Criticism
![[A Criticism on the Elegy written in a Country Church Yard (1783), page [iii]]](/images/diglib/secondary/1783/thumbs/0001.jpeg)
This criticism section is devoted to research and
teaching materials relating to Gray's life and work in the context of
18th-century literature and culture. It provides open access to
important secondary literature, including selected contemporary and later
criticism as well as teaching and learning resources. Apart from criticism
published up to the early 20th century and materials in the public domain, the
growth of this section depends on the co-operation of authors and copyright
owners. While we have sought and been granted permission to reproduce the
copyrighted materials available here, we would equally like to actively
encourage scholars to deposit their research results (including pre- or
post-prints of articles) in a freely accessible institutional repository and/or
on our Archive server. See also
the Archive's bibliography, the
"general criticism" sections in Northup's
and Starr's
bibliographies, and the Thomas Gray
resources part of the Related Links section for further critical
resources. Please send your contributions or suggestions for additions to the editor.
Navigation for the criticism section:
Research materials
- Gray's life and writings (general)
- Anon.: "A
short Account of the Life of Mr. Gray" (1775), in: Poems by Mr.
Gray. Edinburgh: A. Donaldson, 1775, pp. iii-ix.
- Anon.: "A
Short Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. Gray" (1776), in: Poems
by Mr. Gray. London: J. Murray, 1776, pp. v-xviii.
- Anon.: "The
Life of Thomas Gray" (1782), in: The Poetical Works of Thomas
Gray. Bell's edition. The Poets of Great Britain, 103. Edinburg: at the
Apollo Press, by the Martins, 1782, pp. v-xxiv.
- Anon.: "The
Life of Thomas Gray" (1799), in: The Poetical Works of Thomas
Gray. Cooke's edition. London: C. Cooke, [1799], pp. v-xxvi.
- Anon.: "Some
Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. Thomas Gray" (1800), in:
The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, LL.B., ed. by Stephen
Jones. London: C. Whittingham, 1800, pp. xvii-xlix.
- Mitford, John: "Essay
on the Poetry of Gray", in:
The Works of Thomas Gray, vol. i., ed. by John Mitford. London:
J. Mawman, 1816, pp. xci-clxxvi.
- Bradshaw, John: "The
Life and Writings of Gray 1716-1771" [e-text], in: The Poetical Works of
Thomas Gray: English and Latin, ed. with an introduction, life, notes,
and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. London: George Bell & Sons, 1891,
pp. xxiii-lxvi.
- Johnson, Samuel: "The Life of
Gray" (1781) [e-text], from The Lives of the Poets,
ed. G.B. Hill, 3 vols., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905, e-text ed. by Jack
Lynch, Rutgers University.
- Mason, William: "Memoirs
of the Life and Writings of Mr. Gray" (1775), in: The Poems of
Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings, ed. by
William Mason. York: printed by A. Ward; and sold by J. Dodsley, London; and
J. Todd, York, 1775, pp. 1-404.
- Northup, C. S.: "Introduction"
[e-text], in: Essays and Criticisms by Thomas Gray, ed. with
introduction and notes by Clark Sutherland Northup. Boston and London:
D. C. Heath & Co., 1911, pp. xi-liii.
- Sutherland, James: A Preface to Eighteenth Century
Poetry [e-text]. London: Oxford University Press, 1948, chapter
IV. and passim.
- Tovey, Duncan C.: "Introductory
Essay", in: Gray and his Friends: Letters and Relics, edited
by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: University Press, 1890, pp. 1-33.
- Tovey, Duncan C.: Chapter VI. Gray [e-text],
in: The Cambridge History of English and American literature: An
encyclopedia in eighteen volumes. Volume X: The Age of
Johnson, ed. by A.W. Ward and A.R. Waller. New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons; Cambridge, England: University Press, 1907-21.
- Toynbee, Paget: "Introduction",
in: The Correspondence of Gray, Walpole, West and Ashton (1734-1771),
in two vols., chronologically arranged and edited with introduction, notes,
and index by Paget Toynbee. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915, vol. i,
pp. xvii-xlv.
- Wordsworth, William: "Preface
to Lyrical Ballads" (1802) [e-text], e-text ed. by Michael Gamer,
University of Pennsylvania.
- Gray's poetry (individual poems)
- "[Alcaic Ode]"
- B, C., "Gray's Alcaic Ode.", in: Notes and
Queries 1(24) (Apr 13 1850), p. 382. Responses by I. W., "Gray's
Alcaic Ode.", in: Notes and Queries 1(26) (Apr 27 1850),
pp. 416-417, by C. B., "Gray's
Ode.", in: Notes and Queries 2(32) (June 8 1850),
p. 31, by G. B., "Gray's Alcaic
Ode.", in: Notes and Queries 3(62) (Jan 4 1851),
p. 4. Related note by Francis Trench, "Gray
and Juvenal", in: Notes and Queries 4, 4th S.
(87) (Oct 30 1869), p. 359.
