Literary by-paths in old England . D it happens that the older tombs preserve aroundthe immediate vicinity of the building a scenewhich harmonises with the verse of Gray becauseit can have changed but little since his time. Itis just such a scene as most imaginations wouldhave pictured. Each object is easily recognisedby the poets description, and yet no one objectis so sharp in Out-line as to remove italtogether from thesphere of imagina-tion. The onlyprobable exceptionis the ivy-mantledtower. The toweritself is in perfectharmony with the Elegy, and its thickly clustered ivy still providesa s
Literary by-paths in old England . D it happens that the older tombs preserve aroundthe immediate vicinity of the building a scenewhich harmonises with the verse of Gray becauseit can have changed but little since his time. Itis just such a scene as most imaginations wouldhave pictured. Each object is easily recognisedby the poets description, and yet no one objectis so sharp in Out-line as to remove italtogether from thesphere of imagina-tion. The onlyprobable exceptionis the ivy-mantledtower. The toweritself is in perfectharmony with the Elegy, and its thickly clustered ivy still providesa secret bower for the descendants of the poetsmoping owl; but the wooden spire which risesfrom its battlements seems to strike a note of dis-cord. For the rest, all is as it should be. Eachpicture in the poem has its faithful counterpart;the eyewitnesses to the fidelity with which thepoet has caught the inner likeness of the mute ob-jects which sat for the models of his immortal can-vas. To the south a line of rugged elms stands 105. Stoke Poges Churchyard LITERARY BY-PATHS guard by the churchyard wall, and in the sum-mer sun their shadows mingle with the yew-treesshade, beneath which, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. If the fates were unkind to Gray in the fatherthey gave him, the balance was generously read-justed in the person of his mother. Philip Gray,the father of the poet, is not to be credited withany share in his famous sons achievements ; allthat we have to thank him for is a portrait ofthat son in his thirteenth year. He was a manof violent temper, extravagant in his habits, whollywanting in his duty to his family, and so inhumanin his behaviour to his wife that that lady wasactually dependent during the whole of her mar-ried life upon the labour of her own hands. Thedarkness of the fathers character serves as anexcellent foil to throw that of the mother intorelief. In a double sense Gray owed his life toher, for when he w
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Keywords: ., bookauthorshelleyh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1906
