Structure of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard:
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is written in heroic quatrains. A quatrain is a four-line stanza. Heroic quatrains rhyme in an ABAB pattern and are written in iambic pentameter. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of one unstressed and one stressed syllable, as in the phrase “the world.” Pentameter simply means that there are five feet in each line. In each stanza, the first line rhymes with the third and the second line rhymes with the fourth (ABAB). The poem has 32 Heroic quatrains (or 128 lines).
Gray frequently used Inversion (reversal of normal word order) for poetic effect. For example, Line 6: And all the air a solemn stillness holds (all the air holds a solemn stillness). The poet also made use of Syncope while omitting letters or sounds in a word used in the poem for example, ov’r, glimm’ring, tow’r, twitt’ring, etc.
Gray also used Alliteration, Anaphora, Metonymy, Metaphor, and Personification. In lines 53-56, he uses Metaphor to compare common dead village people with gems and flowers. In lines 71-72, he compares flattering words to incense. In lines 29-32, Gray Personified Ambition and Grandeur, in lines 49-50, Knowledge is personified, and in lines 119-120, Science and Melancholy are personified.
Summary of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard:
Stanza 14 Lines 1-16
“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.
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;
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.
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.”
The poet begins by explaining the surroundings in a village during an evening in 1750 when English towns had a “curfew,” the time when a bell was rung in the evening that signaled people to put out their fires and go to bed. It is the time when cattle herds are turning back home and the tired farmers are returning from their fields. All is quiet and everything is still. Only the beadle buzzes and the owl hoots. It appears as if the owl is the ruler molesting (inspecting) her reign. Among a group of elm trees, there is the graveyard. There are burials of the villagers’ ancestors in the graveyard and the omniscient speaker is standing there in the graveyard. Throughout the poem, the word ‘Save’ is used to mean ‘except.’
Stanza 5-8 Lines 17-32
“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.
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.
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!
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.”
The poet who is standing in the graveyard, begins to discuss the people who have been buried there. They are sleeping in beds that are low to the ground. No sound can wake them up. The twittering of the swallow, the morning call of the cock, even a horn cannot wake them. Their wives and their children, nobody cares for them anymore. They were hard-working men when they were alive. Their plowing, their harvesting, and their farming were all efficient. The speaker asks not to look down upon their simple life and hard work. Ambitious people think of village life as simple. But the villagers had their joy and sorrow much like others.
Stanza 9-12 Lines 33-48
“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.
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.
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?
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.”
The omniscient speaker continues to appreciate the common dead villagers and says that the poor are not inferior to the rich in death. Invariably, every human life ends in death. The beauty, the wealth, and the glory all lead to the unavoidable end. The villager’s grave does not have the grandness of ceremonies and tombstones. But, none of that can bring a person back to life. So, there is no use for them. One should remember that no one knew that one of the dead villagers may have achieved greatness. Therefore, there may be a ruler or a poet buried in there.
Stanza 13-16 Lines 49-64
“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.
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.
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.
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,”
In these stanzas, the poet continues to support the common men and remarks that the villagers who were dead would also have talent. There might be a Milton or a Cromwell buried there. They did not get opportunities to prove themselves. Like gems hidden deep under the ocean and like desert flowers, they have perished without notice. Given opportunities, they would have also succeeded. People would have read their deeds in history.
Stanza 17-20 Lines 65-80
“Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd;
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.
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.
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.”
In these stanzas, the poet exclaims the innocence and straightforwardness of the common villagers. The omniscient speaker says that the villagers did not wish to be involved in treachery and deceit. They were honest people and wished to lead simple lives. So, they kept themselves away from the mad crowd of the cities and kingdoms. They were true to themselves. They liked peace and honesty. But still, there were markings to note their memory. The tombstones were simple. The language was ordinary. But, there is truth in their memory.
Stanzas 21-24 Lines 81-96
“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.
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?
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.
For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,”
The poet laments that the dead villagers rest in the graveyard without recognition. The omniscient speaker is happy to declare that this poem will be a tribute to them. They lived their lives with morals. They died in the care of a loving person. And, they closed their eyes with prayers in one’s eyes. One day, a kind soul may come and enquire after the dead one out of curiosity.
Stanza 25-28 Lines 97-112
“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.
"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.
"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.
"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;”
In these stanzas, the poet suggests as if he is also dead and dwelling in the graveyard among the other dead villagers. If someone asks about the poet who rests in the graveyard, one of the villagers may talk about him. A free-spirited man was the poet. He went to the mountains in the morning and stood under the beach tree sometimes. Then, he went to the brook. Besides, he was sometimes muttering his fancies. The villager would say that he missed seeing the man one day. The poet was missing. The villager did not see him in his usual places. But, he saw the funeral procession and how the man was buried in the graveyard
Stanza 29-32 Lines 113-128
"The next with dirges due in sad array
Slow thro' the church-way path we saw him borne.
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."
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.
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.
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.”
The poet suggests that the epitaph of the poet buried in the graveyard would say: Here lies the young man who was not popular. His life was full of sorrow. Knowledge was his only wealth. He gave his life to misery and all he longed was for a friend to support him. One need not look away to know about him. All that he did lies with him, close to god in the lap of earth.
Themes of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard:
The main theme of the poem is the inevitability of Death which is a universal truth. Irrespective of a person’s social status, political power, wealth, or fame, everyone is a subject of death and death doesn’t discriminate. Even the omniscient speaker of the poem is a subject of death. Since it is an elegy, the poem laments the death of everyone who died and was buried in the Country Churchyard and it is also a sorrowful note for those who will die and will be buried in that churchyard, including the poet himself. In fact, the poem can be taken as an elegy for every death in the past, and in the future anywhere in the world, and thus, the poem establishes the sense of looming inescapable mortality.
The other important theme of the poem is the importance of Commemorating the Dead. The poem suggests that memorizing the dead helps the living in accepting the inevitability of death. The poet further asserts that fame is not a virtue. He focuses on all the common people who have died without fame, power, or wealth. In particular, he realizes that many people could have been great and famous if only they had grown up under the right circumstances. Rather than lamenting this fact, however, the speaker suggests that these people led less troubled lives than those in elite society. The speaker rejects wealth, fame, and power, and instead celebrates regular people living ordinary lives. Anonymity, the poem suggests, is better for the soul.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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