Although Walpole took the blame upon himself, it would
appear that Gray was a somewhat captious person, whose serious tastes
interfered with the gayer pleasures of his friend. On his return, Gray
went to Cambridge, where he led the life of a retired student, devoting
himself to the ancient authors, to poetry, botany, architecture, and
heraldry. He was fastidious as to his own productions, which were very
few, and which he kept by him, pruning, altering, and polishing, for a
long time before he would let them see the light. His lines entitled _A
Distant Prospect of Eton College_ appeared in 1742, and were received with
great applause.
It was at this time that he also began his _Elegy in a Country
Churchyard_; which, however, did not appear until seven or eight years
later, and which has made him immortal. The grandeur of its language, the
elevation of its sentiments, and the sympathy of its pathos, commend it to
all classes and all hearts; and of its kind of composition it stands alone
in English literature.
Pages:
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582