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Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Summary & Study Guide Description
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
This detailed literature summary also contains For Further Study on Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray.
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Poem Summary
Preview of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Summary:
Lines 1-4:
In the first stanza, the speaker observes the signs of a country day drawing to a close: a curfew bell ringing, a herd of cattle moving across the pasture, and a farm laborer returning home. The speaker is then left alone to contemplate the isolated rural scene. The first line of the poem sets a distinctly somber tone: the curfew bell does not simply ring; it "knells"—a term usually applied to bells rung at a death or funeral. From the start, then, Gray reminds us of human mortality.
Lines 5-8:
The second stanza sustains the somber tone of the first: the speaker is not mournful, but pensive, as he describes the peaceful landscape that surrounds him. Even the air is characterized as having a "solemn stillness."
Lines 9-12:
The sound of an owl hooting intrudes upon the evening quiet. We are told that the owl "complains"; in this context,...
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This section contains 2,502 words (approx. 9 pages at 300 words per page) |
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