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A Long Story


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A Long Story


1 In Britain's isle, no matter where,
2 An ancient pile of building stands:
3 The Huntingdons and Hattons there
4 Employed the power of fairy hands

5 To raise the ceiling's fretted height,
6 Each panel in achievements clothing,
7 Rich windows that exclude the light,
8 And passages that lead to nothing.

9 Full oft within the spacious walls,
10 When he had fifty winters o'er him,
11 My grave Lord-Keeper led the brawls;
12 The Seal and Maces danced before him.

13 His bushy beard and shoe-strings green,
14 His high-crowned hat and satin-doublet,
15 Moved the stout heart of England's Queen,
16 Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it.

17 What, in the very first beginning!
18 Shame of the versifying tribe!
19 Your history whither are you spinning?
20 Can you do nothing but describe?

21 A house there is (and that's enough)
22 From whence one fatal morning issues
23 A brace of warriors, not in buff,
24 But rustling in their silks and tissues.

25 The first came cap-a-pee from France
26 Her conquering destiny fulfilling,
27 Whom meaner beauties eye askance,
28 And vainly ape her art of killing.

29 The other Amazon kind heaven
30 Had armed with spirit, wit, and satire:
31 But Cobham had the polish given,
32 And tipped her arrows with good-nature.

33 To celebrate her eyes, her air—
34 Coarse panegyrics would but tease her.
35 Melissa is her nom de guerre.
36 Alas, who would not wish to please her!

37 With bonnet blue and capucine,
38 And aprons long they hid their armour,
39 And veiled their weapons bright and keen
40 In pity to the country-farmer.

41 Fame in the shape of Mr. P[ur]t
42 (By this time all the parish know it)
43 Had told that thereabouts there lurked
44 A wicked imp they call a poet,

45 Who prowled the country far and near,
46 Bewitched the children of the peasants,
47 Dried up the cows and lamed the deer,
48 And sucked the eggs and killed the pheasants.

49 My lady heard their joint petition,
50 Swore by her coronet and ermine,
51 She'd issue out her high commission
52 To rid the manor of such vermin.

53 The heroines undertook the task;
54 Through lanes unknown, o'er stiles they ventured,
55 Rapped at the door nor stayed to ask,
56 But bounce into the parlour entered.

57 The trembling family they daunt,
58 They flirt, they sing, they laugh, they tattle,
59 Rummage his mother, pinch his aunt,
60 And up stairs in a whirlwind rattle.

61 Each hole and cupboard they explore,
62 Each creek and cranny of his chamber,
63 Run hurry-skurry round the floor,
64 And o'er the bed and tester clamber,

65 Into the drawers and china pry,
66 Papers and books, a huge imbroglio!
67 Under a tea-cup he might lie,
68 Or creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio.

69 On the first marching of the troops
70 The Muses, hopeless of his pardon,
71 Conveyed him underneath their hoops
72 To a small closet in the garden.

73 So Rumour says (who will, believe)
74 But that they left the door ajar,
75 Where, safe and laughing in his sleeve,
76 He heard the distant din of war.

77 Short was his joy. He little knew
78 The power of magic was no fable.
79 Out of the window, whisk, they flew,
80 But left a spell upon the table.

81 The words too eager to unriddle,
82 The poet felt a strange disorder:
83 Transparent birdlime formed the middle,
84 And chains invisible the border.

85 So cunning was the apparatus,
86 The powerful pothooks did so move him,
87 That, will he, nill he, to the Great-House
88 He went, as if the Devil drove him.

89 Yet no his way (no sign of grace,
90 For folks in fear are apt to pray)
91 To Phoebus he preferred his case,
92 And begged his aid that dreadful day.

93 The godhead would have backed his quarrel,
94 But, with a blush on recollection,
95 Owned that his quiver and his laurel
96 'Gainst four such eyes were no protection.

97 The court was sate, the culprit there,
98 Forth from their gloomy mansions creeping
99 The Lady Janes and Joans repair,
100 And from the gallery stand peeping:

101 Such as in silence of the night
102 Come (sweep) along some winding entry
103 (Styack has often seen the sight)
104 Or at the chapel-door stand sentry;

105 In peaked hoods and mantles tarnished,
106 Sour visages, enough to scare ye,
107 High dames of honour once, that garnished
108 The drawing-room of fierce Queen Mary!

109 The peeress comes. The audience stare,
110 And doff their hats with due submission:
111 She curtsies, as she takes her chair,
112 To all the people of condition.

113 The bard with many an artful fib
114 Had in imagination fenced him,
115 Disproved the arguments of Squib,
116 And all that Groom could urge against him.

117 But soon his rhetoric forsook him,
118 When he the solemn hall had seen;
119 A sudden fit of ague shook him,
120 He stood as mute as poor Macleane.

121 Yet something he was heard to mutter,
122 'How in the park beneath an old-tree
123 '(Without design to hurt the butter,
124 'Or any malice to the poultry,)

125 'He once or twice had penned a sonnet;
126 'Yet hoped that he might save his bacon:
127 'Numbers would give their oaths upon it,
128 'He ne'er was for a conjurer taken.'

129 The ghostly prudes with hagged face
130 Already had condemned the sinner.
131 My lady rose and with a grace—
132 She smiled, and bid him come to dinner.

133 'Jesu-Maria! Madam Bridget,
134 'Why, what can the Viscountess mean?'
135 (Cried the square hoods in woeful fidget)
136 'The times are altered quite and clean!

137 'Decorum's turned to mere civility;
138 'Her air and all her manners show it.
139 'Commend me to her affability!
140 'Speak to a commoner and poet!'

(Here 500 Stanzas are lost.)

141 And so God save our noble King,
142 And guard us from long-winded lubbers,
143 That to eternity would sing,
144 And keep my lady from her rubbers.

Gray's annotations

3
N:B: the House was built by the Earls of Huntingdon, & came from them to S[i]r Christopher afterwards L[or]d Keeper, Hatton, prefer'd by Q: Elizabeth for his graceful Person & fine Dancing. [Garrett MS.]
11
[Lord-Keeper] [Sir Christopher] Hatton [Lord Chancellor], prefer'd by Queen Elizabeth for his graceful Person and fine Dancing.
[brawls] an old fashion'd Dance. [Garrett MS.]
87
[Great-House] So the Country People call it. [Garrett MS.]
103
[Styack] The House-Keeper.
115
[Squib] [James Squibb] Groom of the Chambers.
116
[Groom] The Steward.
120
[Macleane] A famous Highwayman hang'd the week before.

Expanding the poem lines (+) shows the results of a computationally facilitated analysis of the text. These results should be considered as a basis for deeper interpretative enquiry such as can be found in the notes and queries.

0 A Long Story

Metrical notation:  -+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+/ -+|-+|-+|-+/
Metrical foot type:  iambic (-+)
Metrical foot number:  tetrameter (4 feet)
Rhyme scheme:  abab
Rhyme (stanza position):  cross (abab)
Syllable pattern:  8.8.8.8
Stanza:  quatrain (4 lines)
Genre(s):  narrative verse, fragment
Theme(s):  social order, poetry, literature, writing

Notation symbols: | (foot boundary), || (caesura), / (metrical line boundary), + (metrically prominent), - (metrically non-prominent)


1 In Britain's isle, no matter where,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  where   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): In/Britain's /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/no /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Britain's/matter /t/

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2 An ancient pile of building stands:    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  stands   |   Rhyme sound:  /ændz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): ancient/stands /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): pile/building /l/

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3 The Huntingdons and Hattons there    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  there   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Huntingdons/Hattons /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Huntingdons/Hattons /h/

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4 Employed the power of fairy hands    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  hands   |   Rhyme sound:  /ændz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Employed/power /p/

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5 To raise the ceiling's fretted height,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  height   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): fretted/height /t/

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6 Each panel in achievements clothing,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  clothing   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊðɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Each/achievements /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Each/achievements /tʃ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): panel/in /n/

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7 Rich windows that exclude the light,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  light   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Rich/windows/exclude /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): that/light /t/

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8 And passages that lead to nothing.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  nothing   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌθɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/passages/that /æ/

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9 Full oft within the spacious walls,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  walls   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔːlz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): within/walls /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Full/walls /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Full/oft /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): within/walls /w/

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10 When he had fifty winters o'er him,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): When/winters /w/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/had/him /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): fifty/winters/him /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): When/winters /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): When/winters /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/had/him /h/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

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11 My grave Lord-Keeper led the brawls;    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  brawls   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔːlz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Lord-Keeper/led /l/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Lord-Keeper/brawls /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Lord-Keeper/led/brawls /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Lord-Keeper/led /d/

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12 The Seal and Maces danced before him.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): before/him /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Seal/Maces /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Maces/him /m/

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13 His bushy beard and shoe-strings green,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  green   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): bushy/beard /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): His/shoe-strings /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bushy/beard /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bushy/shoe-strings /ʃ/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): His

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14 His high-crowned hat and satin-doublet,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  satin-doublet   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌblɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): His/high-crowned/hat /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): hat/and/satin-doublet /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): His/high-crowned/hat /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): hat/satin-doublet /t/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): His

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15 Moved the stout heart of England's Queen,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  Queen   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Moved/of /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): stout/heart /t/

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16 Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  trouble it   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌblɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Though/Pope /əʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Spaniard/not /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): not/trouble/it /t/

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17 What, in the very first beginning!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  beginning   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪnɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/beginning /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/beginning /n/

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18 Shame of the versifying tribe!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  tribe   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪb/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): of/versifying /v/

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19 Your history whither are you spinning?    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  spinning   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪnɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Your/you /j/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): history/whither/spinning /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Your/you /j/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): history/spinning /s/
Figure:  pysma (pragmatic)

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20 Can you do nothing but describe?    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  describe   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪb/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): do/describe /d/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): you/do /uː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): nothing/but /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Can/nothing /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): do/describe /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): but/describe /b/
Figure:  pysma (pragmatic)

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21 A house there is (and that's enough)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  enough   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌf/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): there/that's /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): is/enough /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/that's /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): there/that's /ð/

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22 From whence one fatal morning issues    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  issues   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪʃuːz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): From/fatal /f/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): whence/one /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): From/morning /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): From/fatal /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): whence/one /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): whence/one/morning /n/

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23 A brace of warriors, not in buff,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  buff   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌf/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): brace/buff /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/warriors/not /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): brace/buff /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): not/in /n/

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24 But rustling in their silks and tissues.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  tissues   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪʃuːz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): But/rustling /ʌ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/silks/tissues /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/tissues /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): rustling/silks /s/

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25 The first came cap-a-pee from France    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  France   |   Rhyme sound:  /ans/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): first/from/France /f/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): came/cap-a-pee /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): first/from/France /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): came/cap-a-pee /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): came/from /m/

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26 Her conquering destiny fulfilling,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  fulfilling   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪlɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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27 Whom meaner beauties eye askance,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  askance   |   Rhyme sound:  /æns/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Whom/beauties /uː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Whom/meaner /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): meaner/askance /n/

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28 And vainly ape her art of killing.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  killing   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪlɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): vainly/ape /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): vainly/of /v/

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29 The other Amazon kind heaven    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  heaven   |   Rhyme sound:  /evn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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30 Had armed with spirit, wit, and satire:    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  satire   |   Rhyme sound:  /ætaɪə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): spirit/satire /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Had/and/satire /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): with/spirit/wit /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): with/wit /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): spirit/satire /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): wit/satire /t/

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31 But Cobham had the polish given,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  given   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪvn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Cobham/polish /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/Cobham /b/

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32 And tipped her arrows with good-nature.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  good-nature   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪtʃə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/arrows /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): tipped/with /ɪ/

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33 To celebrate her eyes, her air—    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  air   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): her/her /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): her/her /ɜː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): her/her /h/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): her/her

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34 Coarse panegyrics would but tease her.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  her   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): but/tease /t/

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35 Melissa is her nom de guerre.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  guerre   |   Rhyme sound:  /er/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Melissa/guerre /e/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Melissa/is /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Melissa/nom /m/

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36 Alas, who would not wish to please her!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  her   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): who/her /h/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): would/wish /w/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): who/to /uː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): who/her /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): would/wish /w/

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37 With bonnet blue and capucine,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  capucine   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): bonnet/blue /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/capucine /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bonnet/blue /b/

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38 And aprons long they hid their armour,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  armour   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːmə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): they/their /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): aprons/they /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): they/their /ð/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): And

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39 And veiled their weapons bright and keen    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  keen   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/and /æ/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): And

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40 In pity to the country-farmer.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  country-farmer   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːmə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): In/pity /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/country-farmer /n/

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41 Fame in the shape of Mr. P[ur]t    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  P[ur]t   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜːt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Fame/shape /eɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/Mr. /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Fame/Mr. /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): shape/P[ur]t /p/

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42 (By this time all the parish know it)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  know it   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): By/time /aɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): this/it /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): time/it /t/

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43 Had told that thereabouts there lurked    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  lurked   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜːkt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): that/thereabouts/there /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Had/that /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): thereabouts/there /eə/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): told/lurked /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): told/that/thereabouts /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): that/thereabouts/there /ð/

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44 A wicked imp they call a poet,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  poet   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): wicked/imp /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): wicked/call /k/

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45 Who prowled the country far and near,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  near   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): country/near /n/

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46 Bewitched the children of the peasants,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  peasants   |   Rhyme sound:  /eznts/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Bewitched/children /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Bewitched/children /tʃ/

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47 Dried up the cows and lamed the deer,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  deer   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Dried/deer /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Dried/deer /d/

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48 And sucked the eggs and killed the pheasants.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  pheasants   |   Rhyme sound:  /eznts/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/and /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): eggs/pheasants /e/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sucked/killed /k/

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49 My lady heard their joint petition,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  petition   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪʃən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lady/heard /d/

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50 Swore by her coronet and ermine,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  ermine   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜːmɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): her/ermine /ɜː/

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51 She'd issue out her high commission    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  commission   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪʃən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): her/high /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): issue/commission /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): She'd/issue/commission /ʃ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): her/high /h/

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52 To rid the manor of such vermin.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  vermin   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜːmɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): manor/vermin /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): of/vermin /v/

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53 The heroines undertook the task;    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  task   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːsk/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): undertook/task /t/

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54 Through lanes unknown, o'er stiles they ventured,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  ventured   |   Rhyme sound:  /əd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): lanes/they /eɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): unknown/o'er /əʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lanes/stiles /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lanes/unknown/ventured /n/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

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55 Rapped at the door nor stayed to ask,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  ask   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːsk/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Rapped/at /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): door/nor /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): door/stayed /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): stayed/ask /s/

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56 But bounce into the parlour entered.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  entered   |   Rhyme sound:  /əd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): But/bounce /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/bounce /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bounce/into/entered /n/

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57 The trembling family they daunt,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  daunt   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔːnt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): trembling/family /m/

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58 They flirt, they sing, they laugh, they tattle,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  tattle   |   Rhyme sound:  /ætl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): They/they/they/they /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): They/they/they/they /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): They/they/they/they /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): flirt/laugh /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): flirt/tattle /t/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): They/they/they/they

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59 Rummage his mother, pinch his aunt,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  aunt   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːnt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): his/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Rummage/mother /ʌ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/pinch/his /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Rummage/mother /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/his /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): pinch/aunt /n/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): his/his

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60 And up stairs in a whirlwind rattle.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  rattle   |   Rhyme sound:  /ætl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/rattle /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/whirlwind /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/whirlwind /n/

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61 Each hole and cupboard they explore,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  explore   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): cupboard/explore /k/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): Each

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62 Each creek and cranny of his chamber,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  chamber   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪmbə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): creek/cranny /k/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Each/creek /iː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/cranny /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Each/chamber /tʃ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): creek/cranny /k/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): Each

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63 Run hurry-skurry round the floor,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  floor   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Run/round /r/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Run/hurry-skurry /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Run/round /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Run/hurry-skurry/round /r/

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64 And o'er the bed and tester clamber,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  clamber   |   Rhyme sound:  /æmbə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/and/clamber /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): bed/tester /e/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

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65 Into the drawers and china pry,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  pry   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): china/pry /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Into/china /n/

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66 Papers and books, a huge imbroglio!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  imbroglio   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪəʊ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): books/imbroglio /b/

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67 Under a tea-cup he might lie,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  lie   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Under/tea-cup /ʌ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): tea-cup/he /iː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): might/lie /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): tea-cup/might /t/

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68 Or creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  folio   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪəʊ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): creased/like /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): like/folio /l/
Figure:  simile (semantic): like...

