Page 266 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

Unit 25: Thomas Gray: The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

3. The purpose of this poem is to memorialize and reflect upon the memorialization of other- Notes
wise unremarkable people. What ties still bind the living and the dead in the churchyard?
What does the speaker most regret about their passing, and what lessons does he draw from
that passing?
4. An Elegy is by definition about someone else, but how does the speaker fold himself into
this poem, making himself as much an object of reflection as the scene and those buried in
the cemetery?

Answers: Self Assessment

1. (d) 2. (d) 3. (c)
4. (d) 5. (a) 6. (b)
7. (a) 8. (c) 9. (c)
10. (a)

25.8 Further Readings

Alexander Pope: Selected poetry and prose — Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope — Paul Baines
Thomas Gray: a life — Robert L Mack
Elegy written in a Country Church Yard — Thomas Gray
William Blake — G.K.Chesterton

Online links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegy_Written_in_a_Country_Churchyard
http://www.thomasgray.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?text=elcc#pagebottom

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