- "The Bard. A Pindaric Ode"
- "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"
- Breen, Henry H., "Gray's
Elegy." [plagiarisms], in: Notes and Queries 3(64) (Jan 18
1851), p. 35. Responses by Echo, "Passage
in Gray's Elegy.", in: Notes and Queries 3(69) (Feb
22 1851), p. 138, by Varro, "Gray
and Burns.", in: Notes and Queries 3(72) (Mar
15 1851), p. 206, by Henry H. Breen, "Gray's Plagiarisms.", in: Notes and Queries
3(84) (June 7 1851), pp. 445-446, by William J. Thoms, "Chaucer
and Gray.", in: Notes and Queries 3(86) (June 21 1851),
pp. 492-493, by J. O. H. and by Varro under the heading "Chaucer
and Gray.", in: Notes and Queries 4(91) (Jul 26 1851),
p. 54, by Rt, "Gray
and Cowley.", in: Notes and Queries 4(99) (Sept 20 1851),
pp. 204-205 and "Cowley
and Gray.", in: Notes and Queries 4(101) (Oct 4 1851),
pp. 252-254, by K. S., "Gray's
Obligations to Jeremy Taylor.", in: Notes and Queries
4(101) (Oct 4 1851), p. 262, by Effigies, "Gray
and Virgil.", in: Notes and Queries 4(102) (Oct 11
1851), p. 285, by Rt, "Cowley
and Gray.", in: Notes and Queries 4(111) (Dec 13 1851),
pp. 465-468, H. E. H., "Gray
and Locke..", in: Notes and Queries 5(125) (Mar 20
1852), p. 274, by Rt, "Cowley
and Gray.", in: Notes and Queries 6(144) (Jul 31 1852),
pp. 119-122, by Henry T. Riley, "Gray
and Stephen Duck.", in: Notes and Queries 10(252)
(Aug 26 1854), p. 160.
- Delta, "Parodies
on Gray's `Elegy.' ", in: Notes and Queries 12, 2nd S.
(294) (Aug 17 1861), p. 128. Continued by H. E., "Gray's
`Elegy' parodied", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(6) (Feb 8 1862), pp. 112-113, by Delta, "Gray's
`Elegy' parodied", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(10) (Mar 8 1862), p. 197, by J. F. S. and by Chessborough Harberton under the
heading "Gray's
Elegy parodied", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(11) (Mar 15 1862), p. 220, by John Pavin Phillips, "Gray's
Elegy parodied", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(13) (Mar 29 1862), p. 255, by W. H. Husk, "Gray's
`Elegy' parodied", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(17) (Apr 26 1862), p. 339, by X. A. X., "Parodies on Gray's
`Elegy' ", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(18) (May 3 1862), pp. 355-356, by H. Palmer, "Parodies on Gray's
`Elegy' ", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(20) (May 17 1862), p. 398, by William James Smith, "Gray's
`Elegy' parodied", in: Notes and Queries 1, 3rd S.
(22) (May 31 1862), pp. 432-433, by X. A. X., "Parodies on Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 2, 3rd S.
(27) (Jul 5 1862), p. 17, by Wm. Dobson, "Parodies on Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 2, 3rd S.
(29) (Jul 19 1862), p. 55, by M, "Parodies on Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 2, 3rd S.
(36) (Sept 6 1862), p. 199.
- G, "Furrow"
[l. 26 of the `Elegy'], in: Notes and Queries 2, 4th S.
(41) (Oct 10 1868), p. 344. Responses by F. C. H., "Furrow",
in: Notes and Queries 2, 4th S. (43) (Oct 24 1868), p. 405, by J.
Dixon, "Furrow",
in: Notes and Queries 2, 4th S. (45) (Nov 7 1868), p. 451.
- Hermit of Holyport, "Gray's
Elegy and Dodsley Poems", in: Notes and
Queries 2(47) (Sept 21 1850), pp. 264-265. Responses by Hermit at
Hampstead and by W. S. under the heading "Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and
Queries 2(49) (Oct 5 1850), pp. 300-301, by Bolton Corney, "On
Gray's Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 2(50) (Oct 12 1850),
p. 306, by Hermit of Holyport, "Gray's
Elegy, Droning, Dodsley's Poems", in: Notes and Queries
2(51) (Oct 19 1850), p. 343 and "Gray,
Dryden, Playing Cards", in: Notes and Queries
2(58) (Dec 7 1850), pp. 462-463, by Bolton Corney, "Gray
and Dodsley", in: Notes and Queries 2(59) (Dec 14 1850),
p. 485.
- J, F. M., "Translations
of Gray's Elegy", in: Notes and
Queries 1(7) (Dec 15 1849), pp. 101-102. Responses by W, "Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 1(9) (Dec 29 1849), pp.
