THOMAS GRAY
‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’
Literary Terms







Allusion
Stanza
Alliteration
Tone
Rhyme Scheme
Meter
Imagery





Setting
Theme
Gothic
Imitation
Pastoral Elegy
Thoughts:

What makes a person Ordinary?

Why would someone wish to live in
anonymity?

Are the lives of the ‘ordinary’ suitable
subjects for serious poetry?
QUESTION #1

What TONE is established in the first
stanza?

What DETAILS create the Tone?
ANSWER #1
Somber, Sad, Sober, Peaceful
Rhythm, images of Darkness
QUESTION #2

What is the predominant meter of the
poem?

What is the Rhyme Scheme?
ANSWER #2
Iambic Pentameter
ABAB
QUESTION #3

Why might Gray include the IMAGES he
does in lines 21-28?

What kinds of Images do these people
portray?
ANSWER #3
Emphasize the contrast
between the living and the
dead.
Common people; farm families
QUESTION #4

Line 32 is one of the most oft-quoted
lines in the Elegy.
“The short and simple annals of the poor.”
Do you agree that the stories of the poor are
short and simple? Explain.
ANSWER #4
NO- Life is complex…
YES- Poor struggle only to
survive day-to-day
QUESTION #5

What does Gray lament in lines 45-48?
ANSWER #5
Wasted talent of the poor
QUESTION #6

In lines 49-52,
 To
what does Gray attribute the lost
ambitions of the previous stanza?
ANSWER #6
(Poverty) and Lack of
Knowledge are
Reasons that people did not
influence
QUESTION #7

The last stanza on p602 sums up one of
the poet’s general themes.
What is that Theme?
ANSWER #7
Beauty in life is often
obscured by its
HARSHNESS
QUESTION #8

Note the historical allusion
in lines 57-60:
What is a ‘mute Milton’?? (p435)
Why does the poet allude to Milton and
Cromwell?
ANSWER #8
Person unable to use
language;
Those who died may have
been able to achieve what
Milton and Cromwell did.
QUESTION #9

What is the significance of the rhetorical
question in lines 85-88?
ANSWER #9
Emphasizes that
Love of Life
And
Fear of Life
are common to the rich and
poor alike.
QUESTION #10

Whom does the poet or speaker
address in the last stanza of p603?
ANSWER #10
Himself
QUESTION #11

Line 104 shows examples of Alliteration
and Imitation.
What words in this line represent these
Lit. Terms?
ANSWER #11
Brook, Babble
QUESTION #12

Whose epitaph concludes the poem?
ANSWER #12
The speaker’s, the poet’s-the person who cared to
think about those who rested
in the cemetery where he
himself is now laid.
THE CAPITALIZED WORDS
Ambition
Grandeur
Memory
Honor
Flattery
Death
Knowledge
Penury
Luxury
Pride
Forgetfulness
Nature
Contemplation
Fortune
Fame
Melancholy
Misery
Hope