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69 On the first marching of the troops    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  troops   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːps/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): On/of /ɒ/

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70 The Muses, hopeless of his pardon,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  pardon   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːdn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): hopeless/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Muses/his /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): hopeless/pardon /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): hopeless/his /h/

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71 Conveyed him underneath their hoops    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  hoops   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːps/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): him/hoops /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Conveyed/underneath /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): him/hoops /h/

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72 To a small closet in the garden.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  garden   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːdn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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73 So Rumour says (who will, believe)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  believe   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːv/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Rumour/who /uː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): will/believe /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): So/says /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): will/believe /l/

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74 But that they left the door ajar,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  ajar   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): that/they /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/that /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): that/they /ð/

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75 Where, safe and laughing in his sleeve,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  sleeve   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːv/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): safe/sleeve /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/his /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): safe/laughing /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): safe/sleeve /s/

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76 He heard the distant din of war.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  war   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): He/heard /h/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): distant/din /d/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): distant/din /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): He/heard /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): heard/distant/din /d/

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77 Short was his joy. He little knew    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  knew   |   Rhyme sound:  /uː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): his/He /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/little /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Short/little /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): was/his /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/He /h/

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78 The power of magic was no fable.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  fable   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪbl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/was /ɒ/

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79 Out of the window, whisk, they flew,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  flew   |   Rhyme sound:  /uː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): window/whisk /w/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): window/whisk /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): window/whisk /w/

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80 But left a spell upon the table.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  table   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪbl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): left/spell /e/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/table /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/table /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): left/spell /l/

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81 The words too eager to unriddle,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  unriddle   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪdl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): too/to /uː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): words/unriddle /d/

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82 The poet felt a strange disorder:    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  disorder   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔːdə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): strange/disorder /s/

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83 Transparent birdlime formed the middle,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  middle   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪdl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): birdlime/formed/middle /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): birdlime/middle /d/

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84 And chains invisible the border.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  border   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔːdə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): chains/invisible /n/

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85 So cunning was the apparatus,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  apparatus   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪtəs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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86 The powerful pothooks did so move him,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): powerful/pothooks /p/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): did/him /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): powerful/pothooks /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): move/him /m/

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87 That, will he, nill he, to the Great-House    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  Great-House   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪtaʊs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/he /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): will/nill /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): he/he /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): That/Great-House /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): will/nill /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/he/Great-House /h/
Figure:  polyptoton (morphological): will/nill
Figure:  diacope (morphological): he/he

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88 He went, as if the Devil drove him.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): He/him /h/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Devil/drove /d/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): went/Devil /e/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): if/him /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): He/him /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Devil/drove /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Devil/drove /d/

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89 Yet no his way (no sign of grace,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  grace   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): no/no /n/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): no/no /əʊ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): way/grace /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): no/no/sign /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sign/grace /s/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): no/no

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90 For folks in fear are apt to pray)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  pray   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): folks/fear /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): For/folks/fear /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): apt/pray /p/

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91 To Phoebus he preferred his case,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  case   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): preferred/his /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Phoebus/preferred /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/his /h/

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92 And begged his aid that dreadful day.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  day   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): dreadful/day /d/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/that /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): begged/dreadful /e/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): aid/day /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): aid/dreadful/day /d/

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93 The godhead would have backed his quarrel,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  quarrel   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒrəl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): have/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): godhead/quarrel /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): have/backed /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): godhead/would /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): have/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): backed/quarrel /k/

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94 But, with a blush on recollection,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  recollection   |   Rhyme sound:  /ekʃən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): But/blush /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): But/blush /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/blush /b/

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95 Owned that his quiver and his laurel    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  laurel   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒrəl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): his/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): that/and /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/quiver/his /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/his /z/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): his/his

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96 'Gainst four such eyes were no protection.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  protection   |   Rhyme sound:  /ekʃən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): 'Gainst/protection /e/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): 'Gainst/no /n/
Figure:  aphaeresis (morphological): 'Gainst

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97 The court was sate, the culprit there,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  there   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): court/culprit /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): court/culprit /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): court/sate /t/

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98 Forth from their gloomy mansions creeping    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  creeping   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːpɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Forth/from /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Forth/from /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): from/gloomy/mansions /m/

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99 The Lady Janes and Joans repair,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  repair   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Janes/Joans /dʒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Lady/Janes /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Janes/Joans /dʒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Janes/Joans /n/

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100 And from the gallery stand peeping:    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  peeping   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːpɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/gallery/stand /æ/

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101 Such as in silence of the night    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  night   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Such/silence /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): silence/night /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Such/silence /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/night /n/

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102 Come (sweep) along some winding entry    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  entry   |   Rhyme sound:  /entrɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): sweep/some /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Come/some /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Come/some /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sweep/some /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): winding/entry /n/

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103 (Styack has often seen the sight)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  sight   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Styack/seen/sight /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Styack/sight /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Styack/seen/sight /s/

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104 Or at the chapel-door stand sentry;    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  sentry   |   Rhyme sound:  /entrɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): stand/sentry /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Or/chapel-door /ɔː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): at/chapel-door/stand /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): stand/sentry /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): stand/sentry /s/

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105 In peaked hoods and mantles tarnished,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  tarnished   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːnɪʃt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/mantles /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/mantles/tarnished /n/

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106 Sour visages, enough to scare ye,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  scare ye   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɛəjiː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Sour/scare /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): visages/enough /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Sour/scare /s/

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107 High dames of honour once, that garnished    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  garnished   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːnɪʃt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/honour /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): honour/once/garnished /n/

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108 The drawing-room of fierce Queen Mary!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  Mary   |   Rhyme sound:  /eərɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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109 The peeress comes. The audience stare,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  stare   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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110 And doff their hats with due submission:    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  submission   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪʃən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): doff/due /d/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/hats /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): with/submission /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): doff/due /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): their/with /ð/

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111 She curtsies, as she takes her chair,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  chair   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): She/she /ʃ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): She/she /iː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): curtsies/her /ɜː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): She/she /ʃ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): curtsies/takes /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): curtsies/takes /t/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): She/she

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112 To all the people of condition.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  condition   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪʃən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8

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113 The bard with many an artful fib    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  fib   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪb/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): bard/artful /ɑː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): with/fib /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bard/fib /b/

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114 Had in imagination fenced him,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Had/him /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Had/imagination /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/imagination/him /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Had/him /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/imagination/fenced /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): imagination/him /m/

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115 Disproved the arguments of Squib,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  Squib   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪb/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Disproved/Squib /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Disproved/of /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Disproved/Squib /s/

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116 And all that Groom could urge against him.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/that /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Groom/against /g/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Groom/him /m/
Figure:  epistrophe (morphological): him

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117 But soon his rhetoric forsook him,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): his/him /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/him /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/rhetoric /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): soon/forsook /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/him /h/
Figure:  epistrophe (morphological): him

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118 When he the solemn hall had seen;    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  seen   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/hall/had /h/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): solemn/seen /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): he/seen /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): When/seen /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/hall/had /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): solemn/hall /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): solemn/seen /s/

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119 A sudden fit of ague shook him,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  him   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): fit/him /ɪ/

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120 He stood as mute as poor Macleane.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  Macleane   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): mute/Macleane /m/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): He/Macleane /iː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): as/as /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): as/as /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): mute/Macleane /m/

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121 Yet something he was heard to mutter,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  mutter   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌtə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/heard /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): something/mutter /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Yet/mutter /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): something/mutter /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/heard /h/

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122 'How in the park beneath an old-tree    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  old-tree   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊltriː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/beneath /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): beneath/old-tree /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/beneath /n/

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123 '(Without design to hurt the butter,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  butter   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌtə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Without/design /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Without/hurt/butter /t/

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124 'Or any malice to the poultry,)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  poultry   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊltrɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): malice/poultry /l/

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125 'He once or twice had penned a sonnet;    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  sonnet   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒnɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): He/had /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): He/had /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): once/penned/sonnet /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): twice/sonnet /s/

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126 'Yet hoped that he might save his bacon:    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  bacon   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪkən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): hoped/he/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): save/bacon /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Yet/that/might /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): hoped/he/his /h/

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127 'Numbers would give their oaths upon it,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  upon it   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒnɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): give/it /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Numbers/upon /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): their/oaths /ð/

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128 'He ne'er was for a conjurer taken.'    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  taken   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪkən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): ne'er/conjurer /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): conjurer/taken /k/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): ne'er

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129 The ghostly prudes with hagged face    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  face   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): ghostly/hagged /g/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): ghostly/face /s/

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130 Already had condemned the sinner.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  sinner   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪnə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Already/condemned /e/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Already/had/condemned /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): condemned/sinner /n/

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131 My lady rose and with a grace—    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  grace   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): lady/grace /eɪ/

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132 She smiled, and bid him come to dinner.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  dinner   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪnə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): bid/him/dinner /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bid/dinner /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): him/come /m/

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133 'Jesu-Maria! Madam Bridget,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  Bridget   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪdʒɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Jesu-Maria/Bridget /dʒ/

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134 'Why, what can the Viscountess mean?'    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  mean   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Why/what /w/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Why/Viscountess /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Why/what /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): can/mean /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): can/Viscountess /k/

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135 (Cried the square hoods in woeful fidget)    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  fidget   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪdʒɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): in/fidget /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Cried/hoods /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): woeful/fidget /f/

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136 'The times are altered quite and clean!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  clean   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): quite/clean /k/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): times/quite /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): times/quite /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): quite/clean /k/

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137 'Decorum's turned to mere civility;    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  civility   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪlɪtɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Decorum's/civility /ɪ/

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138 'Her air and all her manners show it.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  show it   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end split
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Her/her /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Her/her /ɜː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/manners /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Her/her /h/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): Her/her

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139 'Commend me to her affability!    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  affability   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪlɪtɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Commend/me /m/

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140 'Speak to a commoner and poet!'    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  poet   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Speak/commoner /k/

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(Here 500 Stanzas are lost.)

141 And so God save our noble King,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  King   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): so/noble /əʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): so/save /s/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): And

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142 And guard us from long-winded lubbers,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  lubbers   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌbəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): long-winded/lubbers /l/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): us/lubbers /ʌ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): from/long-winded /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): long-winded/lubbers /l/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): And

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143 That to eternity would sing,    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  sing   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  assonance (phonological): eternity/sing /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): That/eternity /t/

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144 And keep my lady from her rubbers.    
Rhyme:  abab   |   Rhyme word(s):  rubbers   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌbəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  -+|-+|-+|-+/   |   Syllables:  8
Figure:  consonance (phonological): my/from /m/

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Gray's annotations

3
N:B: the House was built by the Earls of Huntingdon, & came from them to S[i]r Christopher afterwards L[or]d Keeper, Hatton, prefer'd by Q: Elizabeth for his graceful Person & fine Dancing. [Garrett MS.]
11
[Lord-Keeper] [Sir Christopher] Hatton [Lord Chancellor], prefer'd by Queen Elizabeth for his graceful Person and fine Dancing.
[brawls] an old fashion'd Dance. [Garrett MS.]
87
[Great-House] So the Country People call it. [Garrett MS.]
103
[Styack] The House-Keeper.
115
[Squib] [James Squibb] Groom of the Chambers.
116
[Groom] The Steward.
120
[Macleane] A famous Highwayman hang'd the week before.

Expanding the poem lines (+) shows notes and queries taken from various critical editions of Gray's works, as well as those contributed by users of the Archive. There are 60 textual and 169 explanatory notes/queries.

All notes and queries are shown by default.

0 A Long Story 9 Explanatory, 8 Textual

Title/Paratext] "[My authority for the text [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"[My authority for the text of A Long Story is Gray's original MS. at Pembroke College, which enables me to fill up all the blanks. The piece was only printed once in Gray's lifetime, when it formed the fourth of the Six Poems in 1753, and was illustrated by a view of Stoke Manor, interpreted by Bentley from a rough sketch by Gray, which is still in existence, bound up with Bentley's drawings. The poem, as stated by Gray himself in the Pembroke MS., was written in August 1750, in consequence of the incident that a Lady Schaub and Lady Cobden's niece, Miss Speed, paid the poet an afternoon call, and found him abroad. Gray declined to reprint A Long Story in 1768, on the ground that it was so personal as to have become unintelligible. - Ed.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1912 [1st ed. 1884], vol. i, 82.

Title/Paratext] "This poem was written in [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"This poem was written in 1750, amd was first published in the ornate Six Poems edition of 1753. Gray was unwilling to have it published again, saying that it was of only personal interest (see Gray's Works, III, 285). It was therefore omitted in the regular 1768 edition. Gosse and Bradshaw are wrong, however, in saying that this poem was printed only once in Gray's lifetime (see Gosse's Life of Gray, p. 103, and Bradshaw's Aldine edition, p. 231), for it was published in a Dublin edition of Gray's poetry in 1768. (See Bibliography.)"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 143.

Title/Paratext] "The circumstances connected with the [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The circumstances connected with the birth of this poem are as follows: Lady Cobham, who lived at Stoke Poges, had seen a MS. copy of the Elegy, and was very anxious to know qho the author was. Learning that it was a Mr. Thomas Gray, and that this quiet gentleman was then (August, 1750) living at his aunt's house at Stoke, she determined to seek his acquaintance. She used as a cat's paw two ladies who were then with her, Lady Schaub and Miss Harriet Speed, and persuaded them to call on Gray's aunt. The two ladies did so; but unfortunately Mr. Gray was not at home. In a spirit of fun they left a little note for him. Gray returned the call, and became afterwards intimately acquainted with Miss Speed. He celebrated the call made on him by playfully writing his Long Story, in the month of August, 1750, as we know by his own note in the Pembroke MS. of the poem.
What Miss Speed thought we may see from her letter to Gray (Tovey, Gray and his Friends, p. 197):

''Sir,
    I am as much at a loss to bestow the Commendation due to your performance as any of our modern Poets would be to imitate them; Everybody that has seen it, is charm'd and Lady Cobham was the first, tho' not the last that regretted the loss of the 400 stanzas [should be 500]; all that I can say is, that your obliging inclination in sending it has fully answered; as it not only gave us amusement the rest of the Evening, but always will, on reading it over. Lady Cobham and the rest of the Company hope to have your's tomorrow at dinner.
        ''I am your oblig'd & obedient
            ''Henrietta Jane Speed.
                ''Sunday.''
            [prob. Aug. 1750.]"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 143/144.

