Musings on Gray of the Graveyard Poets

Last week, we were asked to read the "Graveyard Poets" but did not get to discuss them in greater depth. Although these were the last items on the syllabus, I was intrigued with works such as "Ode to Melancholy", "Ode to Fear", "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", etc. While the Graveyard Poems are often seen as dreary and depressing for readers, they were also viewed as mediations on the theme of death and the afterlife. Specifically, I found Thomas Gray's Elegy to be quite fascinating for exploring what death means to the common man, how they dread the thought of passing on, and the fear of not being remembered. For these reasons, the Graveyard Poems could be considered humanist works in their focus on life and death.

Written by Gray, "Elegy" is actually an ode rather than an elegy, but its introspective musings on death and what comes after makes it a fascinating piece of poetry. The first verse starts off in descriptive detail about the physical surroundings of the churchyard, such as a plowman, beetles, an owl, and the approach of nighttime. However, as the poem progresses, it moves away from the physical and leans towards the narrator contemplating the life of the deceased person. He, too, is aware of the fact that he will die someday, and he has a yearning to be remembered after he is gone. By the end, the narrator reveals in an epitaph that the deceased was an unknown poet whose concerns prevented him from enjoying life. Having been surrounded with family tragedies, it is not a surprise that Gray was deeply troubled over the thought of dying, and he wondered if he would be remembered after his passing. Hence the poem.

It can be understood why contemporary readers and critics would condemn this genre as "brooding", "depressing", "pessimistic", and "lacking in artistic merit." However, there is some truth in any form of writing, and I feel that the Graveyard poems were optimistic in the notion of something better after death. By using this approach, they can be seen as positive in the sense of death being a part of life and a prelude to the next phase. They could also have inspired influences in Gothic art, literature (death is a major theme in this genre), music, and cinema (such as the works of Tim Burton). Gray's "Elegy" is unique for its examination of life, death, and what comes afterward.