-written by Thomas Gray (1716-1771) from 1742-50
-Blake produced some of the artwork for this poem
-uses same line (decasyllabic quattrains) as Dryden's "Annus Mirabilis"
-contrasts Dryden's exultant, triumphant tone w/ his melancholy sadness
-poem more interested in ordinary rather than extraordinary
a. English culture as possession of English common folk
b. stanza 15: "some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,/ Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood."--anybody can become a Milton or a Cromwell, all just a matter of circumstance
-death levels all
c. emphasis on evening/death (as opposed to rebirth)
-possible themes: nature, the human, nation
Nancy Giang
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Jessica Kellogg Discussion 1H
Sound and sight impressions help move the poem through the temporal space of a day in the countryside.
Sound Impressions: the bell tolls, the sheep are lowing, solemn stillness, the beetle droning, tinkings lull, and the owl hoots
Sight Impressions: the plowman plods through the field, the blanket of darkness, fades glimmering, ivy-mantled tower
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