Title/Paratext] "The ''Elegy'' having been handed [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The ''Elegy'' having been handed about in MS. by Horace Walpole was seen by Lady Cobham, then residing at the Mansion-house, Stoke-Poges; being anxious to make the poet's acquaintance, she learned from the Rev. Mr. Purt of Stoke that the poet lived in the neighbourhood and was Mr. Gray, whom she did not know. This was in the summer of 1750, and two ladies who were stopping with her, Miss Speed and Lady Schaub, on the strength of the latter knowing Lady Brown, a friend of Gray's, called at his aunt's house, but the poet was not at home. He returned the call, and thus began his acquaintance and friendship with Lady Cobham and Miss Speed, which resulted in his humorous account of his introduction to them, which he called ''A Long Story,'' and his ''Amatory Lines'' and the ''Song'' written at the request of Miss Speed. See the Notes on the ''Amatory Lines'' and ''Song.''"

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 231.

Title/Paratext] "The ''Long Story'' was only [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The ''Long Story'' was only once printed in Gray's lifetime, viz., in the edition with Bentley's ''Designs'' in 1753. In a letter to Dr. Beattie, dated 24th December, 1767, Gray says he had consented to let Dodsley reprint all he ever published ''if he would omit entirely the ''Long Story'' (which was never meant for the public, and only suffered to appear in that pompous edition because of Mr. Bentley's designs, which were not intelligible without it).''
There is a copy of the ''Long Story'' in the Pembroke MSS., and in the margin, at the top, the date ''Aug. 1750'' is entered."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 231.

Title/Paratext] "It is affirmed both by [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"It is affirmed both by Mr Gosse and Dr Bradshaw that A Long Story was only once printed in Gray's lifetime, viz. in the edition with Bentley's designs in 1753. Dr Phelps points out that it was published in a Dublin edition of Gray's poetry in 1768. Professor Dowden has kindly given me an account of this edition, which had the Rev. Mr Lloyd's Latin version of the Elegy, and another by 'an anonymous person,' while preceding the Elegy are some hexameters Ad Poetam. Parodies close the volume; 'Ode to Ranelagh,' 'An Evening Contemplation in a College,' and 'The Bard, a burlesque Ode by A. Lloyd and G. Colman.' The frontispiece is the Bard precipitating himself, and the last page represents the rider of Pegasus tumbling from the cliffs and following his wig into mid-air.
Further, Professor Dowden has an Edition of 1768 of Gray's poems printed at Cork, and dedicated to a Mrs Elizabeth Gray, as a chief 'Promoter of It.' This also contains A Long Story. In it the Progress of Poesy is called in the table of Contents Ode to his Lyre, and the Bard, 'Ode on Edward I. putting the Bards to death in Wales.' The Parody (by Duncombe) 'An Evening Contemplation in a College' is also contained in this volume.
Gray, Professor Dowden says, probably did not authorize these publications."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 177.

Title/Paratext] "Mason writes that whilst Walpole [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Mason writes that whilst Walpole was circulating the Elegy in MS. ''among the rest of the fashionable world, for to these only it was at present communicated, Lady Cobham, who now lived at the mansion-house at Stoke Pogis, had read and admired it. She wished to be acquainted with the author; accordingly her relation Miss Speed and Lady Schaub, then at her house, undertook to bring this about by making him the first visit. He happened to be from home, when the Ladies arrived at his Aunt's solitary mansion; and when he returned was surprised to find, written on one of his papers in the parlour where he usually read, the following note: 'Lady Schaub's compliments to Mr Gray; she is sorry not to have found him at home, to tell him that Lady Brown is very well.' This necessarily obliged him to return the visit, and soon after induced him to compose a ludicrous account of this little adventure for the amusement of the Ladies in question.''
Lady Cobham was at this time a widow, her husband, Field-Marshal Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham, having died in 1749. She was the daughter of Edmund Halsey, the predecessor of Thrale's father in the brewery now known by the name of Barclay and Perkins. She died in 1760.
Lady Schaub was the wife of Sir Luke Schaub, whom Cunningham describes as 'a kind of Will Chiffinch [footnote: See Scott's Peveril of the Peak, passim, for the character (in fact or libel) of this hero.] to George I. and much in the favour of George II. He had several pensions from both kings for confidential services abroad and at home.' Horace Walpole in 1741 describes Lady Schaub as a pretty woman, 'a foreigner, who as Sir Luke says, would have him.' She was French, see l. 25. Her husband died in 1758, and she in 1793.
The Lady Brown who served as an excuse for the visit to the poet was the grand-daughter of the third Earl of Salisbury, and wife of Sir Robert Brown, Baronet, a merchant at Venice. Her 'Sunday nights' are described by Walpole (to Mann, Feb. 13, 1743) as 'the great mart for all travelling and travelled calves.' It was probably as a 'travelled' man, through Walpole or perhaps earlier through John Chute, that Gray made her acquaintance.
Miss Henrietta Jane Speed was the daughter of Colonel Speed, the friend of Viscount Cobham. Cole the antiquary has stated that upon her father's decease she was brought up in the family of Lord Cobham and treated by him with paternal care and tenderness. Gray relates with manifest pleasure that she used to say [Greek (omitted)] in so many words to those who could not understand his Odes. Walpole says she was a niece of Lady Cobham. As a young girl at Stowe, the seat of Viscount Cobham, she met Pope, and probably Thomson, who celebrated Stowe and its Cobham in verse; the company of men of genius was therefore no new thing to her. At the date of the Long Story she was about 27 years old. Her 'pretty delicate features,' as Mr Gosse puts it, are represented in the 'Designs for Six Poems' by Richard Bentley (1753), where both 'the Amazon ladies are seen flying through the air, seeking for their victim the poet,' whilst 'the Rev. Mr Purt is represented as blowing the trumpet of Fame.'
Miss Speed's graceful letter of acknowledgement of the Long Story, ending with a fresh invitation to dinner, is given in Gray and His Friends, p. 197. The acquaintance ripened, not without some suggestion, at least on the part of gossiping friends, of matrimony. But Gray, though in the fashion of the time he might write complimentary verses to her (poems xxii., xxiii.), seems to have been heart-whole. She writes to Gray in August 1759 a letter inviting him to Stoke, which shows that they had been in correspondence, and she says, 'You can easily conceive me vain of the Partiality you show me' - and 'if you are at present an invalide, let that prompt you to come, for from the affected Creature you knew me I am nothing now but a comfortable nurse.' The letter shows her to be a clever, sprightly woman, with that indifference to spelling (she cannot even spell the poet's name) which was characteristic of her generation. Lady Cobham died in 1760, leaving Miss Speed 'at least 30,000, with a house in town, plate, jewels, china and old japan infinite,' says Gray to Wharton (July 1760); the affairs of 'Madam Speed, as she says, or her vagaries, as I say, have obliged her to alter her mind ten times within three weeks'; during which time the poet had been staying in town, expecting to go with the lady into Oxfordshire; with such a fortune,' he says, 'it would be ridiculous for her to know her own mind, - I who know mine, do intend to go to Cambridge,' &c. To the same correspondent he writes (Oct. 21, 1760) that he never had any expectations from Lady Cobham, though 'the world said, before her death, that Mrs Speed and I had shut ourselves up with her in order to make her will, and that afterwards we were to be married.' In Jan. 1762 to the same he writes that his 'old friend Miss Speed has done what the world calls a very foolish thing. She has married the Baron de la Peyriere, son to the Sardinian minister, the Comte de Viry. He is about 28 years old (ten years younger than herself) but looks nearer 40; he is good-natured and honest and no conjurer' (for which expression cf. l. 128, n. infra). 'The castle of Viry is in Savoy, a few miles from Geneva, commanding a fine view of the Lake. What she has done with her money I know not; but (I suspect) kept it to herself. Her religion she need not change, but she must never expect to be well received at that court till she does: and I do not think she will make quite a Julie in the country' (an allusion to the heroine of Rousseau's Nouvelle Heloïse). In 1766 Gray saw her once more; her husband was then Sardinian minister in London; 'she was a prodigious fine lady, and a Catholick, and fatter than she was: she had a cage of foreign birds and a piping bullfinch at her elbow, two little dogs on a cushion in her lap, a cockatoo on her shoulder, and a suspicion of rouge on her cheeks.'
When next we hear of her, Gray has been dead four years. Her husband's father being dead too, she is the Countess Viry, and Walpole describes her (Aug. and Sept. 1775) as having completed the conquest of France by her behaviour and the fetes she gave in honour of the wedding of Madame Clotilde (sister of Louis XVI.) to the Prince of Piedmont. She has developed since Bentley pictured her (unless he flattered), for Walpole talks of her 'large cheeks.' Her husband was ambassador in France, but had in 1777 a 'sad fall,' - he was 'arrested at Susa and ordered to present himself twice a day to the governor. 'Madame has leave to go where she pleases,' says Walpole, but notes that 'she was supposed to be the cause of her husband's disgrace, as very intriguing,' - inducing him to try to make himself prime minister. 'Lord Shelburne, who was her friend, prevailed on the king to obtain their pardon in 1783, about which time she died suddenly' - in fact, just as she was about to come to England again, early in that year.
Mr Gosse says that Lady Cobham 'was unaware that Gray and she had lived together in the same country parish for several years.' She may well have been unaware of it, for it was probably not the case. Up to the time of her husband's death in 1749 she may be supposed to have lived at Stowe, and to have retired to Stoke Pogis because the house there was her own, her father having purchased it in 1720. Stowe passed into other hands on her husband's decease. At Stoke Pogis Lady Cobham was, I take it, a new-comer, and doubtless consulted 'Fame, in the shape of Mr Purt' about persons worth knowing in the neighbourhood. 'Stoke-house and the manor were sold by her heirs to William Penn, Esq., chief proprietor of Pensylvania....... It was pulled down in 1789 by Mr Penn, who has built an elegant modern mansion not far from its site from a design by Mr Wyatt.' (Lysons, Magna Britannia, I. p. 637).
The same Mr Penn erected the monument to Gray which stands in the field by the churchyard of Stoke Pogis."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 167-170.

Title/Paratext] "[Regarding the last sentence of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"[Regarding the last sentence of the fourth paragraph of the previous note, D. C. Tovey comments:] I am inclined to suspect this identification of Miss Speed in Bentley's design. She may be the more robust of the two ladies."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 292.

Title/Paratext] "[Lady Cobham, then living at [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"[Lady Cobham, then living at Stoke Poges, after reading the Elegy was anxious to make Gray's acquaintance. Miss Speed and Lady Schaub, who were staying with her, brought this about by calling on the poet. They found him out, but Gray returned the call and so the acquaintance began. Gray wrote an account of this first visit, which he called 'A Long Story'. The MS. at Pembroke is dated August 1750; the poem cannot have been finished before October, because of the allusion to Macleane in line 120. It was only once published with Gray's authority in his lifetime, in the Six Poems with Bentley's Designs in 1753, from which the present text is taken and from which Bentley's sketch drawing of Stoke Manor, after a rough sketch by Gray, is reproduced [on the next page]. It was also printed in the Dublin edition of 1768.]"

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 102.

Title/Paratext] "This appeared in the first [...]" W.C. Eppstein, 1959.

"This appeared in the first edition of Gray's collected works, the volume being entitled Designs by Mr. R. Bentley for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray. The frontispiece is of interest as showing Gray himself in a forest glade, his face overcast with ''white melancholy''.
The ''ancient pile'' of the poem is the mansion-house of Stoke Pogis, the residence of Lady Cobham, while Mr. Purt was an Eton master and an acquaintance of the poet. The reference to poets as wicked imps and vermin reminds one that by a statute of Elizabeth, 39, c. 4, minstrels were declared to be ''rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars''."

Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited by W. C. Eppstein. London and Glasgow: Blackie & Son Ltd., 1959, xxv-xxvi.

Title/Paratext] "First published in B[entley's Designs], [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"First published in B[entley's Designs], the text followed here. B is the only text to be printed with Gray's approval, though in some respects C[ommonplace] B[ook] (and perhaps even Gt [Garrett Library MS.]) may more closely approach his preference. Terminal quotation marks have been added to ll. 128, 134, 140."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 43.

Title/Paratext] "Although there are no noticeable [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Although there are no noticeable gaps between the stanzas, the first line of each stanza (save ll. 1, 81, 142 in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and ll. 1, 49, 97 in G[arret]t [Library MS.]) is indented in CB, Gt, and M[ason]. In CB Aug: 1750 is written in the upper right corner of p. 651, although the Aug: is probably a slip of memory; see explanatory notes, Whibley's article [... ''Gray's Own Copy of A Long Story'' Essays and Studies by Members of the English Association, 1937, ed. S. C. Roberts, xxiii (Oxford, 1938), 55-57], and textual note to l. 120."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 43.

Title/Paratext] "The Dowager Viscountess Cobham, whose [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"The Dowager Viscountess Cobham, whose father had bought the Manor House at Stoke Poges, when she learned that the author of the Elegy was a neighbour, sent two friends, Miss Henrietta Jane Speed (later the Countess de Viry) and Lady Schaub, the French wife of Sir Luke Schaub, to call on Gray. Since he was not at home, they left a note, and Gray returned the call. A friendship quickly developed, and as a result Gray wrote this poem. Gray wrote to Beattie (T & W no. 457) concerning the omission of the poem from Dodsley's P[oems, 1768]: '[I] added, that I would send him a few explanatory notes, & if he would omitt entirely the Long Story (wch was never meant for the publick, and only suffer'd to appear in that pompous edition [B[entley]] because of Mr Bentley's designs, wch were not intelligible without it) I promised to send him some thing else to print instead of it. ...' Although C[ommonplace] B[ook] is dated Aug. 1750, Gray must still have been revising the poem as late as October, as his note to l. 120 indicates. For further details concerning the individuals mentioned see T & W, pp. 330-4. As Mason and Mitford note, the style owes a marked debt to Prior."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 224/225.

Title/Paratext] "Written between Aug. and Oct. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Written between Aug. and Oct. 1750. Mason, Memoirs pp.211-12, describes the occasion of the poem in detail. G[ray]., who was staying at Stoke Poges, had sent the completed Elegy to Walpole on 12 June 1750 and it rapidly passed into MS circulation:
'Amongst the rest of the fashionable world, for to these only it was at present communicated, Lady Cobham, who now lived at the mansion-house at Stoke-Pogis, had read and admired it. She wished to be acquainted with the author; accordingly her relation Miss Speed and Lady Schaub, then at her house, undertook to bring this about by making him the first visit. He happened to be from home, when the Ladies arrived at his Aunt's solitary mansion; and, when he returned, was surprized to find, written on one of his papers in the parlour where he usually read, the following note: ''Lady Schaub's compliments to Mr. Gray; she is sorry not to have found him at home, to tell him that Lady Brown is very well.'' This necessarily obliged him to return the visit, and soon after induced him to compose a ludicrous account of this little adventure for the amusement of the Ladies in question.'
Lady Cobham, the widow of Sir Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (d. 1749), was the daughter of Edmund Halsey of Stoke Poges, who had purchased the Manor House in about 1720. Lady Cobham lived there after her husband's death with her niece Henrietta Speed (1728-83), to whom she left a considerable fortune at her death in 1760. Miss Speed disappointed the contemporary rumour that she would marry G. (Corresp ii 704) by marrying in 1761 Joseph de Viry, the Sardinian Minister in London. (For further information, see Corresp i 331 n 1). Lady Schaub (d. 1793) was French and had married Sir Luke Schaub (d. 1758), a naturalized Swiss, who had been secretary to Lord Cobham when he was ambassador at Vienna in 1715. Lady Brown, whose acquaintance with G. grave the ladies the formal excuse for the visit, was the daughter of the Hon. Robert Cecil and wife of Sir Robert Brown, a merchant who had at one time been Paymaster of the Works."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 142.

