About the poet
Thomas Gray (1716-1771) was a transitional poet and an
important precursor to the Romantic Revival. The chief characteristics of his
poetry are exquisite craftmanship, condensed expression, love of nature and
sympathy for the common man.
About the poem
Elegy
Written in a Country Churchyard was first published in 1751. An elegy is a poem
which laments the dead. Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is
noteworthy in that it mourns the death not of great or famous people but of
common human beings. The poem invokes that classical idea of memento mori a
Latin phrase which states "Remember that you must die." The speaker
considers the fact that in depth there is no distinction between great and
common people. It is a great leveler that renders everyone equal.
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
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,
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And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinkling’s 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 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 stoke!
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 boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The curfew tolls the knell of .. day.
(a) breaking
(b) mid
(c) starting
(d) parting
Ans. (d) parting
2. The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the sea. Lowing means ..
(a) low mooing
(b) loud mooing
(c) silence
(d) none of these
Ans. (a) low mooing
3. The plowman is going towards the ..
(a) fields
(b) town
(c) home
(d) village
Ans. (d) village
4. The plowman homeward plods his weary way. The figure of speech in the above line is ..
(a) Oxymoron
(b) Antithesis
(c) Transferred Epithet
(d) Pun
Ans. (c) Transferred Epithet
5. The fading of the glimmering landscape on the sight indicates ..
(a) end of day
(b) start of day
(c) the end of life
(d) end of life as age advances
Ans. (c) the end of life
6. The speaker in the 2nd stanza is in a .. mood.
(a) happy
(b) sad
(c) sorrowful
(d) pensive
Ans. (d) pensive
7. The owl is heard from the ..
(a) hazel tree top
(b) elm tree top
(c) ivy - mantled tower
(d) none of these
Ans. (c) ivy - mantled tower
8. The moping owl complains to the moon about its ..
(a) death
(b) disturbed sleep
(c) molestation
(d) sorrow
Ans. (d) sorrow
9. In which stanza does the poet introduce us to 'death'?
(a) 1st
(b) 2nd
(c) 3rd
(d) 4th
Ans. (a) 1st
10. Name any two birds mentioned in the poem ..
(a) cock and hen
(b) cock and bulbul
(c) cock and sparrow
(d) sparrow and hen
Ans. (c) cock and sparrow
11. 'How jocund did they drive their team afield!' The characteristic quality of the farmers seen in this line is ..
(a) sorrowful
(b) moody
(c) happy
(d) moron
Ans. (c) happy
12. The poet makes a plea to the ..
(a) rich
(b) poor
(c) dead
(d) young
Ans. (a) rich
13. The air is ..
(a) pleasant
(b) cool
(c) still
(d) stormy
Ans. (a) pleasant
14. The tinkling sound of the animals are ..
(a) happy
(b) sad
(c) drowsy
(d) melodious
Ans. (c) drowsy
15. The distant folds refer to ..
(a) mountains at the distant
(b) resting place of the sheep
(c) resting place of the people
(d) all of these
Ans. (b) resting place of the sheep
16. The owl is seen sitting on the ..
(a) lemon tree top
(b) ivy mantled top
(c) carob tree top
(d) elm tree top
Ans. (b) ivy mantled top
17. The moping owl complains to the ..
(a) sun
(b) moon
(c) sky
(d) tides
Ans. (b) moon
18. The solitary reign of the .. is disturbed.
(a) owl
(b) sheep
(c) yew
(d) cock
Ans. (a) owl
19. What lies beneath the rugged elm?
(a) The smaller plants
(b) The animals
(c) The dead
(d) None of these
Ans. (c) The dead
20. The narrow cell in the line 'Each in the narrow cell ever laid,' means ..
(a) small room
(b) small trench
(c) cardboard box
(d) coffin
Ans. (d) coffin
21. The rude forefathers means ..
(a) angry forefathers
(b) harsh forefathers
(c) illiterate forefathers
(d) annoying forefathers
Ans. (c) illiterate forefathers
22. The word 'hamlet' means ..
(a) a play
(b) a place
(c) a small town
(d) a small village
Ans. (a) a small village
23. The wakening calls for the rural folks are ..
(a) dogs and the cats
(b) honking of the cars and scooters
(c) cocks and swallows
(d) pigeons and cuckoos
Ans. (c) cocks and swallows
24. 'For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn'. - The word 'them' in the line stands for ..
(a) the men
(b) the children
(c) the boys
(d) the dead
Ans. (d) the dead
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