Read the excerpt. From “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray Yet even these bones from insult to protect Some f
rail memorial still erected nigh, With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. Their name, their years, spelt by the unlettered Muse, The place of fame and elegy supply: And many a holy text around she strews, That teach the rustic moralist to die. According to the speaker, how is the memory of the forefathers preserved?
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, written by Thomas Grey in 1750, is believed to be a poem heavily influenced by the death of poet Richard West in 1742. As an elegy, it is a poem that invites you to reflect about death and have a remembrance of those who have passed away. This is why the poem focuses on the idea of how the memory of those who die is preserved in their tombstones.
The first passage is a speech made by a Southern white man, while the second is a biographical sketch of one of American's greatest African-American thinkers.
