Thomas Gray

Gray s Works - In Prose and Verse. Vol. IV is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1884. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Works - In Prose and Verse - Volume III is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1884. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Thomas Gray (1716 - 1771) is a poet with an strange reputation. At least one of his poems is considered to be an indispensable classic of English poetry; others provide quotable lines or phrases that live on two and a half centuries later, often without the users realising that he was their original author. His oeuvre is slim, and he ceased writing poetry long before his death. He was offered the Laureateship, but declined the post. Some of his work is worthy of consignment to the history books; many poems however show astonishing verve and virtuosity, and it is clear that he was something of a prodigy. He gave up writing verse seriously, perhaps because he too sensed that the fire had burned down to little more than embers. So what is left? Enough work, it should be said, to support the slender reputation that still clings to his name, but it is true that he never managed again to hit the heights of the 'Elegy', by any standards an astonishing piece of work. Gray's early reputation was founded upon this poem; it was published early, on its own, and ran though eleven editions, including an illustrated volume and a Latin translation by other hands. In this book you will find all of his verse in English - he also wrote in Greek and Latin, but translations of these would offer little to the modern reader and they have thus been excluded. An alternative, earlier, version of the 'Elegy' is however included, making a fascinating comparison with the canonical text.

Originally published in 1898 as part of the Pitt Press Series, this book contains 32 of Thomas Gray's poems, including his famous 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' and 'Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College'. Copious notes at the back of the volume explain Gray's many classical, mythical and literary allusions for readers, and a brief introduction gives an outline of the poet's life and work. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in English pre-Romantic poetry.