with wits and delicately described the sufferings
of human life. In his two odes ‘Ode on The Spring’ and ‘Ode on Distant
Prospect Of Eton College’, he enjoyed writing about the various activities
done by the children but later he mourned at the misfortune of life. The
innocent boys met their misfortune as they were not aware of the difficulties
of life. Though Gray imitates Pindar's style & structure, he didn't copy them.
Pindar's odes were written to be enjoyed with music & dance while Gray’s odes
were thoughtful.
Poetic
qualities of Thomas Gray’s poetry
Being an elegiac poet, he felt the pain, suffering,
and tragedies of human life. Hence, his romantic classical poetry is filled
with a melancholy tone. He has the impressiveness of classical and
Neo-classical age. His admiration enabled him to attain intelligence to write
sublime themes. Neo- classics used heroic couplet While he used blank verses
and quatrains. He loved to invent new structures in his poetic compositions. He
adopted classical simplicity used Greek and Latin words in his early
poems. He doesn't use figures but loves to have phrases & compound words
in his poetry. His poetry is lyrical in form and refined in style. There is
musical virtuosity in his poetry.
Conclusion
As a great poet
of his time, he is regarded as a transition poet who handled the qualities of
both the era successfully. As a great poet, Gray showed his metrical
excellence but he never sacrificed a sense of natural feelings in his
poetry. He was in the habit of using antithesis, personification, epigrams, allegories,
compound words, etc.
Thus, Gray is a great and
immortal poet. His interest in classical and romantic poetry made him write his
poetry with great ease and comfortability. His poetry will be regarded forever
for his simplicity, sensibility, and universal feelings. His poetic qualities in
his poems helped him to attain the sublimity of Milton and the
harmony of Pope.
Question-3-Write the Summary of the poem
"Elegy Written in a country churchyard."
Answer-
‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’ is written by Thomas
Gray. An elegy is usually a lament for the dead person who is near and dear to
the poet. But Thomas adopted a slightly
different form of elegy writing. Rather than mourning one person of thing he lamented
the inevitability and hollowness of death in general. In the starting, the poet
describes death in a detached way but in the end, he puts an autobiographical
note to meet the fate of the poor villagers (common man). The epitaph he writes
for himself at the end of the poem reflects a fear of death. The Elegy is
a renowned English poem, regarded as one of the best of the time. Scholars look
at this poem as a representative piece of literature for the genre of elegy.
Poet himself is the speaker of the poem and he is in a churchyard and
listens to the church bell tolling for the end of the day. Here, he uses the
image of the parting day as a metaphor for
life and death. He describes nature and speaks about evening, the church tower
covered in ivy, fading landscape, an owl hooting, etc. He then looks at the
graveyard which is near the church. He starts thinking about the souls who are
lying there beneath the ground and sleeping in a sound sleep in their graves.
He assumes probably they are simple village folk. They’re dead and nothing will
wake these villagers, nor a rooster’s call in the morning, nor twittering birds
nor the smell of the morning breeze. Here, again, the poet uses nature. The
speaker mourns that they will not feel the pleasure of their life. Small joyous
moments of their family life are now very far from them.
As he is standing in the countryside, he is sure that the buried
people were mostly farmers, and the poet describes the course of life, their
enjoyment during farming. Though they were poor, they lived honest life. He
warns no one should mock a good honest working life as they had. Death is an evitable and truth of every being.
And death is unbiased. It treats everybody whether big or small, poor or
wealthy, powerful or weak in a similar manner. Fancy grave markers may design
well but cannot bring someone back to life, and neither can give the honor of
being well-born.
Then speaker surprises at the fate of the poor villagers who are
buried in unmarked graves. He wonders
If some of these were the men of potential leaders or passionate men
whose life span was very short. Likewise, there were many, who could not meet
the bright future due to some obstacles in their life. He laments to the poor
villagers, as they could not learn more about this world. He speaks about the
hurdles of their life and the difficulties they bore during their life. Those
difficulties and hurdles didn't give them chance to shine in their life.
he also declared those poor villagers as unsung heroes. He compares
them to the gems that are never found or flowers that bloom but are never seen.
He wonders if some of the dead souls of the graveyard could have been perfect,
but unable to shine. One could have been a mute Milton, who wrote Paradise
Lost; or one could have been like John Hampden, a politician who openly opposed
the policies of King Charles. The poet mourns their fate as being unlucky they
could not mark the world and die unnoticed in the world.
They were poor and innocent. They were not guilty of any of the
crimes. They were not capable of regicide or being merciless. They were honest
with the world; hence unable to stop the truth from coming out. As these poor
villagers lived their life out of the city in the quiet countryside graveyard,
they must not be taken negatively by the world or rich people. Their graves are
simple and protected by simple grave markers, so people do not insult their
burial places. The poet becomes philosophical by saying that people don’t care
what they are leaving behind. Even the poor leave behind their loved ones who
close their eyes upon death.
The poet becomes autobiographical and relates himself to the buried
souls in the graveyard. Poet admits that now he is lamenting the poor dead
buried villagers. Similarly, when he dies someone will also lament his death. Poet
starts imagination about his death and grave. He imagined that after his death
he will be buried with these poor people. When a kindred spirit, who wandered
into the same graveyard will ask about him then Possibly some grey-haired
farmer will speak about him. The farmer will inform about his daily activities,
in the nearby area, to the spirit. Then the farmer will inform that he did not
see him by his favorite tree, near the meadow, or by the woods, and after that
his dead body was carried by the villagers and he was buried there with other
people.
He speaks of his own funeral dirges and finally of his own epitaph. In
the speaker’s own epitaph, he remarks that he has died unlucky as he never
became famous and was not well-born. But at least he was full of knowledge—he
was a scholar and a poet. He was bighearted and sincere, so heaven paid him back
for his good qualities by giving him a friend. His other good and bad qualities
do not matter anymore. He ends his poem by saying that he is hopeful that he
will have a good life in heaven and he will live happily with God.
