Summary | Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard | Thomas Gray

Summary

        'Elegy' means a mournful poem about death. Thomas Gray's 'Elegy written in a Country Church Yard' is worth nothing because it mourns the death of only commoners and not of great and famous people.

               The poet, a city bred visits a village and looks at the rustic scene but is surprised to see the sounds of men and beasts fading away. The scene is beautiful but not joyous. The day ends just like other days.

               The poet is alone but not tried. Describing a few things, the poet tries to bring in some vitality into his solitude and the stillness of the scene. With these descriptions, Gray creates the backdrops of his melancholy reflections about eternal truth.

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               The poet then uses the churchyard scene to invoke important images through the strength of the elm, death through the graves in the churchyard where sleep the common folks sleep for years unaware of the sounds and sights of the earth above.

               The poet then addresses the upper class with their ambition, grandeur power, nobility, pride and exhorts them not to mock at the poor for their simplicity as all are going to face death one day. The fate of every human beings is the same, high or low, rich or poor, fortunate or unfortunate. Death will come to all at the inevitable hour.

Describe the setting of the poem.

               The poem 'Elegy Written a Country Churchyard' is written by Thomas Gray. It reflects the eternal truth of life. Whether rich or poor death awaits everyone. The rich and the poor have to die one day leaving back all their materialistic wealth. In the poem, the poet visits a churchyard in the country side and is deeply moved at the somber sight. The lowing herd and the plowman plodding the way back home is very painful. The poet presents a sad scene but does not reveal to the reader that he is talking about the dead buried in the backyard of the church. He prepares the reader to accept this truth of life that death is inevitable to one and all alike. 

What are the routine pleasures for the simple rural folk?

               The poem 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' is written by Thomas Gray. It reflects about the eternal truth of life. Whether rich or poor death awaits everyone. In the poem the poet visits a churchyard in the country side and is deeply moved at the Somber sight. Looking at the other side brings some comfort. The simple rural folks are happy with their day-to-day chores. They find pleasure in every day's work. The incense filling morning, the twittering of the swallows, the cock's shrill clarion call or the echoing horn fill them with happiness. The evenings after the day's toil with the family is very comforting. They also find joy while working in the fields as a team harvesting the corn. 

Explain the lines:

• The moping owl does to the moon complain.

               This line is taken from the poem 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' written by Thomas Gray an eighteenth-century poet. The poet has used birds and animals in his poem. In this line, he talks of the owl complaining to the moon but in reality, she expresses her sorrow for disturbing her solitary reign.

• The path of glory lead but to the grave.

               This line is taken from the poem 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' written by Thomas Gray an eighteenth-century poet. Through this line, the poet tries to convey to his readers about the truth of life. That man is a mortal being and has to die one day. Nobody is spared from it. The rich and the poor, the high and the low all have to meet the same fate. Knowing this, he makes a plea to the rich and the high not to be proud for they too will have the same end like the poor and the low when the fateful day comes.