How Thomas Gray’s life affected his work Thomas Gray was one of the most influential poets during the 18th century and produced many widely known poems and works of literature throughout his life. Many events within his life contributed to his style and topics while writing his poetry. The works of Thomas Gray were influenced by the death of his close friend, Richard West, his time spent on The Grand Tour with Walpole, and the time he spent at Eton College as a professor and a scholar. Thomas Gray’s life is generally split into three time periods, then early years, the middle years and the later years. The first stage of Thomas Gray’s life is the early years. This includes his childhood, his time at Eton College, his friendship with Ashton,
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However, one exception was Richard West, who was a loyal and good friend of Gray. Gray formed a lasting and strong friendship with West and considered their friendship sacred. West would review Gray’s work and comment on it, some of his comments would often change how Gray wrote and resulted in a change in his writing style. One piece of literature Gray was working on was a tragic by the name of Agrippina. However, when Gray sent a fragment of it to West in Paris, West did not approve of the piece and voiced his opinion to Gray. After Gray considered West’s reaction to the piece, he abruptly stopped working on it. West played an important role in Gray’s life as a friend as well as a literary critic. When Gray arrived back in Great Britain after parting ways with Walpole after a disagreement, he returned to find West in a fragile state and suffering from severe tuberculosis. Soon after, West died of consumption. The death was unexpected and “Except for his mother, West was the person most dear to Gray; and his death from consumption on June 1, 1742 was a grievous loss to the poet” (Poetry Foundation 3). Soon after, Gray published a poem by the name of On the Death of Richard West, which is a solemn and sad poem “The fields to all their wonted tribute bear; / To warm their little loves the birds complain; / I fruitless mourn to him that cannot …show more content…
Gray produced some of his finest works while residing at Eton College and one of those works was The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. The Elegy is one of the finest pieces of literature produced during the 18th century. Gray spent a good portion of his life working on the Elegy and “Perhaps as early as 1742, but more likely around 1745, Gray embarked on a long meditative elegy in the tradition of the Retirement Poem” (Huber 9). The English country side was a very popular subject to write about during Gray’s time and so the Elegy followed the trend set by other poets during the time. The epitaph in the Elegy is one of the most well-known epitaphs of all time with a very famous stanza: “Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, / Heaven did a recompense as largely send: / He gave to misery all he had, a tear, / He gained from Heaven a friend” (Swidzinki 12). Most scholars believe that “If it were only for the Elegy, Gray’s reputation would surely endure, for it is surely one of the finest poems of the age and one of the half dozen or so great English elegies” (Poetry Foundation
However, one exception was Richard West, who was a loyal and good friend of Gray. Gray formed a lasting and strong friendship with West and considered their friendship sacred. West would review Gray’s work and comment on it, some of his comments would often change how Gray wrote and resulted in a change in his writing style. One piece of literature Gray was working on was a tragic by the name of Agrippina. However, when Gray sent a fragment of it to West in Paris, West did not approve of the piece and voiced his opinion to Gray. After Gray considered West’s reaction to the piece, he abruptly stopped working on it. West played an important role in Gray’s life as a friend as well as a literary critic. When Gray arrived back in Great Britain after parting ways with Walpole after a disagreement, he returned to find West in a fragile state and suffering from severe tuberculosis. Soon after, West died of consumption. The death was unexpected and “Except for his mother, West was the person most dear to Gray; and his death from consumption on June 1, 1742 was a grievous loss to the poet” (Poetry Foundation 3). Soon after, Gray published a poem by the name of On the Death of Richard West, which is a solemn and sad poem “The fields to all their wonted tribute bear; / To warm their little loves the birds complain; / I fruitless mourn to him that cannot …show more content…
Gray produced some of his finest works while residing at Eton College and one of those works was The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. The Elegy is one of the finest pieces of literature produced during the 18th century. Gray spent a good portion of his life working on the Elegy and “Perhaps as early as 1742, but more likely around 1745, Gray embarked on a long meditative elegy in the tradition of the Retirement Poem” (Huber 9). The English country side was a very popular subject to write about during Gray’s time and so the Elegy followed the trend set by other poets during the time. The epitaph in the Elegy is one of the most well-known epitaphs of all time with a very famous stanza: “Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, / Heaven did a recompense as largely send: / He gave to misery all he had, a tear, / He gained from Heaven a friend” (Swidzinki 12). Most scholars believe that “If it were only for the Elegy, Gray’s reputation would surely endure, for it is surely one of the finest poems of the age and one of the half dozen or so great English elegies” (Poetry Foundation