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The poems (1969)

Gray, Thomas (1716-1771)

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[section]
 1. 
1 [Lines Spoken by the Ghost of John Dennis at the Devil Tavern]
 2. 
2 [Translation from Statius,
 3. 
3 [Lines on Beech Trees]
 4. 
4 [Translation from Tasso,
 5. 
5 [Translation from Dante,
 6. 
6 [Translation from Propertius,
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7 Agrippina, a Tragedy
collapse sectionI. 
ACT I.
 I. 
SCENE I.
 II. 
SCENE II.
 8. 
8 [Translation] from Propertius,
 9. 
9 Ode on the Spring
 10. 
10 Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College
 11. 
11 Sonnet [on the Death of Mr Richard West]
 12. 
12 Ode to Adversity
 13. 
13 [Hymn to Ignorance.
 14. 
14 Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes
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15 [The Alliance of Education and Government.
 I. 
ESSAY I
 16. 
16 [Tophet]
 17. 
17 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
 18. 
18 A Long Story
 19. 
19 Stanzas to Mr Bentley
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20 The Progress of Poesy.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
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21 The Bard.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 22. 
22 [Ode on the Pleasure Arising from Vicissitude]
 23. 
23 [Epitaph on Mrs Clerke]
 24. 
24 [Epitaph on a Child]
 25. 
25 The Fatal Sisters.
 26. 
26 The Descent of Odin.
 27. 
27 The Triumphs of Owen.
 28. 
28 [The Death of Hoel]
 29. 
29 [Caradoc]
 30. 
30 [Conan]
 31. 
31 [Sketch of his Own Character]
 32. 
32 [Epitaph on Sir William Williams]
 33. 
33 Song I
 34. 
34 Song II
 35. 
35 The Candidate
 36. 
36 William Shakespeare to Mrs Anne,
 37. 
37 [Epitaph on Mrs Mason]
 38. 
38 [Parody on an Epitaph]
 39. 
39 [Invitation to Mason]
 40. 
40 On L[or]d H[olland']s Seat near M[argat]e, K[en]t
 41. 
41 Ode for Music
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FRAGMENTARY AND UNDATED POEMS
 42. 
42 [Translation from Statius,
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43 [Verse Fragments]
  
Gratitude
  
(Mr Pope dead)
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44 [Impromptus]
  
[The Bishop of Chester]
  
[Here lies Edmund Keene Lord Bishop of Chester]
  
[Here lies Mrs Keene, the Bishop of Chester]
  
[Here lives Harry Vane]
  
[When you rise from your dinner as light as before]
 45. 
45 [Couplet about Birds]
 46. 
46 [Lines on Dr Robert Smith]
 47. 
47 Satire on the Heads of Houses;
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POEMS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHENTICITY
 73. 
73 The Characters of the Christ-Cross Row,
 74. 
74 Lines on the Accession of George III

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III.

1

Far from the sun and summer-gale,
In thy green lap was Nature's darling laid,
What time, where lucid Avon strayed,
To him the mighty Mother did unveil
Her awful face: the dauntless child
Stretched forth his little arms and smiled.
173

‘This pencil take,’ (she said) ‘whose colours clear
Richly paint the vernal year:
Thine too these golden keys, immortal boy!
This can unlock the gates of joy;
Of horror that and thrilling fears,
Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.’

2

Nor second he, that rode sublime
Upon the seraph-wings of Ecstasy,
The secrets of the abyss to spy.
174

He passed the flaming bounds of place and time:
The living throne, the sapphire-blaze,
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
175

Two coursers of ethereal race,
With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace.

3

Hark, his hands the lyre explore!
Bright-eyed Fancy hovering o'er
Scatters from her pictured urn
Thoughts that breathe and words that burn.
But ah! 'tis heard no more—
176

Oh! lyre divine, what daring spirit
Wakes thee now? Though he inherit
Nor the pride nor ample pinion,
That the Theban eagle bear
Sailing with supreme dominion
Through the azure deep of air:
Yet oft before his infant eyes would run
177

Such forms as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues, unborrowed of the sun:
Yet shall he mount and keep his distant way
Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate,
Beneath the Good how far—but far above the Great.
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