Poems and Letters of Thomas Gray: With Memoirs of His Life and Writings |
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Page 8
... aside for the present , and never after put in execution . According to the plan
which I have formed for • I am well aware that I am here going to do a thing which
the cautious and courtly Dr . Sprat ( were he now alive ) would highly censure .
... aside for the present , and never after put in execution . According to the plan
which I have formed for • I am well aware that I am here going to do a thing which
the cautious and courtly Dr . Sprat ( were he now alive ) would highly censure .
Page 14
Every person , who feels himself a poet , ought to be above prostituting his
powers on such occasions , and extreme youth ( as was the case with Mr . Gray )
is the only thing that can apologize for his having done it . most enchanting thing
in the ...
Every person , who feels himself a poet , ought to be above prostituting his
powers on such occasions , and extreme youth ( as was the case with Mr . Gray )
is the only thing that can apologize for his having done it . most enchanting thing
in the ...
Page 15
most enchanting thing in the world , ac dulce otium et pæne omni negotio
pulchrius . I am , dear Sir , yours while I am R . W . Christ Church , May 24 , 1736 .
The following letter seems to require some little preface , not so much as it
expresses ...
most enchanting thing in the world , ac dulce otium et pæne omni negotio
pulchrius . I am , dear Sir , yours while I am R . W . Christ Church , May 24 , 1736 .
The following letter seems to require some little preface , not so much as it
expresses ...
Page 19
The reason I choose so melancholy a kind of poesie , is because my low spirits
and constant ill health ( things in me not ... and this likewise is the reason why I
am the most irregular thing alive at college ; for you may depend upon it , I value
my ...
The reason I choose so melancholy a kind of poesie , is because my low spirits
and constant ill health ( things in me not ... and this likewise is the reason why I
am the most irregular thing alive at college ; for you may depend upon it , I value
my ...
Page 20
As for this poor unlicked thing of an elegy , pray criticise it unmercifully , for I send
it with that intent . Indeed , your late translation of Statius might have deterred me
, but I know you are not more able to excel others , than you are apt to forgive ...
As for this poor unlicked thing of an elegy , pray criticise it unmercifully , for I send
it with that intent . Indeed , your late translation of Statius might have deterred me
, but I know you are not more able to excel others , than you are apt to forgive ...
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admire appear beauty beginning believe body called Cambridge character continued death desire expression eyes four give Gray Gray's half hand head hear heart hill hope idea imagine IMITATION Italy kind King late least leave LETTER light lines live Lord manner March mean mentioned miles mind mountains nature never night opinion passed perhaps person pleasure poem poet poetry present published reader reason received rest rise road round scene seems seen shew short side soon sort spirit stanza suppose sure taste tell thing thought tion town true turn verse Walpole West WHARTON whole wish write written
Popular passages
Page 17 - But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
Page 461 - A stranger yet to pain ! I feel the gales that from ye blow A momentary bliss bestow, As waving fresh their gladsome wing My weary soul they seem to soothe, And, redolent of joy and youth, To breathe a second spring.
Page 466 - Aeolian lyre, awake, And give to rapture all thy trembling strings. From Helicon's harmonious springs A thousand rills their mazy progress take: The laughing flowers, that round them blow, Drink life and fragrance as they flow. Now the rich stream of music winds along, Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong, Through verdant vales and Ceres...
Page 492 - For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Or busy housewife ply her evening care ; No children run to lisp their sire's return, Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ; How jocund did they drive their team afield ! How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke ! Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ; y> Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile The short...
Page 474 - Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the zephyr blows, While proudly riding o'er the azure realm In gallant trim the gilded Vessel goes : Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm : Regardless of the sweeping Whirlwind's sway, That hush'd in grim repose expects his evening prey.
Page 511 - And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone : and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Page 470 - Where Angels tremble while they gaze, He saw ; but blasted with excess of light. Closed his eyes in endless night. Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car, Wide o'er the fields of glory bear Two coursers of ethereal race, With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace.
Page 493 - Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear ; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Some village Hampden, that with dauntless breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood ; Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest ; Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood. Th...
Page 476 - Raised by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day? To-morrow he repairs the golden flood And warms the nations with redoubled ray. Enough for me : with joy I see The different doom our fates assign: Be thine Despair and sceptred Care; 125 126 BOOK THIRD. To triumph and to die are mine.
Page 468 - Man's feeble race what ills await ! Labour and Penury, the racks of Pain, Disease, and Sorrow's weeping train, And Death, sad refuge from the storms of Fate ! The fond complaint, my song, disprove, And justify the laws of Jove.
Bibliographic information
| Title | Poems and Letters of Thomas Gray: With Memoirs of His Life and Writings |
| Authors | Thomas Gray, William Mason |
| Editor | William Mason |
| Publisher | J. F. Dove, 1820 |
| Original from | the New York Public Library |
| Digitized | 1 Dec 2006 |
| Length | 527 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |