Editing Thomas Gray (section)

=="Elegy" masterpiece==
{{main|Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard}}
It is believed by a number of writers that Gray began writing arguably his most celebrated piece, the ''[[Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard]]'', in the graveyard of St Giles' parish church in [[Stoke Poges]], [[Buckinghamshire]] (though this claim is not exclusive), in 1742. After several years of leaving it unfinished, he completed it in 1750<ref>[http://www.thomasgray.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?text=tgal0173 Letter, dated 12 June 1750], in which Gray sent the completed poem to Horace Walpole. Thomas Gray website.</ref> (see [[elegy]] for the form). The poem was a literary sensation when published by [[Robert Dodsley]] in February 1751 (see [[1751 in poetry]]). Its reflective, calm, and [[stoicism|stoic]] tone was greatly admired, and it was pirated, imitated, quoted, and translated into Latin and Greek. It is still one of the most popular and frequently quoted poems in the English language.<ref>Elegy written in a country church-yard: with versions in the Greek, Latin, German, Italian, and French languages, Nabu Press (repr. 2010.)</ref>

In 1759, during the [[Great Britain in the Seven Years War|Seven Years War]], before the [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham]], British General [[James Wolfe]] is said to have recited it to one of his officers, adding, "I would prefer being the author of that Poem to the glory of beating the French to-morrow."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gosse |first1=Edmund |author-link1=Edmund Gosse |year=2011 |orig-year=1882 |title=Gray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LE8D5zs2qTcC&q=gray+elegy+prefer+%22being+the+author+of+that+poem%22&pg=PA145 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=145 |isbn=9781108034517 |access-date=24 December 2016 }}</ref>
[[File:Gray's Monument.JPG|thumb|right|Monument, in [[Stoke Poges]], inscribed with Gray's ''[[Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard|Elegy]]'']]
The ''Elegy'' was recognised immediately for its beauty and skill. It contains many phrases which have entered the common English lexicon, either on their own or as quoted in other works. These include:

* "The Paths of Glory" (the title of a 1957 anti-war [[Paths of Glory|movie]] about World War I, produced by and starring [[Kirk Douglas]], and directed by [[Stanley Kubrick]], based on a novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb).
* "Celestial fire"
* "Some mute inglorious Milton"
* "Far from the Madding Crowd" (the title of a [[Far from the Madding Crowd|novel]] by [[Thomas Hardy]], filmed several times)
*"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air," is quoted often, including by Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) in the film ''[[Bull Durham]]''
* "The unlettered muse"
* "Kindred spirit"
[[File:William Blake - The Poems of Thomas Gray, Design 105, "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard." - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[William Blake]]'s illustration for Thomas Gray]]
"Elegy" contemplates such themes as death and afterlife. These themes foreshadowed the upcoming Gothic movement. It is suggested that perhaps Gray found inspiration for his poem by visiting the grave-site of his aunt, Mary Antrobus. The aunt was buried at the graveyard by the St. Giles' churchyard, which he and his mother would visit. This is the same grave-site where Gray himself was later buried.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=John J.|title=Meditation on Mortality|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323716304578482950460324738|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=15 April 2014}}</ref>

{{anchor|Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat}}
Gray also wrote light verse, including ''[[s: Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes|Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes]]'', a [[mock-heroic]] elegy concerning [[Horace Walpole]]'s cat. Even this humorous poem contains some of Gray's most famous lines. Walpole owned two cats: Zara and Selima. Scholars allude to the name Selima mentioned in the poem.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pattison |first=Robert |date=1979 |title=Gray's 'Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat': A Rationalist's Aesthetic |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/513635 |journal=University of Toronto Quarterly |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=156–165 |doi=10.3138/utq.49.2.156 |s2cid=162651483 |issn=1712-5278}}</ref> After setting the scene with the couplet "What female heart can gold despise? What cat's averse to fish?", the poem moves to its multiple proverbial conclusion: "a fav'rite has no friend", "[k]now one false step is ne'er retrieved" and "nor all that glisters, gold". (Walpole later displayed the fatal china vase (the tub) on a pedestal at his house in [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]], where it can still be seen).

Gray's surviving letters also show his sharp observation and playful sense of humour. He is well known for his phrase, "where [[wikt:ignorance is bliss|ignorance is bliss]], 'tis folly to be wise," from ''[[s: Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College|Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College]]''. It has been asserted that the Ode also abounds with images which find "a mirror in every mind".<ref>Gilfillan, George, dissertation in ''The Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray and Smollet'' 1855, kindle ebook 1855 {{ASIN|B004TQHGGE}}</ref> This was stated by [[Samuel Johnson]] who said of the poem, "I rejoice to concur with the common reader ... The Church-yard abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo".<ref name="Broadview Press"/> Indeed, Gray's poem follows the style of the mid-century literary endeavour to write of "universal feelings."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Broadview Anthology of British Literature|publisher=Broadview Press|pages=1516–1517|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGxegEzVNJEC|editor=Joseph Black}}</ref> Samuel Johnson also said of Gray that he spoke in "two languages". He spoke in the language of "public" and "private" and according to Johnson, he should have spoken more in his private language as he did in his "Elegy" poem.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography: Thomas Gray|date=26 May 2021|url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/thomas-gray|publisher=Poetry Foundation}}</ref>