 | The Works of William Mason |  |
141
EPITAPH V. ON MR. GRAY,
IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
No more the Grecian Muse unrivall'd reigns,To Britain let the nations homage pay;
She felt a Homer's fire in Milton's strains,
A Pindar's rapture from the lyre of Gray.
The cenotaph is placed immediately under that of Milton, and represents, in alto relievo, a female figure with a lyre, as emblematical of the higher kinds of poetry, pointing with one hand to the bust above, and supporting with the other a medallion, on which is a profile head inscribed, “Thomas Gray.” On the plinth is the following date; “He died July 31, 1771.”
The sculpture was executed by that eminent artist Mr. Bacon, in Newman-street, at the joint expense of Dr. James Browne, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge; Richard Stonhewer, Esq. Auditor of Excise; and the Author.
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