University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
The poems (1969)

Gray, Thomas (1716-1771)

collapse section 
[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,
collapse section7. 
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
collapse section 
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
collapse section20. 
20 The Progress of Poesy.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
collapse section21. 
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
collapse section 
FRAGMENTARY AND UNDATED POEMS
 42. 
42 [Translation from Statius,
collapse section 
43 [Verse Fragments]
  
Gratitude
  
(Mr Pope dead)
collapse section 
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;
collapse section 
POEMS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHENTICITY
 73. 
73 The Characters of the Christ-Cross Row,
 74. 
74 Lines on the Accession of George III

collapse section Collapse All | Expand All expand section
previous section The poems (1969)
next section
277

42 [Translation from Statius,

Thebaid IX 319–27]

Crenaeus, whom the nymph Ismenis bore
To Faunus on the Theban river's shore,
With new-born heat amidst his native stream
Exults in arms, which cast an iron gleam.
In this clear wave he first beheld the day;
On the green bank first taught his steps to stray,
To skim the parent flood and on the margin play:
Fear he disdains and scorns the power of fate,
Secure within his mother's watery state.
The youth exulting stems the bloody tide,
Visits each bank and stalks with martial pride,
While old Ismenus' gently-rolling wave
Delights the favourite youth within its flood to lave.
Whether the youth obliquely steers his course
Or cuts the downward stream with equal force,
The indulgent river strives his steps to aid.
previous section The poems (1969)
next section