<P> The thoughtless World to majesty may bow Exalt the brave, & idolize Success But more to Innocence their Safety owe Than Power & Genius e'er conspired to bless And thou, who mindful of the unhonour'd Dead Dost in these Notes thy artless Tale relate By Night & lonely contemplation led To linger in the gloomy Walks of Fate Hark how the sacred Calm, that broods around Bids ev'ry fierce tumultous Passion ease In still small Accents whisp'ring from the Ground A grateful Earnest of eternal Peace No more with Reason & thyself at strife; Give anxious Cares & endless Wishes room But thro' the cool sequester'd Vale of Life Pursue the silent Tenour of thy Doom . </P> <P> The poem connects with many earlier British poems that contemplate death and seek to make it more familiar and tame, including Jonathan Swift's satirical Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift . But when compared to other works by the so - called Graveyard poets, such as Blair's The Grave (1743), Gray's poem has less emphasis on common images found there . His description of the moon, birds and trees dispels the horror found in them and he largely avoids mentioning the word "grave", instead using euphemisms . </P> <P> There is a difference in tone between the two versions of the elegy; the early one ends with an emphasis on the narrator joining with the obscure common man, while the later version ends with an emphasis on how it is natural for humans to want to be known . The later ending also explores the narrator's own death, whereas the earlier version serves as a Christian consolation regarding death . </P> <P> The first version of the elegy is among the few early poems composed by Gray in English, including "Sonnet on the Death of Richard West," his "Eton Ode", and his "Ode to Adversity". All four contain Gray's meditations on mortality that were inspired by West's death . The later version of the poem kept the stoic resignation regarding death, as the narrator still accepts death . The poem concludes with an epitaph, which reinforces Gray's indirect and reticent manner of writing . Although the ending reveals the narrator's repression of feelings surrounding his inevitable fate, it is optimistic . The epitaph describes faith in a "trembling hope" that he cannot know while alive . </P>

Text of gray's elegy in a country churchyard