The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume X. The Age of Johnson.
§ 18. Gray’s death
The scene had begun to close in when, in the company of Nicholls, he went through five of the western counties, descended the Wye forty miles in a boat, saw Tintern and, at Malvern, on receiving a copy of The Deserted Village, exclaimed emphatically “this man is a poet.” But there was not, for the first part of 1771, much sign of any serious ailment; apart from some indications of failing vitality in his frame, his mind was as active as ever, till, in June, he became conscious of a new complaint, and, on 24 July, was taken suddenly ill in hall. On the 30th, he was dead.