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joannaautumn's review
4.0
Mini review:
The 18th century was wild, especially regarding the literary scene.
The elegy written in a country churchyard has two central ideas: the Inevitability and universality of death and the value of commemorating the lives of the dead. It’s a meditation on death and in a way, a celebration of equality, it’s a humanist memento mori.
Final thoughts: I really liked the themes and the way Gray formed them in writing, however, it’s not exactly the best poetic work that I have read so far.
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Reading one of the poems on the extended reading list for a course I finished 2 years ago, on a rainy October afternoon is such a mood. Review to come.
The 18th century was wild, especially regarding the literary scene.
The elegy written in a country churchyard has two central ideas: the Inevitability and universality of death and the value of commemorating the lives of the dead. It’s a meditation on death and in a way, a celebration of equality, it’s a humanist memento mori.
Final thoughts: I really liked the themes and the way Gray formed them in writing, however, it’s not exactly the best poetic work that I have read so far.
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Reading one of the poems on the extended reading list for a course I finished 2 years ago, on a rainy October afternoon is such a mood. Review to come.
lesgles's review
5.0
This poem deserves its place in all those anthologies. It starts from idealized descriptions of the English countryside mingled with contemplations of death, dwelling on questions of class differences, and who is remembered or forgotten. The final stanzas contain a shift in perspective that removes somewhat from the emotional drive of the poem but does contain the sort of analysis of oneself and one's legacy that I admire in poetry.
The Thomas Gray Archive has an online edition with copious annotations.
The Thomas Gray Archive has an online edition with copious annotations.
beetific's review
5.0
this was absolutely beautiful and haunting to read! how did i not hear about it before???
lphreads's review
3.0
I’ll admit that I do not consider myself a “poetry person.” But, Jasmine loves this poem and even went as far as to recommend it to me on this site. So, I figured I could look up a pdf real quick and give it a try. When I took a moment to think about what was being said, it really was a touching poem - I definitely had to read a couple stanzas more than once, and look up a couple words, but it wasn’t bad. I suppose poetry just isn’t really my “thing.” 3.5 stars overall
purplcrosswords's review
2.0
Thomas Gray was a really strange man. He firstly writes this elegy to remember those who won't be remembered (the common people) and then reacts rather unpleasantly to the sudden attention this poem got. Maybe he would rather like to keep the magic of his 'umremembered' being 'unremembered'? But then, why write about them in the first place? The irony is that nowadays, Gray is mostly remembered because of this poem about the unremembered. I still don't quite follow his reaction on the poem's success.
Anyhow, about the poem itself: as you may see by the stars I've given, it hasn't reached to me a lot. I loved the darkish atmosphere it conveys in the beginning, but... other than that, I was expecting much better. I didn't really connect to the ones Gray was writing in memory of, even though I know most of us end up like that.
Anyhow, about the poem itself: as you may see by the stars I've given, it hasn't reached to me a lot. I loved the darkish atmosphere it conveys in the beginning, but... other than that, I was expecting much better. I didn't really connect to the ones Gray was writing in memory of, even though I know most of us end up like that.