Thomas Gray

You've probably used or at least heard of the phrase “ignorance is bliss” at some point in your life. But do you know where it comes from? English poet Thomas Gray (1716–1771) was one of the most influential poets of the eighteenth century, and many of the phrases he used in his poetry – including “ignorance is bliss” from his poem “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” (1742) – are ones we still use today.

Gray is largely seen as the precursor to the Romantic poets for hisgothic and introspective writing style.His “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751) is considered to be one of the finest elegies in English literature. However, very few people actually know about Gray because he was very self-critical and only published 13 poems in his lifetime.

Content warning: Contains themes of domestic violence.

Thomas Gray Biography

托马斯·格雷出生在1716 in London to a wealthy but troubled family. His father was a scrivener (a scribe/notary) and his mother was a co-proprietor of a millinery business, selling fine hats with her sister. Gray was the fifth of their twelve children, but he was the only one to survive past childhood.

His mother and father’s marriage was volatile, as his father was mentally ill and violent. After the two married, his father, Philip Gray, allowed his wife and her sister to continue running the millinery business out of the basement of his home. However, he threatened to evict them when he was angry. He was jealous of his wife’s sister and physically abusive to his wife.

When he was eight years old, Thomas Gray was sent to Eton College, where two of his mother’s brothers worked. His mother paid for his education with the profits from her millinery business, but his father refused to share the financial costs. At school, Gray’s uncle, Robert Antrobus, was his first teacher. Antrobus instilled a lifelong love of botany in the young Gray, but instead of continuing to become a physician as his uncle had hoped,Gray fell deeply in love with literature．

在伊顿公学,灰色变得非常亲密three of his peers: Horace Walpole, the son of the then-prime minister Robert Walpole; Richard West, the only son of a politician who was briefly Lord Chancellor of Ireland; and Thomas Ashton, the son of a schoolmaster. The group of boys called themselves the “quadruple alliance” and prided themselves on their humor, wit, and appreciation of beauty.

After Eton, Gray continued his education at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he was expected to study law. His father still refused to contribute to his education, escalating the tension between his parents. In 1736, Gray decided not to pursue a BA degree, and in 1738, Gray left Cambridge without a degree. Instead, he and Walpole toured the continent, exploring France, Switzerland, and Italy together from 1739 to 1741.

The continental tour went well until 1741 when Gray and Walpole got into an argument on their way to Venice and split, each proceeding to Venice separately. Years later, the two reconciled, and Walpole helped Gray publish his poetry, but the two were never as close again.

West and Gray had long shared a commitment to prepare for a career in law together. After West’s death in 1742, Gray no longer felt that obligation, so he began to focus on his literary studies. He moved back to Cambridge and started a self-directed program studying literature. It was during this time at Cambridge thatGray wrote much of his most famous poetry．他写道:“春天的颂歌”(1748),“十四行诗the Death of Mr. Richard West” (1775), “Ode to Adversity” (1753), and “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” (1747) during this time. He also began work on his most famous poem, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” in 1742, which was partly inspired by West’s death.

Fig. 1 - After West’s death, Gray abandoned his study of the law and began to focus his attention on studying and writing poetry.

Gray began publishing poems in 1747 with “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” and in 1748 with “Ode on the Spring,” buthe didn't receive any recognition until “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was published in 1751．“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” proved to be an instant success, and the positive reviews were overwhelming. Despite his newfound celebrity, Gray stayed at Peterhouse, Cambridge, until 1756. When students played a prank on him, Gray left for Pembroke College in an outrage.

He published two odes in 1757, “The Progress of Poesy” and “The Bard,” butthey were both criticized for being obscure．Disappointed and incredibly self-critical,Gray stopped writing lyrics and studying the history of English poetry altogether．Instead, he buried himself in the study of medieval buildings and Scandinavian antiquity. In 1757, Gray was offered the laureateship but refused it. He wrote relatively little for the rest of his life.

在th灰色死于1771年在剑桥e age of 55. He was buried next to his mother in the churchyard of St Giles’ Church at Stoke Poges, which many scholars think is the setting of“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”

Thomas Gray’s Writing Style

Thomas Gray’swriting style is diverse, even though his poems are few. Despite his immense popularity, Gray only published 13 poems in his lifetime, equating to less than 1000 lines of poetry. But the poetry he did publish was varied, highly accomplished, and deeply influential.

Gray isfamous for writing Pindaric odes, Horatian odes, and, of course, an elegy．

Gray considered his Pindaric odes, “The Progress of Poesy” and “The Bard,” to be his best works.

Horatian odes, on the other hand, are light and personal．Gray‘s “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” is reflective and personal but lacks the fire of his Pindaric odes.

Gray is oftenconsidered a precursor to the Romantic movement for his Gothic descriptionsin “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” and “The Bard.” He alsosought inspiration from the picturesque setting in the Lake District, as did the Lake Poets of the Romantic movement, such as William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey.

Fig. 2 - Gray's gothic poetry is said to have been a precursor to Romanticism.

However, Wordsworth himself claimed that Gray‘s “Sonnet on the Death of Richard West” (1775) was the prime example of what was objectionable in English poetry and that Gray spoke in the wrong language. The extent of Gray’s influence on the Romantic movement is debated by scholars, but his impact on eighteenth-century English poetry is undeniable.

Thomas Gray’s Poems and Summaries

Here are two of Thomas Gray’s most influential poems.

“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751)

“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was the poem that launched Gray into literary acclaim. Gray started writing the poem in 1742 after his closest friend’s death, but it wasn't published until 1751. This elegy is noteworthy becauseit praises the lives of common, ordinary people instead of famous historical figures．

The setting of“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”is a rural graveyard at sunset. The speaker walks among the graves and considers the lives of the ordinary people buried there. He notes thatthere is no distinction between common and "great" people in deathand that the elaborate tombs of the rich won’t bring their inhabitants back to life.

He goes on to wonder what kind of life the ordinary people buried in the churchyard could have lived if they were born into privilege and wealth. The poem ends with thespeaker contemplating his own mortality and the epitaph he wants on his grave．The themes of the poem include life and death, privilege, and commemoration of the dead.

“The Bard” is afictional account between a Welsh bard and Edward Ias the latter conquered Wales. Historically, the conquest of Wales by Edward I occurred from 1277 to 1283. Edward I had Welsh bards put to death in order to maintain control of the narrative and prevent them from telling their history on the conquest.

In the poem, Gray imagines an encounter between the last bard of Wales and Edward I as his army marched victoriously through the Snowdonian mountains. The bard curses the king and prophesies his ultimate defeat. In one act of defiance, the bard throws himself into the river Conway and drowns. The poem deals with themes of oppression, freedom, and power.

Thomas Gray Famous Quotes and Phrases