Thomas Gray: The Progress of a Poet"The book is divided into five chapters. The first examines Gray's earliest poems and imitations for evidence of his sense of himself as poet, of prosody, diction, sources, or traditions to utilize. By chapter 2, Gray's impulses toward his goal as a poet become more evident, as he is manifestly determined toward a life of poetry. The "Elegy" occupies chapter 3 - his drafts and composition of the poem, and the poem itself, the resolution to his complex of problems as poet and as man. Close study of Gray's notebooks in chapter 4 shows that the Pindaric odes, "The Progress of Poesy" and "The Bard," though ostensibly radically different from the "Elegy," were conceived at the same time as the "Elegy" and thus draw crucial depictions of his movement toward serious revision of English poetic style and his own role as poet in society. Chapter 5 continues Gray's scholarly impulse that led to the study and imitation of Pindar, as he turned to Northern European sources for proof of poetic antiquity equal to the Greek. He found what he wanted in Welsh and Norse lore and wrote several poems imitating their style."--BOOK JACKET. |
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Page 106
... written ? When was it revised ? Why ? What are the implications of the revision ? When was each completed ? I will begin with a description of the manuscripts and proceed to issues of dating . The first draft we have of the " Elegy " is ...
... written ? When was it revised ? Why ? What are the implications of the revision ? When was each completed ? I will begin with a description of the manuscripts and proceed to issues of dating . The first draft we have of the " Elegy " is ...
Page 117
... written helps us to grasp why it was written and what it means , as much as how it was written . There are two issues involved in discussing the composition : when it was begun and when it was transcribed to the extant manuscripts ...
... written helps us to grasp why it was written and what it means , as much as how it was written . There are two issues involved in discussing the composition : when it was begun and when it was transcribed to the extant manuscripts ...
Page 119
... written ? We might hypothesize that , having a dozen lines written in 1745 at the earliest , Gray could have within a year completed the version that concludes " Pursue the silent Tenour of their Doom . " The process of excising the ...
... written ? We might hypothesize that , having a dozen lines written in 1745 at the earliest , Gray could have within a year completed the version that concludes " Pursue the silent Tenour of their Doom . " The process of excising the ...
Contents
Introduction | 9 |
Early English Poems | 44 |
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard | 105 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown
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accept achieved appear Bard become beginning believe Books British called Cambridge classical complete composition continued create Critical death diction early edition effects Elegy emotional English epitaph Essays Eton expression eyes feeling final Gray's hand hear history of poetry human imagination imitation Italy John language later Latin letter lines live London manuscript Mason means memory mind Muses narrator narrator's nature notes object observed opening original Oxford passion pastoral perhaps phrases Pindaric poem poet poetic poetry present problem Progress question reflection relation revision rhyme role says scene seems seen sense sonnet sound sources spirit Spring stanza suggests things Thomas Gray thought tradition translation understand University Press verse vision voice Walpole Welsh West West's writing written wrote York