The English Poems

Thomas Gray (1716 - 1771) is a poet with an strange reputation. At least one of his poems is considered to be an indispensable classic of English poetry; others provide quotable lines or phrases that live on two and a half centuries later, often without the users realising that he was their original author. His oeuvre is slim, and he ceased writing poetry long before his death. He was offered the Laureateship, but declined the post. Some of his work is worthy of consignment to the history books; many poems however show astonishing verve and virtuosity, and it is clear that he was something of a prodigy. He gave up writing verse seriously, perhaps because he too sensed that the fire had burned down to little more than embers. So what is left? Enough work, it should be said, to support the slender reputation that still clings to his name, but it is true that he never managed again to hit the heights of the 'Elegy', by any standards an astonishing piece of work. Gray's early reputation was founded upon this poem; it was published early, on its own, and ran though eleven editions, including an illustrated volume and a Latin translation by other hands. In this book you will find all of his verse in English - he also wrote in Greek and Latin, but translations of these would offer little to the modern reader and they have thus been excluded. An alternative, earlier, version of the 'Elegy' is however included, making a fascinating comparison with the canonical text.