Title/Paratext] "There is some interesting information [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"There is some interesting information about the history of the Manor House at Stoke, and about the Cobhams and Miss Speed's relations with G[ray]., in John Penn's Historical and Descriptive Account of Stoke Park (1813). Penn also prints his own sequel to A Long Story and there is another sequel to it in Henry Pye, Verses on Several Occasions (1801)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

Title/Paratext] "G[ray]. dated the poem 'Aug: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. dated the poem 'Aug: 1750' in his Commonplace Book (ii 651-2), but there is a reference in l. 120 to the trial of the highwayman James Macleane on 13 Sept. 1750 and G.'s note about Macleane - 'A famous Highwayman hang'd the week before' - has also been taken to prove that the poem could not have been completed before 10 Oct. 1750, a week after Macleane's execution on 3 Oct. (see l. 120 n). But G.'s own dating of the poem may not have been as erroneous as has been suggested. The visits to and from the Manor House may well have taken place in Aug. 1750, G. beginning the poem then and adding the reference to Macleane in l. 120 in mid-Sept., when his trial excited much interest. The reference in the poem itself is only to the trial and not to the execution on 3 Oct., which is mentioned only in G.'s footnote. In a MS of the poem (now in the J. W. Garrett Library of Johns Hopkins University) described by L. Whibley in 'Notes on two manuscripts of Gray', Essays and Studies xxiii (1937) 55-7, G.'s note to l. 120 describes Macleane as 'hanged last Week' - which proves only that the note and MS, and not necessarily the poem, can be dated c. 10 Oct. 1750. This MS cannot be the original sent to the ladies at the Manor House, as G.'s footnotes refer to them in the third-person and explain domestic matters which would be immediately obvious to them. G. clearly made this copy, and annotated it, for some friend, possibly Walpole. G. had changed the wording of his original note to 'hang'd the week before' by the time of the transcription into his Commonplace Book, apparently without realizing that this would now appear to affect the date of the whole poem. It seems most probable, then, that the poem was written between Aug. and mid-Sept. 1750.
A Long Story quickly followed the Elegy into MS circulation, although some of the admirers of the earlier poem were evidently puzzled by the contrast offered by this metrical tale in the manner of Prior. Such a confusion may even be detected in Miss Speed's undated first acknowledgement of the poem (Corresp i 331-4; the dating of the poem proposed here will alter that of this letter suggested by G.'s editors): 'I am as much at a loss to bestow the Commendation due to your performance as any of our modern Poets would be to imitate them; Every body that has seen it, is charm'd and Lady Cobham was the first, tho' not the last that regretted the loss of the 400 stanzas' (see l. 140 n). In Dec. 1750 G. was stating defensively that these 'Verses ... were wrote to divert that particular Family, & succeeded accordingly, but, being shew'd about in Town, are not liked there at all' (Corresp i 335). Mason, Memoirs p. 211, recalled that, when the poem was 'handed about in manuscript, nothing could be more various than the opinions concerning it; by some it was thought a master-piece of original humour, by others a wild and fantastic farrago; and when it was published, the sentiments of good judges were equally divided about it.'
The poem was published only once in G.'s lifetime with his approval, in Designs by Mr R. Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr T. Gray in March 1753. Mason, Memoirs p. 227, states that G. allowed it to be published, 'not without clearly foreseeing that he risked somewhat by the publication of it ... and indeed the event shewed his judgement to be true in this particular, as it proved the least popular of all his productions.' In 1767, when Dodsley was planning the collected edn of G.'s Poems published in the following year, G. was anxious that A Long Story should be omitted. As he wrote to Beattie (Corresp iii 982), G. had told Dodsley that 'if he would omitt entirely the Long Story (wch was never meant for the publick, & only suffer'd to appear in that pompous edition because of Mr Bentley's designs, wch were not intelligible without it) I promised to send him some thing else to print instead of it'. Accordingly, he allowed Dodsley to print three of his translations from the Norse and Welsh and A Long Story was dropped. It had, however, been appearing in various unauthorized collections of his verse in Ireland, as well as in later edns of the Designs in 1765 and 1766, and it was reprinted in 1768 in edns of his poems at Dublin and Cork. Mason did not include it in the Poems in 1775, but printed it instead in the Memoirs pp. 214-20."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 142-144.

Title/Paratext] "This poem was written while [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"This poem was written while Gray was staying at Stoke Poges. Two friends of Lady Cobham, who lived nearby and was an admirer of the Elegy, were sent to seek the poet out. Gray hated publicity, but in this case he succumbed and was to be a great friend of one of these ladies - a certain Miss Speed."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

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1 In Britain's isle, no matter where, 2 Explanatory

1.1-6 In ... where,] "The first line of Parnell's [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The first line of Parnell's ''Fairy Tale'' is: - ''In Britain's Isle, and Arthur's days.''"

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 231.

1.1-6 In ... where,] "G[ray]. aimed at a ballad-like [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. aimed at a ballad-like opening. Cp. 'Lord Henry and Katherine' in The Tea-Table Miscellany (10th edn, 1740) iv 409, which begins 'In ancient times, in Britain's isle'; and Parnell, A Fairy Tale in the Ancient English Style, beginning 'In Britain's isle and Arthur's days'. G. seems also to have remembered two lines in Henry Brooke's 'The Female Seducers' in Edward Moore's Fables for the Female Sex (1744): 'Within this sublunary sphere, / A country lies - no matter where'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

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2 An ancient pile of building stands: 4 Explanatory, 1 Textual

2.1-6 An ... stands:] "The mansion-house at Stoke-Pogeis, then [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"The mansion-house at Stoke-Pogeis, then in the possession of Viscountess Cobham. The house formerly belonged to the Earls of Huntingdon and the family of Hatton. - [Mason.] Sir Edmond Coke's mansion at Stoke-Pogeis, now the seat of Mr. Penn, was the scene of Gray's Long Story. The antique chimneys have been allowed to remain as vestiges of the Poet's fancy, and a column with a statue of Coke marks the former abode of its illustrious inhabitant. - [Mit.] See also Gosse's Life of Gray, pp. 100-104."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1912 [1st ed. 1884], vol. i, 83.

2.1-3 An ... pile] "The mansion at Stoke was [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The mansion at Stoke was then occupied by Lady Cobham. It had previously belonged to the Earls of Huntingdon and the Hatton family (but see note on v. 11)."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 144.

2.1-6 An ... stands:] "Sir Edward Coke's mansion at [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Sir Edward Coke's mansion at Stoke-Poges, now the seat of Mr. Penn, was the scene of Gray's ''Long Story.'' The antique chimneys have been allowed to remain as vestiges of the Poet's fancy, and a column with a statue of Coke marks the former abode of its illustrious inhabitant. - Mitford
The Mr. Penn who bought the mansion on the death of Lady Cobham in 1760, was a son of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, and it remained in the possession of the Penn family until 1848, when it was bought by the Rt. Hon. H. Labouchere (Baron Taunton), and by him sold to Mr. Edward Coleman, from whom it was purchased in 1887 by Mr. Wilberforce Bryant. For further information and illustrations of Stoke see the ''Universal Review'' for May, 1889, and ''Cathedrals, Abbeys and Churches of England and Wales,'' Cassell and Co., Part 13."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 231/232.

2.3 pile] "The Manor House at Stoke [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The Manor House at Stoke Poges."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

2.5 building] "Misprinted buildings in Mr. Gosse's [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Misprinted buildings in Mr. Gosse's edition."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

Add a note or query to this line

3 The Huntingdons and Hattons there 4 Explanatory, 2 Textual

3.1-4 The ... Hattons] "'Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, rebuilt the manor-house in the reign of Elizabeth. The estate was soon afterwards seized by the Crown for a debt. King James the First, about the year 1621, granted the manor in fee to Lord Chief Justice Coke, who appears to have held it many years before as lessee under the Crown. In 1601, being then Attorney-General, he entertained Queen Elizabeth very sumptuously at this place, and presented her Majesty with jewels to the value of 1000 or ,1200.... Sir Edward Coke died at Stoke Pogis. The house it appears was settled on his lady, who was relict of Sir William Hatton (nephew of the Lord Chancellor Hatton).' Lysons, Magna Britannia, 1. pp. 635, 636.
It would seem that Gray's references to the Hattons are justified, if at all, by the fact that the house was settled on Lady Coke, and that at some entertainment given there 'my grave Lord Keeper' might possibly have led the brawls. Lysons tells us also that 'the ''dim windows that excluded the light'' were filled with the arms of the family of Hastings and its alliances, those of Sir Edward Coke, and many of his great contemporaries in the law.' That the Hattons had anything to do with building the pile does not appear. 'The chimneys of the ancient house still remain, to mark the locality; a column, on which is fixed a statue of Coke erected by Mr Penn, consecrates the former abode of its illustrious inhabitant.' (D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, p. 365, one vol. edit. of 1854.)"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 170.

3.1-5 The ... there] "Expl. note in margin of [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note in margin of G[arret]t [Library MS.]: N: B: the House was built by the Earls of Huntingdon, & came from them to Sr Christopher[,] afterwards Ld Keeper, Hatton, prefer'd by Q: Elizabeth for his graceful Person & fine Dancing."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 43.

3.1-5 The ... there] "The Earl of Huntingdon rebuilt [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"The Earl of Huntingdon rebuilt the manor in the time of Elizabeth. It was later held by the Hatton family, but it is not certain that Sir Christopher Hatton lived there."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

3.1-5 The ... there] "N:B: the House was built [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"N:B: the House was built by the Earls of Huntingdon, & came from them to S[i]r Christopher afterwards L[or]d Keeper, Hatton, prefer'd by Q: Elizabeth for his graceful Person & fine Dancing.   Garrett. Commonplace Book has a shorter version of this note."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

3.1-5 The ... there] "According to John Penn, Historical [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"According to John Penn, Historical and Descriptive Account of Stoke Park (1813) pp. 14-15, Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon (1535-95), rebuilt the Manor House in about 1555. Financial difficulties later forced him to mortgage it (in about 1580), 'during which time it was occupied by Lord Chancellor Sir Christopher Hatton, the celebrated favourite of Queen Elizabeth'. The evidence for this tradition is uncertain but it seems to correspond to G[ray].'s allusion. It may have arisen from the fact the Lord Chief Justice Coke, who later held it as lessee under the crown and entertained Queen Elizabeth there in 1601, married the relict of Sir William Hatton, nephew of the Lord Chancellor."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

3.1-5 The ... there] "The Huntingdons and Hattons had [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"The Huntingdons and Hattons had built the 'ancient pile' of the Manor House at Stoke Poges."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line

4 Employed the power of fairy hands 1 Explanatory

4.5-6 fairy hands] "A fancy more suited to [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"A fancy more suited to the Arthurian legend than to the days of the Huntingdons and Hattons. But Gray feels bound to idealize the past as well as the present story of the house, where 'the power of magic was no fable.'"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 170.

Add a note or query to this line


5 To raise the ceiling's fretted height, 2 Explanatory, 2 Textual

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], probably by an oversight, for in C[ommonplace] B[ook] they are written in the margin with the present position indicated by an asterisk."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in Garrett; written in [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Omitted in Garrett; written in margin for insertion in Commonplace Book."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

5.5 fretted] "See n. on Elegy, l. [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"See n. on Elegy, l. 39."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 170.

5.5 fretted] "Cp. 'fretted vault', Elegy 39 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. 'fretted vault', Elegy 39 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

Add a note or query to this line

6 Each panel in achievements clothing, 4 Explanatory, 2 Textual

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], probably by an oversight, for in C[ommonplace] B[ook] they are written in the margin with the present position indicated by an asterisk."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in Garrett; written in [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Omitted in Garrett; written in margin for insertion in Commonplace Book."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

6.4 achievements] "Escutcheons, most commonly (in the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Escutcheons, most commonly (in the form 'hatchments') used of the coat-of-arms of a newly-deceased person, publicly displayed. So Dryden uses 'achievements' (in the funeral of Arcite), Palamon and Arcite, l. 932,

''The steed, that bore him living to the fight,
Was cover'd with the achievements of the knight.''"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 170/171.

6.4 achievements] "Representations of (heraldic) arms." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Representations of (heraldic) arms."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

6.4 achievements] "Escutcheons or heraldic representations of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Escutcheons or heraldic representations of arms granted for great actions. Cp. Dryden, Palamon and Arcite iii 932, where Arcite's horse is 'cover'd with th'Atchievements of the Knight'. According to Daniel and Samuel Lysons, Magna Britannia (1806) i 635-6, the windows of the Manor House 'were filled with the arms of the family of Hastings and its alliances, those of Sir Edward Coke, and many of his great contemporaries in the law'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144/145.

6.4 achievements] "coats of arms." J. Reeves, 1973.

"coats of arms."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line

7 Rich windows that exclude the light, 1 Explanatory, 2 Textual

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], probably by an oversight, for in C[ommonplace] B[ook] they are written in the margin with the present position indicated by an asterisk."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in Garrett; written in [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Omitted in Garrett; written in margin for insertion in Commonplace Book."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

7.1-6 Rich ... light,] "Milton, Il Penseroso 159-60: 'And [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Il Penseroso 159-60: 'And storied Windows richly dight / Casting a dimm religious light'; Pope, Eloisa to Abelard 144: 'And the dim windows shed a solemn light'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

Add a note or query to this line

8 And passages that lead to nothing. 2 Textual

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Omitted in G[arret]t [Library MS.], probably by an oversight, for in C[ommonplace] B[ook] they are written in the margin with the present position indicated by an asterisk."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

5.1 - 8.6 To ... nothing.] "Omitted in Garrett; written in [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Omitted in Garrett; written in margin for insertion in Commonplace Book."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 144.

Add a note or query to this line


9 Full oft within the spacious walls,
10 When he had fifty winters o'er him, 1 Explanatory, 1 Textual

10.1-7 When ... him,] "Note. S[i]r Christ. Hatton, promoted [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Note. S[i]r Christ. Hatton, promoted by Queen Elizabeth ... Various reading[] in Pembroke MS."

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 175.

10.4-5 fifty winters] "At the time of his [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"At the time of his great exploit as Lord Chancellor he was 49, according to Dr Phelps."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 171.

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11 My grave Lord-Keeper led the brawls; 10 Explanatory, 3 Textual

11.1-3 My ... Lord-Keeper] "Cf. Naunton's famous sketch: ''Sir [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Cf. Naunton's famous sketch: ''Sir Christopher Hatton came into the Court as his opposite, Sir Iohn Perrot, was wont to say by the Galliard, for he came thither as a Private Gentleman of the Innes of Court in a Mask; and for his activity and person, which was tall and proportionable, taken into favour: he was first made Vice-Chamberlain, and shortly afterward advanced to the place of Lord Chancellor: a Gentleman, that besides the graces of his person, and dancing, had also the adjectaments of a strong and subtill capacity, one that could soon learn the discipline and garb both of the times and Court; the truth is, he had a large proportion of gifts and endowments, but too much of the season of envy; and he was a meer vegetable of the Court, that sprung up at night, and sunk again at his noon.'' Sir Robert Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia, 1653 (written probably about 1630), ed. Arber, p. 44. Hatton was made Lord Chancellor in 1587.
Gray has perhaps purposely mixed up Hatton's two famous dancing exploits (a) that in his youth, by which he danced himself into Queen Elizabeth's favor; (b) that which has given rise to the ''Lie there, Lord Chancellor'' anecdote. The famous incident of Hatton's dancing when Lord Chancellor is derived from a letter from Captain Francis Allen to Anthony Bacon, 17 August 1589, excerpted by Sir Harris Nicolas, Life and Times of Hatton, 1847, p. 478: ''My Lord Chancellor's heir, Sir William Hatton, hath married Judge Gawdy's daughter and heir; and my Lord Chancellor danced the measures at the solemnity. He left the gown in the chair, saying 'Lie thou there, Chancellor.' '' Hatton was then 49 years old (born 1540). Nicolas shows that Gray was ''mistaken in supposing that Sir Christopher Hatton ever owned Stoke Pogeis, or even resided there. The manor house was re-built, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by Henry Earl of Huntingdon; and Sir Edward Coke, who had married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Earl of Exeter, and second wife and widow of Sir William Hatton, the Chancellor's nephew, held it as lessee under the Crown in 1601, in which year he entertained the Queen there; and about 1621 it was granted to him by King James the First,'' etc. Nicolas, p. 479. A full account of the vicissitudes of ownership may be found in Lysons, Magna Britannia, 1806, I, i, 635 ff."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 144/145.

