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[Epitaph on a Child]


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[Epitaph on a Child]


1 Here, freed from pain, secure from misery, lies
2 A child, the darling of his parents' eyes:
3 A gentler lamb ne'er sported on the plain,
4 A fairer flower will never bloom again.
5 Few were the days allotted to his breath;
6 Now let him sleep in peace his night of death.

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0 [Epitaph on a Child]

Metrical notation:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/
Metrical foot type:  iambic (-+)
Metrical foot number:  pentameter (5 feet)
Rhyme scheme:  aabbcc
Rhyme (stanza position):  pair (aabb)
Syllable pattern:  10.10.10.10.10.10
Stanza:  sestet (6 lines)

Notation symbols: | (foot boundary), || (caesura), / (metrical line boundary), + (metrically prominent), - (metrically non-prominent)


1 Here, freed from pain, secure from misery, lies    
Rhyme:  aabbcc   |   Rhyme word(s):  lies   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  10
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): freed/from/from /f/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): from/from /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): secure/misery /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): freed/from/from /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): from/from/misery /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): misery/lies /z/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): from/from

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2 A child, the darling of his parents' eyes:    
Rhyme:  aabbcc   |   Rhyme word(s):  eyes   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  10
Figure:  assonance (phonological): child/eyes /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): child/darling /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/eyes /z/

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3 A gentler lamb ne'er sported on the plain,    
Rhyme:  aabbcc   |   Rhyme word(s):  plain   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  10
Figure:  consonance (phonological): gentler/ne'er/on/plain /n/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): ne'er

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4 A fairer flower will never bloom again.    
Rhyme:  aabbcc   |   Rhyme word(s):  again   |   Rhyme sound:  /en/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  10
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): fairer/flower /f/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): never/again /e/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): fairer/flower /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): never/again /n/

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5 Few were the days allotted to his breath;    
Rhyme:  aabbcc   |   Rhyme word(s):  breath   |   Rhyme sound:  /eθ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  10
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Few/to /uː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): days/his /z/

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6 Now let him sleep in peace his night of death.    
Rhyme:  aabbcc   |   Rhyme word(s):  death   |   Rhyme sound:  /eθ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  10
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Now/night /n/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): him/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): let/death /e/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): him/in/his /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): sleep/peace /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Now/in/night /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): let/night /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): him/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sleep/peace /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sleep/peace /s/

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Expanding the poem lines (+) shows notes and queries taken from various critical editions of Gray's works, as well as those contributed by users of the Archive. There are 1 textual and 1 explanatory notes/queries.

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0 [Epitaph on a Child] 1 Explanatory, 1 Textual

Title/Paratext] "This epitaph was written at [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1891.

"This epitaph was written at the request of Dr. Wharton, whose then only son died in infancy in April, 1758. Gray describes his difficulty in writing it in a letter to Wharton, dated June 18, 1758, as follows:—"You flatter me in thinking that anything I can do could at all alleviate the just concern your late loss has given you; but I cannot flatter myself so far, and know how little qualified I am at present to give any satisfaction to myself on this head, and in this way, much less to you. I by no means pretend to inspiration, but yet I affirm that the faculty in question is by no means voluntary. It is the result, I suppose, of a certain disposition of mind, which does not depend on oneself, and which I have not felt this long time. You that are a witness how seldom this spirit has moved me in my life, may easily give credit to what I say.""

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891, 256.

Title/Paratext] "It is here printed from [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1891.

"It is here printed from a copy in the Mitford MSS., now in the British Museum (32, 561, Add. MSS.). Mitford has entered it in two places in his volume of MSS.; at p. 74 with the note,—"N.B. in Gray's writing"; and at p. 182, "Not in Gray's writing." The former version, therefore, I have followed.
    It was first printed by Mr. Gosse (1884) "from a copy in the handwriting of Alexander Dyce, lately found slipped into a book at South Kensington, and made by him when the original MS. was sold in 1854."
    Each of the three copies differs slightly from the others. In line 1 there is a comma after "Here" in the Dyce copy; and it is "free from pain," in Mitford No. 2, p. 182. In line 8 in the Dyce copy it is "Now" instead of "Here"; and in Mitford No. 2 it is "the Night of Death." Also in the Mitford copies almost every substantive begins with a capital letter."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891, 256-257.

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1 Here, freed from pain, secure from misery, lies
2 A child, the darling of his parents' eyes:
3 A gentler lamb ne'er sported on the plain,
4 A fairer flower will never bloom again.
5 Few were the days allotted to his breath;
6 Now let him sleep in peace his night of death.

Works cited

  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891.

Spelling has been modernized throughout, except in case of conscious archaisms. Contractions, italics and initial capitalization have been largely eliminated, except where of real import. Obvious errors have been silently corrected, punctuation has been supplied. The editor would like to express his gratitude to the library staff of the Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen) for their invaluable assistance.

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