Elegy written in Country church

yard
 The masterpiece of Thomas Gray
 The classical example of elegy in English literature
 Completed in 1750 June 12
 Published in 1751 February 15
 The speaker of the poem: poet himself
 Main theme: The Universality of death
 Setting: St Giles churchyards in Stoke Poges
 Written in Iambic Pentameter quatrains
 This poem was partly inspired by Gray's thoughts following the death of his
friend and poet Richard west
 Originally titled “Stanzas wrote in a country churchyard” (1742)
 Horace Walpole popularized the among London Literary circles
 32 stanzas in the poem with epitaph in the conclusion
 Last 3 stanzas are epitaph
 1st published in: Quarto Pamphlet
 Rhyme scheme: ABAB
 Stanza form used in this poem: Heroic Quatrains
 Tone of the poem: sad and somber
 The mood in this poem: sorrowful and solemn
 In this elegy Gray laments the death not of great people or famous people
but of common man
 Message : The inevitability of death
 Opening line : The curfew toll the knell of parting day
 Last line: The bosom of his father and his God
 Famous line: The paths of glory lead but to the grave
 36th line: The paths of glory lead but to the grave. (Death makes everybody
equal. Death is not concerned with a man's wealth)
 What time of the day is it when the poem elegy written in the country
churchyard begins?
: - at dusk or in the early evening

(The plowman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me)
 The plow man homeward plods his weary way. The figure of speech in
above line is: Transferred epithet
 The fading of the glimmering landscape on the sight indicates: The end of
life
 The speaker in 2nd stanza is in a mood of: - Pensive
 The owl is complaining from the ivy mantled tower
 The moping owl complains to the moon about it’s sorrow
 In which Stanza does the poet introduce us to death: 1st
 The poet makes a plea to the: - Rich
 The word Hamlet means: - A small village