11.1-6 My ... brawls;] "The residence of Sir Christopher [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The residence of Sir Christopher Hatton at Stoke is doubted by his biographer, Sir Harris Nicolas, who believes the tradition originated in the marriage of his widow with Sir E. Coke, to whom Stoke Mansion belonged, and by whom Queen Elizabeth was entertained there."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

11.1-3 My ... Lord-Keeper] "Cf. Sir Robert Naunton's sketch [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Cf. Sir Robert Naunton's sketch (cited by Phelps): ''Sir Christopher Hatton came into the Court as his opposite, Sir John Perrot, was wont to say by the Galliard, for he came thither as a Private Gentleman of the Innes of Court in a Mask; and for his activity and person, which was tall and proportionable, taken into favour; he was first made Vice-Chamberlain, and shortly afterward advanced to the place of Lord Chancellor: a Gentleman, that besides the graces of his person, and dancing, had also the adjectaments of a strong and subtill capacity, one that could soon learn the discipline and garb both of the times and Court; the truth is, he had a large proportion of gifts and endowments, but too much of the season of envy; and he was a meer vegetable of the Court, that sprung up at night, and sunk again at his noon.'' (Fragmenta Regalia, ed. Arber, p. 44.)
The famous incident of Hatton's dancing when Lord Chancellor is derived from a letter from Captain Francis Allen to Anthony Bacon, 17 August 1589, 'My Lord Chancellor's heir, Sir William Hatton, hath married Judge Gowdy's daughter and heir; and my Lord Chancellor danced the measures at the solemnity. He left the gown in the chair, saying ''Lie thou there, Chancellor.''[']   Phelps."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 171.

11.1-3 My ... Lord-Keeper] "Hatton was born in 1540 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Hatton was born in 1540 and was Lord Chancellor, not Lord Keeper, the two offices not being united until 1757. Sir Robert Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia (1641), ed. E. Arber (1870) p. 44, mentions 'the graces of his person, and dancing'. G[ray]. may have been referring to an incident at the marriage of Hatton's nephew in June 1589: 'At the festivities which followed, Hatton divested himself of his gown, and, placing it in his chair with 'Lie thou there, chancellor,' joined the dancers' (DNB)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

11.1-6 My ... brawls;] "Sir Christopher Hatton had been [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"Sir Christopher Hatton had been Queen Elizabeth's Lord Keeper. The seal and maces were the insignia of his office."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

11.3 Lord-Keeper] "In Garrett this information [i.e. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In Garrett this information [i.e. Gray's note to this line] appears as a note to l. 3 and in Commonplace Book the note begins S[i]r Christ. Hatton, promoted by Queen Elizabeth etc. and refers to l. 10."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

11.6 brawls;] "''A kind of French dance [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"''A kind of French dance resembling a cotillon.''. Murray (who gives abundant illustrative quotations). What the letter says the Lord Chancellor actually did is, - to dance in the measures, slow, sedate dances, minuets."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 145.

11.6 brawls;] "brawls were a sort of [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"brawls were a sort of French figure-dance, then in vogue. See ''England's Helicon'' and Ben Jonson's ''Masque'': - ''And thence did Venus learn to lead / The Idalian brawls.''"

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

11.6 brawls;] "'A kind of French dance [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'A kind of French dance resembling a cotillon.' Murray. Cf. 'a French brawl,' Love's Labour's Lost, III. 9, followed by a play on the word as meaning 'quarrel.' The word here is a corruption of the French bransle (now branle), the first meaning of which is 'a swinging from side to side,' 'cloches en branle,' for example, are bells at full swing, 'donner le branle' is to set a thing in movement. According to Littre all dances may be so called in which one or two dancers lead the rest, who repeat 'ce qu'ont fait les premiers.' He instances 'le grand-pere' and 'le cotillon.' Phelps points out that the Lord Chancellor is said to have danced 'in the measures, slow, sedate dances, minuets.' But Littre tells us, 'Il y a, ou plutot il y avait, des branles serieux; ceux qu'on donnait aux bals de Louis XIV, et qui sont decrits dans le Maitre a danser du sieur Rameau, etaient fort graves.' The Lord Keeper may possibly have 'led the brawls' and yet 'kept his gravity,' as he would need to do, if instead of putting aside the signs of office, as history affirms, he had the officials who bore the Great Seal and the Maces dancing before him (l. 12)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 171/172.

11.6 brawls;] "Expl. note attached to Brawls [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note attached to Brawls in G[arret]t [Library MS.]: an old-fashion'd Dance."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

11.6 brawls;] "Brawls were a sort of [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Brawls were a sort of figure-dance, then in vogue, and probably deemed as elegant as our modern Cotillions, or still more modern Quadrilles. M[ason]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

11.6 brawls;] "[Note:] an old fashion'd Dance. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"[Note:] an old fashion'd Dance.   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

11.6 brawls;] "The word derives from French [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The word derives from French bransles. Cotgrave (1611) defines it as a dance 'wherein many [men and women] holding by the hands sometimes in a ring, and otherwhiles at length move altogether'. Cp. Jonson, The Vision of Delight 228-9: 'And thence did Venus learne to tread / Th'Idalian Braules.' In Peter Whalley's edn of Jonson, 1756, vi 27, 'tread' is replaced by 'lead' and a note comments: 'To lead a Brawl would be odd English now.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

Add a note or query to this line

12 The Seal and Maces danced before him. 2 Explanatory

12.2-4 Seal ... Maces] "The symbols of Sir Christopher's [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"The symbols of Sir Christopher's office borne before him by subordinates."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

12.2-4 Seal ... Maces] "The officials who bore the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The officials who bore the Great Seal and the Maces, the insignia of the Lord Chancellor."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

Add a note or query to this line


13 His bushy beard and shoe-strings green, 1 Explanatory

13.1-3 His ... beard] "The usual portrait of Hatton [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The usual portrait of Hatton represents him with a full but not shaggy beard. The reason for Gray's epithet may be seen from the following interesting passage in Joseph Spence's Polymetis, dialogue vi, 2d ed., London, 1755, p. 52: ''It is true we scarce ever see a full beard on any but the lowest sort of people among us; and that has given us a mean idea of the thing itself. Nature perhaps designed it for the ornament of old age; but custom has got the better of her. ... A full beard still carries that idea of majesty with it, all over the East: which it may, possibly, have had ever since the times of the patriarchal government there. The Grecians had a share of this oriental notion of it. The very name is apt to carry something low and rude along with it among us.'' The two styles of trimming the beard in vogue in the Elizabethan time were the bodkin cut (the peaked beard which we are apt to regard as peculiarly Elizabethan) and the ''bush'' (see Lyly's Endimion, iii, 3); but it is not likely that Gray had this distinction in mind."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 145.

Add a note or query to this line

14 His high-crowned hat and satin-doublet,
15 Moved the stout heart of England's Queen,
16 Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it. 2 Explanatory

16.1-4 Though ... Spaniard] "Referring to the defeat of [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Referring to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Pope refers more strictly to the papal opposition to Queen Elizabeth, which found its most decided expression in the bull of Pius V. (1570), which released English Catholics from their allegiance and declared that Elizabeth had no right to her crown."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 145/146.

16.1-4 Though ... Spaniard] "No doubt a reference to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"No doubt a reference to the Armada and perhaps to the fact that Elizabeth was excommunicated by Pope Pius V in 1570."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

Add a note or query to this line


17 What, in the very first beginning!
18 Shame of the versifying tribe!
19 Your history whither are you spinning?
20 Can you do nothing but describe? 2 Textual

20.2 you] "ye G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"ye G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

20.2 you] "ye   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"ye   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 145.

Add a note or query to this line


21 A house there is (and that's enough)
22 From whence one fatal morning issues
23 A brace of warriors, not in buff, 4 Explanatory

23.1-4 A ... warriors,] "Lady Schaub and Miss Speed." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Lady Schaub and Miss Speed."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

23.7 buff,] "A leather military coat." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A leather military coat."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

23.7 buff,] "A military coat, usually whitish-yellow, [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"A military coat, usually whitish-yellow, originally made of ox-hide. Here there is also a pun on the other meaning of buff - bare skin."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

23.7 buff,] "'A military coat made of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'A military coat made of thick leather, so that a blow cannot easily pierce it' (Johnson). But the sense of buff as 'stark naked' may also be entailed."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

Add a note or query to this line

24 But rustling in their silks and tissues.

25 The first came cap-a-pee from France 8 Explanatory

25.1-2 The first] "Lady Schaub." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Lady Schaub."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

25.1-2 The first] "Lady Schaub, a Frenchwoman. (See [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Lady Schaub, a Frenchwoman. (See Introd. note.)"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

25.1-2 The first] "Lady Schaub." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Lady Schaub."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

25.1-2 The first] "Lady Schaub (see headnote)." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Lady Schaub (see headnote)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

25.4 cap-a-pee] "From head to foot, at [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"From head to foot, at all points. Gray means she was dressed in the latest French style."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

25.4 cap-a-pee] "'Cap-a-pee' perhaps implies also that [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'Cap-a-pee' perhaps implies also that she was dressed in the height of French fashion."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

25.4 cap-a-pee] "'Cap-a-pee' means literally from head [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'Cap-a-pee' means literally from head to foot; G[ray]. perhaps refers to her fashionable French clothes. Cp. Hamlet I ii 200 and Dryden, Palamon and Arcite iii 489: 'Arm'd Cap-a-pe, with Rev'rence low they bent.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

25.4 cap-a-pee] "literally from head to foot. [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"literally from head to foot. Gray probably refers to her clothes."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line

26 Her conquering destiny fulfilling,
27 Whom meaner beauties eye askance, 1 Explanatory

27.1-5 Whom ... askance,] "'You meaner beauties of the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'You meaner beauties of the night', Wotton, On the Queen of Bohemia 1."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

Add a note or query to this line

28 And vainly ape her art of killing.

29 The other Amazon kind heaven 6 Explanatory

29.1-3 The ... Amazon] "Miss Harriet Speed, or more [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Miss Harriet Speed, or more properly, Miss Henrietta Jane Speed. Their acquaintance led to an intimate friendship, which friends on both sides thought would result in marriage. At any rate, Miss Speed is the only lady whom Gray ever seems to have addressed or considered romantically. For further details, see Tovey, Gray and His Friends, section v."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

29.1 - 31.6 The ... given,] "Miss Speed, who, after the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Miss Speed, who, after the death of her father, Colonel Speed, was brought up in the family of Lord Cobham. Mason says she was a relation of Lady Cobham's. See ''Gray and his Friends.'' In a letter to Martha Blount, July 4, 1739, Pope refers to Lady Cobham and Miss Speed being at Stowe, the seat of Lord Cobham."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

29.1-2 The other] "Miss Speed. (See Introd. note.)" [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Miss Speed. (See Introd. note.)"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

29.1-2 The other] "Miss Speed, who had been [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Miss Speed, who had been brought up by the Cobhams."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

29.1-2 The other] "Miss Speed (see headnote)." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Miss Speed (see headnote)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

29.3 Amazon] "a race of female warriors [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"a race of female warriors in Greek mythology."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line

30 Had armed with spirit, wit, and satire: 2 Explanatory

29.1 - 31.6 The ... given,] "Miss Speed, who, after the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Miss Speed, who, after the death of her father, Colonel Speed, was brought up in the family of Lord Cobham. Mason says she was a relation of Lady Cobham's. See ''Gray and his Friends.'' In a letter to Martha Blount, July 4, 1739, Pope refers to Lady Cobham and Miss Speed being at Stowe, the seat of Lord Cobham."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

30.7 satire:] "Note the rhyme with 'nature.' D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Note the rhyme with 'nature.' It is Dryden's also, e.g.

''And wish for your own sakes, without a satire
You'd less good breeding, or had more good nature.''
    Prologue to Arviragus &c. (1690).
It is possible that Gray wrote 'satyr,' for that was the commonest spelling of 'satire' in his day; the Pembroke MS. would show whether this is so or not. The pronunciation is no doubt sater and nater."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

Add a note or query to this line

31 But Cobham had the polish given, 5 Explanatory

29.1 - 31.6 The ... given,] "Miss Speed, who, after the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Miss Speed, who, after the death of her father, Colonel Speed, was brought up in the family of Lord Cobham. Mason says she was a relation of Lady Cobham's. See ''Gray and his Friends.'' In a letter to Martha Blount, July 4, 1739, Pope refers to Lady Cobham and Miss Speed being at Stowe, the seat of Lord Cobham."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

31.2 Cobham] "Lady Cobham treated Miss Speed [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Lady Cobham treated Miss Speed as a daughter."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

31.2 Cobham] "Lady Cobham. (See Introd. note.)" [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Lady Cobham. (See Introd. note.)"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

31.2 Cobham] "For Lady Cobham, see headnote." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"For Lady Cobham, see headnote."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

31.2 Cobham] "Lady Cobham, owner of the [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"Lady Cobham, owner of the Manor House at Stoke Poges."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line

32 And tipped her arrows with good-nature.

33 To celebrate her eyes, her air— 2 Textual

33.4 eyes,] "Looks G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Looks G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

33.4 eyes,] "Looks   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Looks   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

Add a note or query to this line

34 Coarse panegyrics would but tease her.
35 Melissa is her nom de guerre. 5 Explanatory, 2 Textual

35.1 Melissa] "A beneficent fairy invented by [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"A beneficent fairy invented by the Italian poets."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 232.

35.1 Melissa] "Expl. note attached to Melissa, [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note attached to Melissa, G[arret]t [Library MS.]: She had been call'd by that Name in Verse before."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 44.

35.1 Melissa] "A kindly enchantress in Ariosto's [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"A kindly enchantress in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

35.1 Melissa] "[Note:] She had been call'd [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"[Note:] She had been call'd by that Name in Verse before.   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

35.4-6 nom ... guerre.] "'nom que chaque soldat prenait [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'nom que chaque soldat prenait autrefois en s'enrolant, par exemple, La Tulipe, Sans-Quartier.' Littre. Hence for a name fancifully assumed. It was the fashion with sentimental ladies of fashion to correspond with their friends or admirers under some such name - after the manner of Thackeray's Lady Lyndon. Miss Speed probably followed this fashion, unless, which is less likely, she owes her name to Gray. It is perhaps needless to assume that Lady Schaub and Miss Speed had never met Gray before. They may have met, for instance, at Lady Brown's."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

35.4-6 nom ... guerre.] "Cp. 'Fair Rosamond was but [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. 'Fair Rosamond was but her Nom de Guerre', Dryden, Epilogue to Henry II 6."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

35.4-6 nom ... guerre.] "literally 'name in war', an [...]" Alexander Huber, 2000.

