Thomas Gray is an English poet, writer, scientist and professor. He became famous for his Elegy Written in a Country Cemetery, published in 1751. Thomas Gray published only a few poems, as he was a very self-critical poet, although already quite famous. He was offered the honorary title of "Poet Laureate", but he refused.
Biography
Thomas Gray was born December 26, 1716 in Cornhill, London. His father, Philip Grey, was a scribe; mother, Dorothy Antrobus, is a hatter. There were 12 children in their family, Thomas was born the fifth. After his mother left her mentally unstable husband, Gray stayed with her.
Education
Mother paid for his education at Eton College, where his two uncles Robert and William Antrobus worked. Robert became the first teacher of the future writer and instilled in him a love of botany. William was Thomas' mentor. Gray called these times happy. This is evidenced by "Ode to the view published at Eton College." ThomasGray read a lot. He didn't live at the college, but at his uncle's house. At Eton College, the boy had three friends: Horace Walpole - the son of the Prime Minister, Thomas Ashton and Richard West - the son of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The guys were called the “quadruple union.”
In 1734, Thomas Gray went to Peterhouse College in Cambridge, but here he was very bored. He read classical and modern literature and played the harpsichord to relax.
In 1738 he accompanied his old school friend Walpole on his Grand Tour of Europe, but the friends quarreled in Tuscany because Horace wanted to go to fancy parties and Thomas didn't. They reconciled after a few years, and it was Walpole who helped Gray publish the first poems.
Creative activity
Thomas Gray took up writing in earnest in 1742, when his close friend Richard West died. In memory of him, he wrote the sonnet "On the Death of Mr. Richard West."
The writer became a research assistant first at Peterhouse and then at Pembroke College. Thomas Gray moved to Pembroke after Peterhouse students played a trick on him.
In 1757, Thomas was offered the post of Poet Laureate, but declined. He was very self-critical, so he only published 13 poems during his lifetime. In the late 18th century, Gray became known as a poet with dark thoughts on mortality.
According to the writer's letters, Thomas Gray had a playful sense of humor. He does not promote ignorance, but reflects with nostalgia on a young age whenhe was allowed to be ignorant.
Grey traveled extensively throughout Britain in places such as Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Scotland and especially the Lake District (he recorded sightings in his Journal of a Visit to the Lake District in 1769) in search of picturesque scenery and ancient monuments.
Grey combined traditional forms and poetic diction with new themes and modes of expression. It is considered the classically focused forerunner of the romantic revival.
History of writing "Rural Cemetery"
In 1742, Thomas Gray began work on his masterpiece, An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, on the burial ground of St. Giles' parish church in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. He completed it in 1750. The work became a literary sensation when it was published by Robert Dodsley in February 1751. It is still one of the most popular and frequently quoted works in the English language. "Elegy" everyone liked because of the beauty of writing and craftsmanship. Thomas Gray in "The Rural Cemetery" touches on topics such as death and the afterlife. Gray is supposed to have found inspiration for his poem by visiting the grave of Aunt Mary Antrobus. She was buried in the churchyard outside St. Giles' churchyard, which Thomas attended with his mother. Subsequently, Gray himself will be buried here.
The poet wrote an ode "On the death of a beloved cat drowned in a vessel of goldfish" in memory of Horace Walpole's cat.
Thomas Gray: Rural Cemetery analysis
OnThe Russian language was translated by the talented poet V. A. Zhukovsky, who retained all the subtleties and ideas of the Elegy, as well as the mysterious significance.
"An elegy written in a rural cemetery" is a reflection on life and human destiny in the face of the eternal. The protagonist of the work is a poet; the scene of the action is the village cemetery. The "Elegy" contrasts the everyday happy life of a peasant and the deceitful life of the rich and officials. The poet believes that there were geniuses among ordinary people, it's just that their material condition and poverty did not allow them to reveal themselves to the world and their talents remained unrecognized.
From the lines of the work of Thomas Gray, one can understand that he believes that the poet must also have a subtle and sensitive soul. In Zhukovsky's translation, the reader also notices the romantic nature of the poet. In the work, there is a confrontation between existence and non-existence, between which the main character is, as well as dull everyday life and ideal opportunities open to any person.
Attention is drawn to the fact that in the end everyone is equal before death, and neither money, nor connections, nor social status can have any influence on this.
The work created a very beautiful and mysterious atmosphere: a hut immersed in the dusk and a peasant, whose path can only be illuminated by the light of a bright moon. At this time, deathly silence reigns in the cemetery itself.
Death
Thomas Gray died June 30, 1771 in Cambridge. He was buried along with his mothergraveyard of St. Giles Church in Stoke Poges, where he wrote his famous elegy. The grave of the famous and talented writer and poet is still there.
