Question

In Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", the speaker wonders about the potential accomplishments of those buried in the churchyard. What does the speaker imagine for these men?

Answer 1

In Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (1751), the speaker reflects on mortality and speculates about the accomplishments of the dead people buried in the churchyard. The poem is an elegy, that is, a lament for the dead.

First of all, the speaker thinks that one of the people buried might have been a good schoolar, or even a good leader for the nation. He also talks about another dead person, in the figure of an old farmer, that might have had a lot of potential to become a great poet.

Furthermore, he believes that death and poverty have saved some people from spreading evil in the world. In addition, the speaker assures that poor people and rich people are born with the same abilities; however, he admits that moral superiority is the only goal that village people have accomplished.