Page 385

Thomas Gray. (1716–1771) (continued)

4191

    Full many a gem of purest ray serene
  The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
  And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 1

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 14.

4192

    Some village Hampden, that with dauntless breast
  The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
  Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s blood.

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 15.

4193

    The applause of list’ning senates to command,
  The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land,
  And read their history in a nation’s eyes.

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 16.

4194

Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 17.

4195

    Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
  Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
  They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. 2

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 19.

4196

Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 20.

4197

And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 21.

4198

    For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
  This pleasing anxious being e’er resign’d,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
  Nor cast one longing ling’ring look behind?

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 22.

4199

E’en from the tomb the voice of nature cries,
E’en in our ashes live their wonted fires. 3

Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 23.

Note 1.
See Young, Quotation 66.

Nor waste their sweetness in the desert air.—Charles Churchill: Gotham, book ii. line 20. [back]

Note 2.
Usually quoted “even tenor of their way.” [back]

Note 3.
See Chaucer, Quotation 25. [back]

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