138-139, by H. C. de St. Croix, by A. Grayan, and by S. W. under the
heading "Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 1(10) (Jan 5 1850), p. 150, by
W. L. M., by J. M., and by M. under the heading "Gray's
Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 1(14) (Feb 2 1850),
p. 221, by Archaeus, "Gray's
Elegy.", in: Notes and Queries 1(24) (Apr 13 1850),
p. 389, by P. C. S. S., "Gray's
Elegy in Portuguese.", in: Notes and Queries 2(50) (Oct
12 1850), p. 306, by E. C. H., "Passage in Gray.", in: Notes and Queries
2(51) (Oct 19 1850), p. 347, by P. J. F. Gantillon, "Latin
Versions of Gray's Elegy.", in: Notes and Queries
10(248) (Jul 29 1854), p. 94, by Oxoniensis, "Gray's
`Elegy'.", in: Notes and Queries
3, 2nd S. (57) (Jan 31 1857), p. 88.
- J, Y. B. N., "Dr.
Moor, Greek Professor at Glasgow" [Young's `A criticism on the Elegy...'], in: Notes and
Queries 3, 2nd S. (78) (June 27 1857), p. 506. Responses by T. G. S.,
"Dr.
Moor and Gray's Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 4, 2nd S.
(80) (Jul 11 1857), p. 35, by J. O., "Dr.
Moor, Prof. Young, and the Poet Gray", in: Notes and
Queries 4, 2nd S. (81) (Jul 18 1857), p. 59, by R. R., "Prof.
Young and Gray's `Elegy' ", in: Notes and Queries 4,
2nd S. (86) (Aug 22 1857), p. 156, by J. M., "Criticism
on Gray's Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 4,
2nd S. (88) (Sept 5 1857), pp. 196-197, by Vox., "Dr.
Moor, Prof. Young, and the poet Gray", in: Notes and
Queries 4, 2nd S. (90) (Sept 19 1857), p. 234, by G. N., "Dr.
Moor, Prof. Young, and the poet Gray", in: Notes and
Queries 4, 2nd S. (95) (Oct 24 1857), pp. 333-334, by G. N., "Professor
Young.", in: Notes and Queries 4, 2nd S. (96) (Oct 31 1857),
pp. 354-355, by Bolton Corney, "Authorship
of `A Criticism on the Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard.' ",
in: Notes and Queries 4, 2nd S. (97) (Nov 7 1857),
p. 363, by W. J. T., "Professor
Young and Professor Moor: Criticism on the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.",
in: Notes and Queries 4, 2nd S. (99) (Nov 21 1857),
p. 417, by J. S., "Criticism
on Gray's Elegy", in: Notes and Queries 5, 2nd S.
(126) (May 29 1858), pp. 443-444.
- Scodel, Joshua: The
English Poetic Epitaph: Commemoration and Conflict from Jonson
to Wordsworth [e-text excerpts]. Ithaca; London: Cornell
University Press, 1991, pp. 312-331, 352-365 [discussion of the "Elegy"].
- Young, John: A Criticism
on the Elegy written in a Country Church Yard. Being a continuation of
Dr. J[ohnso]n's Criticism On The Poems Of Gray (1783). London:
G. Wilkie, 1783.
- "The Fatal
Sisters" / "The Descent of
Odin" (Norse Odes)
- Gray's legacy
- Mason's 1775 edition of Gray's poems
- Mason's portrait of Gray
- R., N., "Etching
of Gray, the Poet", in: Notes and Queries 6, 3rd S.
(143) (Sept 24 1864), p. 249. Response by Z. Z., "Etching
of Gray, the Poet", in: Notes and Queries 6, 3rd S.
(146) (Oct 15 1864), p. 317, by C. Forrest, "Etching
of Gray, the Poet", in: Notes and Queries 6, 3rd S.
(148) (Oct 29 1864), p. 358.
- Garrick's lines on Gray
Teaching materials
- Syllabi and course materials:
- Hunt, Russell A.: Thomas
Gray Forum, part of Restoration and
Eighteenth Century Poetry and Prose (English 3336) at the Department of English Language and
Literature, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
- Koster, Josephine: Thomas
Gray (1716-1771), part of Major British
Writers Before 1800 (English 201) at the Department of English, Winthrop University, Rock
Hill, SC, USA
- Lane, Steven M.: Poetry of Transition,
part of A Survey of British Literature from
the Restoration to the Twentieth Century (English 201) at the Department of English, Malaspina
University-College, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
- Liu, Kate Chiwen: "Ode
On The Death Of A Favourite Cat Drowned In A Tub Of Goldfishes" -
Leading Questions, part of a Introduction
to Literature course at the
Department of English Language and
Literature, Fu Jen Catholic University, Hsinchuang, Taipei Hsien,
Taiwan, Republic of China
- Lynch, Jack: English
Pre-Romantics (English 317) at the Department of English, Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
- Runge, Laura L.: Reading
Assignment: Thomas Gray, "An Elegy Wrote in a Country
Churchyard" (1751) and "The Progress of Poesy"
(1768), part of British
Literature 1616-1780 (English 3230) at the Department of
English, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
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