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"Sonnet [on the Death of Mr Richard West]"

    • Archive Work ID: poems.sorw
    • Uniform Title: "Sonnet [on the Death of Mr Richard West]" [e-text]
    • First Line: In vain to me the smiling mornings shine,
    • Language: English
    • First Published: 1775
    • References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 92; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 64-68
    • Summary: Composed at Stoke Poges shortly after the death of Richard West, Gray's closest friend, on 1 June 1742. First published, entitled "Sonnet On the Death of Mr. Richard West", in Mason's Poems (1775), 60.

    1 Manuscript:

      • Archive MS ID: mss.0227 (Source: EAD/XML)
      • Title: "Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West"
      • Date: 1780[?]
      • Physical Description: 4 pages, 180 mm x 110 mm; transcript in an unidentified neat and legible hand on Whatman paper
      • Language: English
      • Location: MS Add. 439, "Poems" section, 105-108, The Archives, York Minster Library & Archives, York, UK <https://yorkminster.org/treasures-and-collections.html>
      • Contents: Transcript in an unidentified neat and legible hand, entitled "Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West" (p. 105) ("Sonnet." [p. 107]). The poem is part of a section called "Poems", which is separately paginated and has its own table of contents (p. 129), in a volume entitled Gray's Poems. The book carries the bookplate of Gray's friend and biographer William Mason.

Contents

Manuscripts