1. How would you characterize the poet's attitude to the poor people buried in the churchyard?
2. Towards the end of the poem, the poet depicts how he ("thee, who mindful of the unhonoured dead/Dost in these lines their artless tale relate") hopes be remembered after his death. First, he describes what some "hoary headed swain may say" about him (a "swain" being the way male peasants are conventionally described and romanticized in pastoral poetry), then he supplies the epitaph that his tombstone will bear. What do these two imagined memorials tell you about how the poet regards himself?
3. What confuses you about this poem? What questions do you need answers to in order to make sense of it? What stanzas seem particularly difficult or obscure?
Deadline: Friday (11/6), start of class.
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11 comments:
#1:
Gray's attitude towards the poor people buried in the churchyard is one that is both sad and wistful. He remarks on warm memories that the deceased persons will no longer be able to experience, such as feeling the warmth that "the blazing hearth shall burn," or "children run[ning] to lisp their sire's return,/or climb his knees the envied kiss to share" (l. 21 to 25). These are experiences that one enjoys and will remember with fond nostalgia.
On the other hand, Gray seems to also feel a sense of relief towards the poor people buried in the churchyard, as they are no longer susceptible to being the victims of "Ambition [that] mock[ed] their useful toil,/Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;/Nor Grandeur hear, with a disdainful smile,/The short and simple annals of the poor" (l. 29 to 32). Gray clearly sympathizes with the poor people for the criticism and degradation that they are suspect to from those of more worldly prerogatives. With their passing, however, Gray surmises that these poor persons will be relived from such superficial judgment that dismisses their "useful toil[s]" (l. 29) as one lacking ambition and grandeur.
#1. The comment above by Xiu is exactly what attitude I also got from Thomas Gray. He is mournful of them, but very respectable. His respect goes not only to their class, but furthers when he comments on the people buried inside the church. "The paths of flory lead but to the grave. "(line 36) Gray incites that while not all graves are the same, death is still death. For the poor man to have died with no honors on his gravestone does not make him different from the wealthy man with a monument. "Can storied urn or animated bust/Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?" (line 41-42). He goes on to compare the gravestones to famous men that could rest beneath the plain tombstones, all that could have unnamed heroic actions. He ponders whether or not a Milton or a Cromwell could lie in the grave, mute to tell the world of accomplishments. Either way, as in the lines above, death is a death and no matter how big the statue or how small the tombstone, it cannot bring the person back to life. They would live through others stories, mentioned near the end of the poem, when someone recalls the hard work of the person buried.
#1
Xiu Ling nailed it.
Lines 21-24 discuss some of the pleasures that the dead will no longer enjoy, such as the happiness of home, wife, and children.
Lines 25-28 talk about how the dead will no longer be able to enjoy the pleasures of work such as plowing the fields. This is a job of the lower class, but there is still pleasure to be taken in it.
Lines 29-32 caution the higher class to not look down on the poor. It also warns the reader not to slight the "obscure destiny" of the poor... that they are not famous and do not writings about them.
In the next stanza, it is said that all must die, regardless of wealth or standing.
It goes on to say that no wealth or advantage had in life can bring somebody back from death.
So obviously Gray considers these poor people rather fondly. He considers what these people might accomplish given the chance. He recalls warm memories. He warns the reader to not dismiss these people. He warns the rich to not look down upon them, and that their wealth cannot save them.
#2. I think that this section of the poem tells us that the poet thinks highly of himself. The adjectives that the poet uses at the beginning of the poem glorify the life of the poor farmer, praising their “useful toil” and “their homely joys” (ll. 29-30, pg. 2671). Even though Gray is a poet and lives a life of leisure far removed from that of a farmer, he uses this same language in his imagined memorials. Gray imagines saying that they saw him “at the peep of dawn” and “brushing with hasty steps the dews away” (ll.98-99, pg. 2673). This very industrious imagery paints the picture of a harder, more productive life than what he’s led. His imagined tombstone – which ironically is described as much fancier than any of the farmers’ – also humbles his image. The Epitaph says that “fair Science frowned not on his humble birth” and urges people to “no farther seek his merits to disclose” (ll. 119 and 125, pg. 2673). Asking people to remember his “humble” birth and to not discuss his “merits” lowers the status that he actually enjoyed in life to that of the farmer. Because he ends his poem by trying to humble himself to the level of the poor farmer, Gray is therefore trying to squeeze himself upon that same pedestal that he places the poor farmer.
#3. I found the sentence structure very difficult to read in this poem. For example, in the very first stanza you could delete lines 2-3 and still have a complete sentence/thought with lines 1&4. The same goes for lines 2&3 (i.e. 2&4 make a complete though, 3&4 make a complete thought). However, instead of breaking these thoughts up grammatically, Gray has strung them all together as one thought. I know this happens often in poetry and it is not just a characteristic of Gray, but I found myself stumbling over the sentence structure more in this poem than I have in others.
Also, I think my struggle also came from being unfamiliar with much of the vocabulary. I had to read the stanzas much slower looking for context clues for words like "knell" (line 1) and "jocund" (line 27). I began focusing more on meanings of words rather than overall meaning of the poem.
The unfamiliar vocab words coupled with more difficult sentence structures made this piece particularly difficult for me.
I believe that Gray’s attitude to the poor people buried in the churchyard is ultimately that of equality to their rich and powerful counterparts. First of all, such example of equality can be seen in Gray’s discussion of death. As he states, “The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, / And all that beauty, / all that wealth e’er gave, / Awaits alike th’ inevitable hour. / The paths of glory lead but to the grave” (33-36). In other words, no matter how much money or power a person has, in the end it really does not matter because we all die. Death is the ultimate equalizer. It takes away disparities between not only the rich and the poor, but cultural and political problems as well. Gray also believes that if the poor were allowed such equal opportunity as the rich and powerful, they would be able to perform just as well—if not better. As he states, “Full many a gem of purest ray serene, / The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear: / Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air” (53-56). In this stanza, Gray is making a comparison of the poor villagers to undiscovered treasures at the bottom of the ocean, and beautiful flowers in the desert. The poor are “diamonds in the ruff”—they have the potential to be great, but they never get the opportunity to be all they can be. In this section, Gray believes that if given the advantages that the rich and powerful are, the poor would be just as capable.
# 3
I have to agree with Lauren. The sentence structure threw me completely off. It took quite some time for me to read this poem, because I had to keep going back. The vocabulary that I did not know was very abundant. I, like Lauren, found myself focusing more on word meaning, such as "annals", than the poem meaning.
But the other thing that I had trouble with is one particular stanza: "For thee, who mindful of the unhonored dead/ Dost in these line their artless tale relate;/If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,/Some kindred spirit inquire thy fate" (lines 93-96). Is he comparing himself to the dead poor people?
#1
I agree with Xiu Ling. I believe that the author respects the dead, but is also a little envious (for lack of a better word). He respects them, and we see that when he writes, "The breezy call of incense 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" (lines 17-20). He shows envy for the dead when he writes his own epitaph (lines 117-128). He is showing that he has put a lot of thought into his death.
#1
I agree with Xiu Ling. I believe that the author respects the dead, but is also a little envious (for lack of a better word). He respects them, and we see that when he writes, "The breezy call of incense 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" (lines 17-20). He shows envy for the dead when he writes his own epitaph (lines 117-128). He is showing that he has put a lot of thought into his death.
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