"literally 'name in war', an assumed name."

Alexander Huber <huber@thomasgray.org> (SUB Göttingen), URL: http://www.thomasgray.org/. Contributed on Sat Oct 28 12:02:45 2000 GMT.

Add a note or query to this line

36 Alas, who would not wish to please her!

37 With bonnet blue and capucine, 6 Explanatory

37.5 capucine,] "''A female garment, consisting of [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"''A female garment, consisting of a cloak and hood, made in imitation of the dress of Capuchin friars; whence its name.'' Johnson."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

37.5 capucine,] "capucine, now spelt ''capuchin,'' a [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"capucine, now spelt ''capuchin,'' a cloak with a hood like that of the monks of the Capuchin order, so-called from their wearing this garment; the primary root is caput, the head, just as hood is another form of head."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 233.

37.5 capucine,] "A cloak with a hood, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"A cloak with a hood, like that worn by the Capuchins, of the order of St Francis, who were so called from wearing it. The word in this form seems to be unknown in French for an article of dress; the word for the friar's cloak is capuchon, for the lady's, after the same pattern, capote and capeline."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172.

37.5 capucine,] "A hooded cloak." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"A hooded cloak."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

37.5 capucine,] "Capuchin: 'a female garment of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Capuchin: 'a female garment of a cloak and hood, made in imitation of the dress of capuchin monks' (Johnson)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

37.5 capucine,] "a hood with a cloak [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"a hood with a cloak resembling the habit of a Capuchin monk."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line

38 And aprons long they hid their armour,
39 And veiled their weapons bright and keen
40 In pity to the country-farmer.

41 Fame in the shape of Mr. P[ur]t 7 Explanatory, 3 Textual

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "It has been said that [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"It has been said that this gentleman, a neighbour and acquaintance of Gray's in the country, was much displeased with the liberty here taken with his name: yet, surely, without any great reason. - [Mason.] Mr. Robert Purt was Fellow of King's Coll. Cant. 1738, A.B. 1742, A.M. 1746, was an assistant at Eton School, tutor to Lord Baltimore's son there, and afterwards to the Duke of Bridgewater; in 1749 he was presented to the rectory of Settrington in Yorkshire, which he held with Dorrington in the same county; he died in Ap. 1752 of the Small Pox. - [Isaac Reed.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1912 [1st ed. 1884], vol. i, 85.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "The Rev. Mr. Purt, Gray's [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The Rev. Mr. Purt, Gray's neighbor, who had informed Lady Cobham of the name and whereabouts of Gray. Mr. Purt was offended at his name's being mentioned in this poem."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "Mr. Robert Purt was Fellow [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mr. Robert Purt was Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1738, assistant master at Eton, and tutor to Lord Baltimore's son there; in 1749 he was presented to the rectory of Settrington in Yorkshire. He died in April, 1752, of the small-pox.
''It has been said that this gentleman, a neighbour and acquaintance of Gray's in the country, was much displeased with the liberty here taken with his name; yet, surely, without any great reason.'' - Mason."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 233.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "'Mr Robert Purt was Fellow [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'Mr Robert Purt was Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1738; A.B. 1742, A.M. 1746; was an assistant at Eton school, tutor to Lord Baltimore's son there, and afterwards to the Duke of Bridgewater; in 1749 he was presented to the living of Settrington, in Yorkshire, which he held with Dorrington in the same county. He died in April 1752 of the small-pox.' Isaac Reed.
From these dates it seems that he may have been about thirty-two or thirty-three at his death, two years after the Long Story was written.
'It has been said that this gentleman, a neighbour and acquaintance of Gray's in the country, was much displeased with the liberty here taken with his name: yet surely without any great reason.' Mason.
Gray printed 'Mr P--t,' and further disguised the name by a very bad rhyme. Poor Purt might have been more vexed still if he had lived to see himself figured by Bentley in 1753 as 'Fame blowing a trumpet.'"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 172/173.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "Mr. Purt Various reading[] in [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Mr. Purt Various reading[] in Pembroke MS."

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 175.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "[Robert Purt, Rector of Settrington.] H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"[Robert Purt, Rector of Settrington.] I have been told that this Gentleman, a neighbour and acquaintance of Mr. Gray's in the country, was much displeased at the liberty here taken with his name; yet, surely, without any great reason. M[ason]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "Robert Purt, Fellow of King's [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Robert Purt, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge 1738. He had taught at Eton and in 1749 had accepted a living at Settrington in Yorkshire. He died in April 1752. A note in Garrett [MS] describes him as 'a Clergyman, Tutor to the Duke of Bridgewater, who had first mentioned me to them [i.e. the ladies].' Mason later wrote, Memoirs p. 215 n: 'I have been told that this Gentleman, a neighbour and acquaintance of Mr. Gray's in the country, was much displeased at the liberty here taken with his name; yet, surely, without any great reason.' Bentley depicted him as Fame blowing a trumpet in one of his designs in 1753."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146/147.

41.6-7 Mr. P[ur]t] "Robert Purt who had told [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"Robert Purt who had told the ladies about Gray."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

41.7 P[ur]t] "Purt C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Purt C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library MS.]. Expl. note, Gt: A Clergyman, Tutor to the Duke of Bridgewater, who had first mention'd me to them, as their Neighbour."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 45.

41.7 P[ur]t] "Purt   Commonplace Book, Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Purt   Commonplace Book, Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 146.

Add a note or query to this line

42 (By this time all the parish know it)
43 Had told that thereabouts there lurked
44 A wicked imp they call a poet, 1 Explanatory

44.1-7 A ... poet,] "Dunciad ii 123-4: 'Three wicked [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Dunciad ii 123-4: 'Three wicked imps, of her own Grubstreet choir, / She deck'd like Congreve, Addison, and Prior.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line


45 Who prowled the country far and near, 1 Explanatory

45.1 - 48.8 Who ... pheasants.] "G[ray]. was probably imitating such [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. was probably imitating such passages as Midsummer Night's Dream II i 34-9: 'are not you he / That frights the maidens of the villagery; / Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern, / And bootless make the breathless housewife churn; / And sometime make the drink to bear no barm; / Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?' See also ll. 123-4. Cp. Jonson, Entertainment at Althrope 53-70; and Dryden, The Wife of Bath her Tale 1-45, which describes the victory of the parson over the 'wicked elves' of the parish and which G. appartently imitates later in the poem."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

46 Bewitched the children of the peasants, 1 Explanatory

45.1 - 48.8 Who ... pheasants.] "G[ray]. was probably imitating such [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. was probably imitating such passages as Midsummer Night's Dream II i 34-9: 'are not you he / That frights the maidens of the villagery; / Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern, / And bootless make the breathless housewife churn; / And sometime make the drink to bear no barm; / Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?' See also ll. 123-4. Cp. Jonson, Entertainment at Althrope 53-70; and Dryden, The Wife of Bath her Tale 1-45, which describes the victory of the parson over the 'wicked elves' of the parish and which G. appartently imitates later in the poem."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

47 Dried up the cows and lamed the deer, 1 Explanatory

45.1 - 48.8 Who ... pheasants.] "G[ray]. was probably imitating such [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. was probably imitating such passages as Midsummer Night's Dream II i 34-9: 'are not you he / That frights the maidens of the villagery; / Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern, / And bootless make the breathless housewife churn; / And sometime make the drink to bear no barm; / Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?' See also ll. 123-4. Cp. Jonson, Entertainment at Althrope 53-70; and Dryden, The Wife of Bath her Tale 1-45, which describes the victory of the parson over the 'wicked elves' of the parish and which G. appartently imitates later in the poem."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

48 And sucked the eggs and killed the pheasants. 1 Explanatory

45.1 - 48.8 Who ... pheasants.] "G[ray]. was probably imitating such [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. was probably imitating such passages as Midsummer Night's Dream II i 34-9: 'are not you he / That frights the maidens of the villagery; / Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern, / And bootless make the breathless housewife churn; / And sometime make the drink to bear no barm; / Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?' See also ll. 123-4. Cp. Jonson, Entertainment at Althrope 53-70; and Dryden, The Wife of Bath her Tale 1-45, which describes the victory of the parson over the 'wicked elves' of the parish and which G. appartently imitates later in the poem."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

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49 My lady heard their joint petition,
50 Swore by her coronet and ermine,
51 She'd issue out her high commission 4 Explanatory

51.1-6 She'd ... commission] "Alluding to Henry IV.'s edict [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Alluding to Henry IV.'s edict against Welsh bards. Mitford quotes as follows: ''And it is enacted, that no master-rimour, minstrel, or other vagabond, be in any wise sustained in the land of Wales, to make commoiths, or gatherings upon the people there.'' Mitford's note is defaced by two bad blunders, which Bradshaw repeats. This is the French text of the ordinance of 1403 from Wotton, Leges Wallicae, 1730, p. 548: ''Item, Pur eschiever plusours diseasz & meschefs quaunt advenuz devaunt cez heurez en la terre de Gales par plusours Wastours, Rymours, Ministralx & autres Vacabundez, ordenuz est & establez que nullez Wastours, Rymours, Ministralx ne Vacabundez soent ascunement sustenuz en la terre de Galez pur faire commortha ou coillage sur la commune poeple illoeques.'' Observe that Mitford's ''master-rimour'' is a mistake, and that ''commoiths'' should be ''commorths.'' In 1401 Henry IV. had also made a previous ordinance, much to the same effect. Henry IV.'s edicts were practically reenactments of Edward I.'s (see notes on the Bard). There were many other and more recent enactments against wandering minstrels."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

51.1-6 She'd ... commission] "''Henry the Fourth, in the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"''Henry the Fourth, in the fourth year of his reign, issued out the following commission against this species of vermin: - 'And it is enacted, that no master-rimour, minstrel, or other vagabond, be in any wise sustained in the land of Wales, to make commoiths, or gatherings upon the people there.' 'Vagabond,' says Ritson, 'was a title to which the profession had been long accustomed.' 'Beggars they are with one consent, / And rogues by act of parliament.' '' - Mitford."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 233.

51.1-6 She'd ... commission] "After the manner of Henry [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"After the manner of Henry IVth's edict against the Welsh bards, issued in the 4th year of his reign, a re-enactment of Edward the First's proceedings against them. According to this 'Rymours, Ministralx ne Vacabundez' are not to be 'sustenuz en la terre de Galez.' 'Vagabond,' says Ritson, 'was a title to which the profession had long been accustomed:

''Beggars they are with one consent
And rogues by act of parliament.'' '
      Pref. to Anc. Songs, p. 11.
There are still stronger Scotch statutes against them, some condemning them and 'such like fules' to lose their ears, and others their lives. By a law of Elizabeth the English minstrels were pronounced 'rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars,' 39 Eliz. c. 4, s. 2. See Ritson's Eng. Songs, I. liii. Barrington on the Statutes, p. 360. Dodsley, Old Plays, XII. p. 361. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, pp. 182-196. Puttenham, Art of Engl. Poesie (1569), lib. ii. c. 9. Mitford."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173.

51.1 - 52.7 She'd ... vermin.] "As in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"As in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century edicts against minstrels and vagabonds."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

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52 To rid the manor of such vermin. 1 Explanatory

51.1 - 52.7 She'd ... vermin.] "As in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"As in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century edicts against minstrels and vagabonds."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line


53 The heroines undertook the task;
54 Through lanes unknown, o'er stiles they ventured, 3 Explanatory

54.7 ventured,] "''Entered'' rimes with this word [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"''Entered'' rimes with this word here. This rime represents the common pronunciation of ''ventured'' at that time."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 146.

54.7 ventured,] "Pronounce venter'd, and cf. Goldsmith [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Pronounce venter'd, and cf. Goldsmith to Mrs. Bunbury (Aldine edition, p. 165),

''All smirking and pleasant and big with adventure,
And ogling the stake which is placed in the centre''
(written in 1774)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173.

54.7 ventured,] "For the rhyme, Tovey compares [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"For the rhyme, Tovey compares Goldsmith, Letter to Mrs Bunbury 3-4 (see p. 737 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

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55 Rapped at the door nor stayed to ask, 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

56 But bounce into the parlour entered. 2 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

56.2 bounce] "with a sudden jump; an [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"with a sudden jump; an adverb, like whisk, 79."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 233.

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57 The trembling family they daunt, 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

58 They flirt, they sing, they laugh, they tattle, 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

59 Rummage his mother, pinch his aunt, 4 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

59.2-3 his mother,] "Gray's mother and aunt lived [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray's mother and aunt lived together."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

59.3 mother,] "G[ray].'s mother was living at [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray].'s mother was living at Stoke with Mrs Rogers, the widow of his uncle, Jonathan Rogers."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

59.5-6 his aunt,] "Mrs Rogers, the widow of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Mrs Rogers, the widow of Jonathan Rogers; Gray's mother lived with her at this time."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173.

Add a note or query to this line

60 And up stairs in a whirlwind rattle. 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line


61 Each hole and cupboard they explore, 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

62 Each creek and cranny of his chamber, 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

63 Run hurry-skurry round the floor, 1 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

64 And o'er the bed and tester clamber, 3 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

64.6 tester] "A canopy over the bed." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A canopy over the bed."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

64.6 tester] "canopy over a bed." J. Reeves, 1973.

"canopy over a bed."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

Add a note or query to this line


65 Into the drawers and china pry, 3 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "Mitford remarks on the similarity [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Mitford remarks on the similarity between the style of this part of the Long Story and that of Prior's The Dove, and quotes the following stanzas (9, 25, 27) from Prior's poem:

''With one great peal they rap the door,
    Like footmen on a visiting day.
Folks at her house at such an hour!
    Lord! what will all the neighbours say?

''Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks;
    Through wardrobe and through closet bounces;
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.

''I marvel much, she smiling said,
    Your poultry cannot yet be found;
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or may be, in the tea-pot drowned!''"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "There is a very great [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"There is a very great similarity between the style of part of this poem and Prior's Tale of 'The Dove': as for instance in the following stanzas, which Gray, I think, must have had in his mind at the time:

''With one great peal they rap the door
    Like footmen on a visiting day:
Folks at her house at such an hour,
    Lord, what will all the neighbours say?
* * * * * *
Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks,
    Thro' wardrobe, and thro' closet bounces,
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.
* * * * * *
'I marvel much,' she smiling said,
    'Your poultry cannot yet be found:
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or maybe in the tea-pot drown'd?' ''   Mitford."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173/174.

Add a note or query to this line

66 Papers and books, a huge imbroglio! 3 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "Mitford remarks on the similarity [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Mitford remarks on the similarity between the style of this part of the Long Story and that of Prior's The Dove, and quotes the following stanzas (9, 25, 27) from Prior's poem:

''With one great peal they rap the door,
    Like footmen on a visiting day.
Folks at her house at such an hour!
    Lord! what will all the neighbours say?

''Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks;
    Through wardrobe and through closet bounces;
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.

''I marvel much, she smiling said,
    Your poultry cannot yet be found;
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or may be, in the tea-pot drowned!''"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "There is a very great [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"There is a very great similarity between the style of part of this poem and Prior's Tale of 'The Dove': as for instance in the following stanzas, which Gray, I think, must have had in his mind at the time:

''With one great peal they rap the door
    Like footmen on a visiting day:
Folks at her house at such an hour,
    Lord, what will all the neighbours say?
* * * * * *
Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks,
    Thro' wardrobe, and thro' closet bounces,
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.
* * * * * *
'I marvel much,' she smiling said,
    'Your poultry cannot yet be found:
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or maybe in the tea-pot drown'd?' ''   Mitford."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173/174.

