Dig Into Graveyard Poetry: Analysis of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray’s poem “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” falls within the genre of graveyard poetry, which is poetry written in the 18th century that focuses heavily on death and immortality. As Turk writes, “A Gray biographer writes that all English and American poets owe something to Gray’s Elegy” (Turk 5). “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is the perfect representation of graveyard poetry due to its reflective examination of mortality, its striking depiction of the natural world, and its touching homage to the ordinary lives of rural villagers. As stated in Britannica, “The meditative, philosophical tendencies of graveyard poetry found their fullest expression in Thomas Gray’s “An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”” (Britannica 1). Themes consistent with graveyard poetry that are present in “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” are the pain and longing associated with bereavement, conjuring the dread of the approach towards physical death, and acknowledging the ephemeral nature of mortality. However, the poem’s specific themes that this paper will focus on are death and mortality, transience of life, socioeconomic and social status, as well as reflection and self-worth. Other factors that will be discussed include the setting, the meaning of the imagery and symbolism within the poem.