Monday, April 8, 2013

Thomas Gray - Poetry

The next poem is our first one by a poet born in the 18th century, Thomas Gray.  The title is 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.  The little intro paragraph says that it is 'One of the most quoted of all English poems...'.  The entire piece is too long for me to type out, but here is a link to the full text.
The whole poem is very worthwhile.  My favorite bit:

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

What a well put sentiment!  The entire poem is written about a small graveyard and the people buried there.  This section of it wonders on the potential of the dead and what they didn't accomplish.  Dead before they could really shine, or worse, filled with potential that they couldn't tap into.
A very beautiful poem.

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