Add a note or query to this line

67 Under a tea-cup he might lie, 4 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "Mitford remarks on the similarity [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Mitford remarks on the similarity between the style of this part of the Long Story and that of Prior's The Dove, and quotes the following stanzas (9, 25, 27) from Prior's poem:

''With one great peal they rap the door,
    Like footmen on a visiting day.
Folks at her house at such an hour!
    Lord! what will all the neighbours say?

''Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks;
    Through wardrobe and through closet bounces;
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.

''I marvel much, she smiling said,
    Your poultry cannot yet be found;
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or may be, in the tea-pot drowned!''"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "There is a very great [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"There is a very great similarity between the style of part of this poem and Prior's Tale of 'The Dove': as for instance in the following stanzas, which Gray, I think, must have had in his mind at the time:

''With one great peal they rap the door
    Like footmen on a visiting day:
Folks at her house at such an hour,
    Lord, what will all the neighbours say?
* * * * * *
Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks,
    Thro' wardrobe, and thro' closet bounces,
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.
* * * * * *
'I marvel much,' she smiling said,
    'Your poultry cannot yet be found:
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or maybe in the tea-pot drown'd?' ''   Mitford."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173/174.

67.1-6 Under ... lie,] "''There is a very great [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"''There is a very great similarity,'' says Mitford, ''between the style of part of this poem and Prior's 'Dove;' as for instance in the following stanzas, which Gray must have had in his mind: -

'With one great peal they rap the door
    Like footmen on a visiting day:
Folks at her house at such an hour,
    Lord! what will all the neighbours say?...
Her keys he takes, her door unlocks,
    Thro' wardrobe, and thro' closet bounces,
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces....
I marvel much, she smiling said,
    Your poultry cannot yet be found.
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or may be in the tea-pot drowned?' ''"

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 233/234.

Add a note or query to this line

68 Or creased, like dogs-ears, in a folio. 3 Explanatory

55.1 - 68.7 Rapped ... folio.] "Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Prior, The Dove 33-6, 97-100, 105-8: 'With one great Peal They rap the Door, / Like Footmen on a Visiting-Day. / Folks at Her House at such an Hour! / Lord! what will all the Neighbours say // ... / Her keys he takes; her Doors unlocks: / Thro' Wardrobe, and thro' Closet bounces; / Peeps into ev'ry Chest and Box; / Turns all her Furbeloes and Flounces // ... / I marvel much, She smiling said, / Your Poultry cannot yet be found: / Lies he in yonder Slipper dead, / Or, may be, in the Tea-pot drown'd?'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "Mitford remarks on the similarity [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Mitford remarks on the similarity between the style of this part of the Long Story and that of Prior's The Dove, and quotes the following stanzas (9, 25, 27) from Prior's poem:

''With one great peal they rap the door,
    Like footmen on a visiting day.
Folks at her house at such an hour!
    Lord! what will all the neighbours say?

''Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks;
    Through wardrobe and through closet bounces;
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.

''I marvel much, she smiling said,
    Your poultry cannot yet be found;
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or may be, in the tea-pot drowned!''"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

65.1 - 68.7 Into ... folio.] "There is a very great [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"There is a very great similarity between the style of part of this poem and Prior's Tale of 'The Dove': as for instance in the following stanzas, which Gray, I think, must have had in his mind at the time:

''With one great peal they rap the door
    Like footmen on a visiting day:
Folks at her house at such an hour,
    Lord, what will all the neighbours say?
* * * * * *
Her keys he takes, her doors unlocks,
    Thro' wardrobe, and thro' closet bounces,
Peeps into every chest and box,
    Turns all her furbelows and flounces.
* * * * * *
'I marvel much,' she smiling said,
    'Your poultry cannot yet be found:
Lies he in yonder slipper dead,
    Or maybe in the tea-pot drown'd?' ''   Mitford."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 173/174.

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69 On the first marching of the troops
70 The Muses, hopeless of his pardon,
71 Conveyed him underneath their hoops
72 To a small closet in the garden. 1 Explanatory, 2 Textual

72.4 closet] "Bentley's illustration to the poem [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Bentley's illustration to the poem makes the nature of the closet unambiguous."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

72.5 in] "near G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"near G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

72.5 in] "near   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"near   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line


73 So Rumour says (who will, believe) 3 Textual

73.4-6 (who ... believe)] "Who will, may believe. Various [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Who will, may believe. Various reading[] in Pembroke MS."

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 175.

73.4-6 (who ... believe)] "who will, may believe. C[ommonplace] [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"who will, may believe. C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

73.4-6 (who ... believe)] "who will, may believe   [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"who will, may believe   Commonplace Book, Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line

74 But that they left the door ajar,
75 Where, safe and laughing in his sleeve, 1 Explanatory

75.4-7 laughing ... sleeve,] "Johnson and OED give examples [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Johnson and OED give examples of this phrase for secret amusement from the sixteenth century."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line

76 He heard the distant din of war. 1 Explanatory

76.5-7 din ... war.] "'the din of war', Par. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'the din of war', Par. Lost i 668 and vi 408; and 'all the distant din the world can keep', Pope, Imitations of Horace, Sat. II i 123."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line


77 Short was his joy. He little knew 1 Explanatory

77.1-7 Short ... knew] "'Short is his Joy! he [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'Short is his Joy! he feels the fiery Wound', Pope, Windsor Forest 113."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line

78 The power of magic was no fable.
79 Out of the window, whisk, they flew, 2 Explanatory

79.5 whisk,] "interjectional, like 'sweep,' l. 102; [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"interjectional, like 'sweep,' l. 102; - a verb in Pope, Dunciad, II. 116:

''Songs, sonnets, epigrams the winds uplift,
And whisk 'em back to Evans, Young, and Swift.''"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 174.

79.5 whisk,] "This is the first adverbial [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"This is the first adverbial use cited by OED, meaning 'With a whisk, or sudden light movement'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line

80 But left a spell upon the table. 4 Explanatory

80.1-7 But ... table.] "Fancy is here so much [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Fancy is here so much blended with the humour, that I believe the two stanzas, which succeed this line, are amongst those which are the least relished by the generality. The description of the spell, I know, has appeared to many persons absolutely unintelligible; yet if the reader adverts to that peculiar idea which runs through the whole, I imagine the obscurity complained of will be removed. An incident, we see, so slight as the simple matter of fact, required something like machinery to enliven it: Accordingly the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers, on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal. Without going further for examples of this kind of imagery than the Poet's own works, let me instance two passages of the serious kind, similar to this ludicrous one. In his Ode, entitled the Bard,

'Above, below, the rose of snow, &c.' [l. 91]
And, again, in the Fatal Sisters,
'See the griesly texture grow.' [l. 9]
It must, however, be allowed, that no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model. M[ason]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 225/226.

80.3-4 a spell] "The little note left by [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The little note left by the ladies: ''Lady Schaub's compliments to Mr. Gray; she is sorry not to have found him at home, to tell him that Lady Brown is very well.''"

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

80.3-4 a spell] "a writing that would have [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"a writing that would have a magical effect; this refers to the little note that the ladies left for him, which was: - ''Lady Schaub's compliments to Mr. Gray; she is sorry not to have found him at home, to tell him that Lady Brown is very well.''"

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 234.

80.3-4 a spell] "The note left by Lady [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The note left by Lady Schaub (see headnote)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148.

Add a note or query to this line


81 The words too eager to unriddle, 1 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

Add a note or query to this line

82 The poet felt a strange disorder: 1 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

Add a note or query to this line

83 Transparent birdlime formed the middle, 4 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

83.1-2 Transparent birdlime] "Playfully alluding to his being [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Playfully alluding to his being taken captive by the note."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

83.2 - 84.2 birdlime ... chains] "a playful way of describing [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"a playful way of describing the contents of the note as evidently written to catch him like a bird, and cause him to come to their house; while the border of the paper is compared to chains that will have the same effect, but are invisible."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 234.

83.2 birdlime] "Cp. a play by Dryden, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. a play by Dryden, cited by Johnson; 'I'm ensnared, / Heaven's birdlime wraps me round, and glues my wings'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149.

Add a note or query to this line

84 And chains invisible the border. 2 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

83.2 - 84.2 birdlime ... chains] "a playful way of describing [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"a playful way of describing the contents of the note as evidently written to catch him like a bird, and cause him to come to their house; while the border of the paper is compared to chains that will have the same effect, but are invisible."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 234.

Add a note or query to this line


85 So cunning was the apparatus, 1 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

Add a note or query to this line

86 The powerful pothooks did so move him, 1 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

Add a note or query to this line

87 That, will he, nill he, to the Great-House 1 Explanatory, 2 Textual

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

87.8 Great-House] "Expl. note to Great-House, G[arret]t [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note to Great-House, G[arret]t [Library MS.]: So the Country People call it."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

87.8 Great-House] "[Note:] So the Country People [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"[Note:] So the Country People call it.   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149.

Add a note or query to this line

88 He went, as if the Devil drove him. 1 Explanatory

81.1 - 88.8 The ... him.] "Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Memoirs p. 217, has a long note defending the blend of fancy and humour which has made these stanzas 'amongst those which are the least relished by the generality'. G[ray]. needed 'something like machinery' to enliven the simple situation his poem describes and Mason expounds its consistency in its own terms: 'the author chose, with propriety enough, to employ for that purpose those notions of witchcraft, ghosts, and enchantment, which prevailed at the time when the mansion-house was built. He describes himself as a daemon of the lowest class, a wicked imp who lamed the deer, &c. against whose malevolent power Lady Cobham (the Gloriana of the piece) employs two superior enchantresses. Congruity of imagery, therefore, required the card they left upon the table to be converted into a spell. Now all the old writers on these subjects, are very minute in describing the materials of such talismans. Hence, therefore, his grotesque idea of a composition of transparent bird-lime, edged with invisible chains in order to catch and draw him to the tribunal.' Mason then quotes serious instances of this kind of imagery from The Bard [l. 91] and The Fatal Sisters [l. 9] but concludes, 'no person can fully relish this burlesque, who is not much conversant with the old romance-writers, and with the Poets who formed themselves on their model.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 148/149.

Add a note or query to this line


89 Yet no his way (no sign of grace, 1 Explanatory

89.6-8 sign ... grace,] "'a tear (portentous sign of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'a tear (portentous sign of Grace)', Dunciad i 243."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149.

Add a note or query to this line

90 For folks in fear are apt to pray)
91 To Phoebus he preferred his case, 1 Explanatory, 3 Textual

91.2 Phoebus] "god of the sun and [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"god of the sun and the Muses."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 112.

91.4 preferred] "explain'd Various reading[] in Pembroke [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"explain'd Various reading[] in Pembroke MS."

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 175.

91.4 preferred] "explain'd C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"explain'd C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

91.4 preferred] "explain'd   Commonplace Book, Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"explain'd   Commonplace Book, Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149.

Add a note or query to this line

92 And begged his aid that dreadful day.

93 The godhead would have backed his quarrel, 1 Explanatory

93.1 - 96.7 The ... protection.] "A thoroughly Augustan stanza." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A thoroughly Augustan stanza."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

94 But, with a blush on recollection, 1 Explanatory

93.1 - 96.7 The ... protection.] "A thoroughly Augustan stanza." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A thoroughly Augustan stanza."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

95 Owned that his quiver and his laurel 1 Explanatory, 2 Textual

93.1 - 96.7 The ... protection.] "A thoroughly Augustan stanza." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A thoroughly Augustan stanza."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

95.1-2 Owned that] "He own'd, G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"He own'd, G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

95.1-2 Owned that] "He own'd   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"He own'd   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149.

Add a note or query to this line

96 'Gainst four such eyes were no protection. 1 Explanatory

93.1 - 96.7 The ... protection.] "A thoroughly Augustan stanza." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A thoroughly Augustan stanza."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

Add a note or query to this line


97 The court was sate, the culprit there, 1 Explanatory, 2 Textual

97.1-7 The ... there,] "In Dryden's The Wife of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In Dryden's The Wife of Bath Her Tale a knight is similarly tried by a court of ladies. Cp. ll. 268-73: 'The Female Senate was assembled soon, / With all the Mob of Women in the Town: / The Queen sat Lord Chief Justice of the Hall, / And bad the Cryer cite the Criminal. / The Knight appear'd; and Silence they proclaim, / Then first the Culprit answer'd to his Name.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149/150.

97.6 culprit] "Prisoner G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Prisoner G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

97.6 culprit] "Prisoner   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Prisoner   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 149.

Add a note or query to this line

98 Forth from their gloomy mansions creeping 1 Explanatory

98.1 - 100.6 Forth ... peeping:] "These are the ghosts of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"These are the ghosts of the Manor House; G[ray]. may also have had particular portraits in mind."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

Add a note or query to this line

99 The Lady Janes and Joans repair, 2 Explanatory

98.1 - 100.6 Forth ... peeping:] "These are the ghosts of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"These are the ghosts of the Manor House; G[ray]. may also have had particular portraits in mind."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

99.1-3 The ... Janes] "The great pictures of the [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The great pictures of the Elizabethan ladies that hung in the room come down from their frames, as their spirits were said to do when the nights were especially dark."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

Add a note or query to this line

100 And from the gallery stand peeping: 2 Explanatory, 2 Textual

98.1 - 100.6 Forth ... peeping:] "These are the ghosts of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"These are the ghosts of the Manor House; G[ray]. may also have had particular portraits in mind."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

100.2 from] "in G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"in G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 46.

100.2 from] "in   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"in   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

100.4 gallery] "the picture gallery; we are [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"the picture gallery; we are now to suppose that the ladies in the large portraits, high dames of honour that lived as long ago as Queen Mary's time, come down from their pictures, or their spirits appear, as they often did on dark nights."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 234.

Add a note or query to this line


101 Such as in silence of the night
102 Come (sweep) along some winding entry
103 (Styack has often seen the sight) 5 Explanatory, 2 Textual

103.1 (Styack] "Mrs. Tyacke, the housekeeper. Gray [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Mrs. Tyacke, the housekeeper. Gray may have purposely changed her name a little, in his playful poem."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

103.1 (Styack] "In the elegant little edition [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"In the elegant little edition of Gray's poems, published by Sharpe, with illustrations by Westall, in 1826, this name is printed Tyacke in the text, and there is the following footnote: - ''Her name which has hitherto, in all editions of Gray's Poems, been written Styack, is corrected from her gravestone in the churchyard, and the accounts of contemporary persons in the parish. House-keepers are usually styled Mrs.; the final s doubtless caused the name to be misapprehended and misspelt.'' There is a similar manuscript note in Upcott's edition, 1800, in the British Museum, signed 'P.'
It is very probable that Gray mistook ''Mrs. Tyacke'' for ''Mrs. Styacke,'' as when he wrote the ''Long Story'' he had only just become acquainted with Lady Cobham's household. I see no necessity, however, for altering the name in the text; but the point is worth recording, as it has not been referred to by any other editor of Gray. In the edition published by Bickers and Bush, 1858, 'Tyacke' is the reading in the text, without note."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 234/235.

