Thomas Gray

Maybe this is obvious from reading Gray's Elegy, but since the middle ages, people had been buried in churchyards. You might find it interesting that these graves were commonly reused. (Think of the gravedigger scene in Hamlet, where Hamlet picks up the skull of Yorrick, unearthed as the grave is being re-dug for Ophelia.) Even today, when land in Britain is at a premium, laws are being passed about reusing, deepening, and otherwise altering old graves. These pictures are from churches in Wales where I have spent a good deal of time and where I have had very moving experiences similar to Gray's. (Now if I could only write a poem as good as his!) One of these churches was right down the hill from my home. The other (where I am standing) is the church where R. S. Thomas, one of the great religious poets of our time, worked as a priest until his retirement. These might give you an idea of the setting for Gray's poem. The last photo in particular seems appropriate for the "parting day" setting.

I started to write prompts, but they just seemed silly. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is one of the great poems of British literature, and perhaps the most famous elegy in English. One of the reasons it is so moving is that it is not an elegy for a specific person. It is an elegy for the nameless, "unhonored dead," for what was not able to be accomplished, for the ambition and fires of youth that could not be realized, for all of the "what ifs" that haunt us all, and for the ghosts of those who have faded into history. It is also a brilliant piece of social commentary. So I am leaving the discussion wide open today. Choose a few lines from the poem that affect you and see where they lead. I'll be anxious to read your responses.