103.1 (Styack] "In the elegant little edition [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"In the elegant little edition of Gray's poems published by Sharpe, with illustrations by Westall, in 1826, this name is printed Tyacke in the text, and there is the following footnote, - 'Her name which has hitherto, in all editions of Gray's Poems, been written Styack, is corrected from her gravestone in the churchyard, and the accounts of contemporary persons in the parish. Housekeepers are usually styled Mrs; the final s doubtless caused the name to be misapprehended and misspelt.' There is a similar manuscript note in Upcott's edition, 1800, in the British Museum, signed 'P.'   Bradshaw.
Gray probably added detail to the Long Story, after he became acquainted with the menage of the Great House. His date Aug. 1750, though affixed to the poem as we have it, may be really the date of the earlier sketch."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 174.

103.1 (Styack] "Expl. note to Styack, G[arret]t [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note to Styack, G[arret]t [Library MS.]: Lady C:' House-keeper."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

103.1 (Styack] "Bradshaw notes that in the [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Bradshaw notes that in the Sharpe, 1826, edition it is pointed out that the name on her gravestone is Tyacke, and that Gray probably on hearing the name 'Mrs. Tyacke' understood it to be 'Mrs. Styack'."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 226.

103.1 (Styack] "John Penn, Historical and Descriptive [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"John Penn, Historical and Descriptive Account of Stoke Park (1813) p. 30 n, stated that her name was Tyack: 'Her name, which has hitherto been written Styack, is corrected from her gravestone, in the church-yard.' This information was repeated in Sharpe's edn of G[ray]. in 1826, where it was pointed out that G.'s error was an understandable aural slip."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

103.1 (Styack] "the housekeeper." J. Reeves, 1973.

"the housekeeper."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

Add a note or query to this line

104 Or at the chapel-door stand sentry;

105 In peaked hoods and mantles tarnished,
106 Sour visages, enough to scare ye,
107 High dames of honour once, that garnished
108 The drawing-room of fierce Queen Mary!

109 The peeress comes. The audience stare,
110 And doff their hats with due submission:
111 She curtsies, as she takes her chair,
112 To all the people of condition.

113 The bard with many an artful fib
114 Had in imagination fenced him,
115 Disproved the arguments of Squib, 7 Explanatory, 1 Textual

115.5 Squib,] "James Squibb was the son [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"James Squibb was the son of Dr. Arthur Squibb, the descendant of an ancient and respectable family, whose pedigree is traced in the herald's visitations of Dorsetshire, to John Squibb of Whitchurch in that country, in the 17th Edw. IV. 1477. Dr. Squibb matriculated at Oxford in 1656, took his degree of M.A. in November 1662, was chaplain to Colonel Bellasis's regiment about 1685, and died in 1697. As he was in distressed circumstances towards the end of his life, his son, James Squibb, was left almost destitute, and was consequently apprenticed to an upholder in 1712. In that situation he attracted the notice of Lord Cobham, in whose service he continued for many years, and died at Stowe in June 1762. His son, James Squibb, who settled in Saville Row, London, was grandfather of George James Squibb, Esq., of Orchard Street, Portman Square, who is the present representative of this branch of the family. - [Nicolas.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1912 [1st ed. 1884], vol. i, 88.

115.5 Squib,] "James Squibb, who was in [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"James Squibb, who was in Lady Cobham's service as Groom of the Chambers."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

115.5 Squib,] "James Squibb, the son of [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"James Squibb, the son of Dr. Arthur Squibb, chaplain to Colonel Bellasis's regiment about 1685, attracted the notice of Lord Cobham, in whose service he continued for many years, and died at Stowe in June, 1762."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 235.

115.5 Squib,] "'James Squibb was the son [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'James Squibb was the son of Dr Arthur Squibb, the descendant of an ancient and respectable family, whose pedigree is traced in the herald's visitations of Dorsetshire to John Squibb of Whitechurch, in that county, in the 17th Edw. IV., 1477. Dr Squibb matriculated at Oxford in 1656, took his degree of M.A. in November, 1662, was chaplain to Colonel Bellasis's regiment about 1685, and died in 1697. As he was in distressed circumstances towards the end of his life, his son, James Squibb, was left almost destitute, and was consequently apprenticed to an upholder in 1712. In that situation he attracted the notice of Lord Cobham, in whose service he continued for many years, and died at Stowe, in June, 1762. His son, James Squibb, who settled in Savile Row, London, was grandfather of George James Squibb, Esq. of Orchard Street, Portman Square, who is the present representative of the family.' Nicolas (apud Mitford.) The note is worth preserving, as showing the eminent respectability of the upper servants in great families in Gray's time. I conjecture from it that, on Lady Cobham's death in 1759, James Squibb returned to Stowe, to a house of his own there, and lived on his peculium."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 174/175.

115.5 Squib,] "Expl. note to Squib, G[arret]t [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note to Squib, G[arret]t [Library MS.]: Her Groom of the Chambers."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

115.5 Squib,] "See textual note to l. [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"See textual note to l. 115."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 226.

115.5 Squib,] "James Squibb (d. 1762), son [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"James Squibb (d. 1762), son of Dr Arthur Squibb, chaplain to Col. Bellasis's regiment c. 1685, had been in the service of Lord Cobham for many years."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

115.5 Squib,] "groom of the chambers." J. Reeves, 1973.

"groom of the chambers."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

Add a note or query to this line

116 And all that Groom could urge against him. 3 Explanatory, 5 Textual

116.4 Groom] "''His grave is close to [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"''His grave is close to that of Tyacke in the south-west corner of the churchyard.'' - 'P.' in Upcott's MS. Notes."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 235.

116.4 Groom] "Expl. note to Groom, G[arret]t [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Expl. note to Groom, G[arret]t [Library MS.]: Her Keeper."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

116.4 Groom] "Penn notes, p. 31 n, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Penn notes, p. 31 n, that 'His grave-stone is close to that of Tyack, in the south-west corner of the churchyard'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

116.4 Groom] "the steward." J. Reeves, 1973.

"the steward."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

116.5 could] "Might. - Pembroke MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"Might. - Pembroke MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1912 [1st ed. 1884], vol. i, 88.

116.5 could] "might Various reading[] in Pembroke [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"might Various reading[] in Pembroke MS."

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 175.

116.5 could] "might C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"might C[ommonplace] B[ook], G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

116.5 could] "might   Commonplace Book, Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"might   Commonplace Book, Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

Add a note or query to this line


117 But soon his rhetoric forsook him,
118 When he the solemn hall had seen;
119 A sudden fit of ague shook him,
120 He stood as mute as poor Macleane. 5 Explanatory, 2 Textual

120.7 Macleane.] "From the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' for [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"From the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' for 1750, I find that James Maclean (wrongly spelt by Gray), was hanged on the 3rd October, 1750; this then, taken with Gray's footnote, gives us the date of his finishing the poem. ''Since the 27th of July, the conversation of the town has been turned upon the gentleman highwayman.'' He was sentenced to death in September for robbery in the Salisbury coach, near Turnham Green, on June 26th. When he was called to receive sentence, he only said, ''My Lord, I cannot speak.'' Several pamphlets about him are announced in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' for September, 1750."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 235.

120.7 Macleane.] "Before, that is, Gray's visit [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Before, that is, Gray's visit to the mansion-house. Macleane was hanged on the 3rd of October, 1750. But he was before the 'justice' at the end of July. It was however in September that when called to receive sentence, he only said, 'My Lord, I cannot speak.' If Gray has this in mind, his reference to Macleane in text and note is a poetic fiction, inserted in a second draft of the poem, unless his date 'Aug. 1750' is altogether a mistake of memory.
Macleane's story is a strange one, in some respects not unlike that of the notorious Peace of our own time.
''One night,'' says Walpole, ''in the beginning of November, 1749, as I was returning from Holland House by moonlight, about ten at night, I was attacked by two highwaymen (M'Lean and Plunket) in Hyde Park, and the pistol of one of them going off accidentally, razed the skin under my eye, left some marks of shot on my face, and stunned me. The ball went through the top of the chariot, and if I had sat an inch nearer to the left side, must have gone through my head.'' (Short Notes of My Life.) This incident Walpole improved in the World (No. 103, Dec. 19, 1754), declaring that the whole affair was conducted with the greatest good-breeding on both sides; that the accomplished Mr M'Lean who had only taken a purse because he had that morning been disappointed of marrying a great fortune, no sooner returned to his lodgings, than he sent the gentleman two letters of excuses, which with less wit than the epistles of Voiture, had ten times more natural and easy politeness in the turn of their expression. In the postscript, he appointed a meeting at Tyburn at twelve at night, where the gentleman might purchase again any trifles he had lost; and my friend has been blamed for not accepting the rendezvous, as it seemed liable to be construed by ill-natured people into a. doubt of the honour of a man' &c.
Walpole tells Mann, Aug. 2, 1750, that this fashionable highwayman is just taken; is little of a hero, cries and begs, and impeaches his accomplice Plunket. 'His father was an Irish Dean; his brother is a Calvinist minister in great esteem at the Hague. He himself was a grocer (in Welbeck Street), but losing a wife that he loved extremely about two years ago, and by whom he has one little girl, he quitted his business with two hundred pounds in his pocket, which he soon spent, and then took to the road with only one companion, Plunket, a journeyman apothecary, my other friend.... McLean had a lodging in St James' Street, over against White's, and another at Chelsea; Plunket one in Jermyn Street; and their faces are as known about St James' as any gentleman who lives in that quarter. McLean had a quarrel at Putney bowling-green two months ago with an officer, whom he challenged for disputing his rank; but the captain declined till McLean should produce a certificate of his nobility, which he has just received. Lord Mountford, at the head of half White's went the first day to see him; but the chief personages who have been to comfort and weep over this fallen hero are Lady Caroline Petersham and Miss Ashe: I call them Polly and Lucy, and asked them if he did not sing

''Thus I stand like the Turk with my doxies around,''
      [Last song of Macheath in the Beggars' Opera.]"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 175/176.

120.7 Macleane.] "Gray's expl. note in G[arret]t [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Gray's expl. note in G[arret]t [Library MS.] reads simply hanged last Week."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

120.7 Macleane.] "James Maclean, a spectacular robber [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"James Maclean, a spectacular robber who once almost killed Horace Walpole, when asked by the judge if he had anything to say, could only reply, 'My Lord, I cannot speak.' Since he was hanged on 3 Oct. 1750, Gray's note indicates that he was still engaged in at least the revision of the poem at that time. See textual note to l. 120."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 226.

120.7 Macleane.] "A famous Highwayman hang'd the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A famous Highwayman hang'd the week before.   Commonplace Book and 1753. Garrett reads hanged last week."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150.

120.7 Macleane.] "For the effect of this [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"For the effect of this [Gray's] note on the dating of the poem see headnote. G[ray]. was no doubt interested in James Macleane because in Nov. 1749 he had robbed Horace Walpole in Hyde Park and a pistol had accidentally exploded during the hold-up (Corresp i 325-6). He was arrested on 27 July 1750 and immediately became an important topic in 'the conversation of the town' because of the 'gentlemanly' manner in which he was living: he 'had handsome lodgings in St James's-street ... and passed for an Irish gentleman of 700 l. a year', Gentleman's Mag. xx (Sept. 1750) 391; and Walpole Correspondence xx 168-9. On 1 Aug. he confessed to the robbery of Walpole and to other crimes and was tried on 13 Sept. He made a speech in his own defence but was found guilty: 'when he was called to receive sentence, he attempted to make an apology, but only said, My Lord, I cannot speak', ibid 392. It was clearly to this incident in mid-Sept. 1750 that G. was referring although his note in 1753 gives the impression that he was referring to Macleane's execution on 3 Oct."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 150/151.

120.7 Macleane.] "a highwayman who had been [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"a highwayman who had been hanged the week before."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

Add a note or query to this line


121 Yet something he was heard to mutter,
122 'How in the park beneath an old-tree
123 '(Without design to hurt the butter, 2 Textual

123.4 hurt] "spoil G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"spoil G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

123.4 hurt] "spoil   Garrett." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"spoil   Garrett."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 151.

Add a note or query to this line

124 'Or any malice to the poultry,)

125 'He once or twice had penned a sonnet;
126 'Yet hoped that he might save his bacon: 3 Textual

126.1 'Yet] "But Various reading[] in Pembroke [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"But Various reading[] in Pembroke MS."

The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919], 175.

126.1 'Yet] "But C[ommonplace] B[ook]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"But C[ommonplace] B[ook]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 47.

126.1 'Yet] "but   Commonplace Book." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"but   Commonplace Book."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 151.

Add a note or query to this line

127 'Numbers would give their oaths upon it,
128 'He ne'er was for a conjurer taken.' 3 Explanatory

128.1-7 'He ... taken.'] "To say a person is [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"To say a person is no conjurer is a mild way of calling him not over-wise. Cf. Gray's letter to Wharton, Jan. 1761 (Works, III, 83): ''he is a very sober man; good natured, and honest, and no conjurer''; and 18 Sept. 1754 (Works, II, 255): ''Dr. Akenside (I perceive) is no conjurer in Architecture.'' In the present passage there is an obvious play on words."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

128.1-7 'He ... taken.'] "With a play on the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"With a play on the sense 'not over wise'. Gray says to Wharton (Sept. 18, 1754) that Akenside is 'no conjurer' in architecture, and as we have seen supra, he uses the same phrase of Miss Speed's future husband."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 176.

128.6 conjurer] "Enchanter. Tovey notes that G[ray]. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Enchanter. Tovey notes that G[ray]. elsewhere used the phrase 'no conjurer' in the sense of 'not over wise'. Johnson notes this meaning: 'By way of irony, a man of shrewd conjecture; a man of sagacity'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 151.

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129 The ghostly prudes with hagged face 7 Explanatory

129.2-3 ghostly prudes] "the ghosts of the ladies [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"the ghosts of the ladies in the portraits."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 235.

129.3 prudes] "The spirits of the haughty [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The spirits of the haughty ladies in the paintings."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

129.5 hagged] "Like a hag. Nothing whatever [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Like a hag. Nothing whatever to do with the word ''haggard'' (cf. note on The Bard, v. 18)."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 147.

129.5 hagged] "Mason has the following note: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mason has the following note: - ''The face of a witch or hag; the epithet haggard has been sometimes mistaken as conveying the same idea; but it means a very different thing, viz., wild and farouche, and is taken from an unreclaimed hawk, called an haggard, in which its proper sense the poet uses it finely on a sublime occasion. Ode VI.'' See ''The Bard,'' 18, and the note."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 235.

129.5 hagged] "'i.e. the face of a [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'i.e. the face of a witch or hag; the epithet Hagard has been sometimes mistaken, as conveying the same idea; but it means a very different thing, viz. wild and farouche, and is taken from an unreclaimed hawk, called an Hagard; in which, its proper sense, the Poet uses it finely on a sublime occasion:

''Cloath'd in the sable garb of woe,
With hagard eyes the Poet stood.'' '
      Bard, ll. 17, 18.
So Mason taught by Gray, see note on Bard l.c.; but Skeat says that 'haggard' is a corruption of hagged, confused in spelling by the influence of haggard as a term for a hawk; though both words may be from the same root."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 176.

129.5 hagged] "[T]he face of a witch [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"[T]he face of a witch or Hag; the epithet Hagard has been sometimes mistaken, as conveying the same idea; but it means a very different thing, viz. wild and farouche, and is taken from an unreclaimed Hawk, called an Hagard; in which its proper sense the Poet uses it finely on a sublime occasion:

Cloath'd in the sable garb of woe,
With hagard eyes the Poet stood. [-] Vid. Ode 6th [Bard, ll. 17-18]. M[ason]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 226.

129.5 hagged] "'i.e. the face of a [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'i.e. the face of a witch or Hag; the epithet Haggard has been sometimes mistaken, as conveying the same idea; but it means a very different thing, viz. wild and farouche, and is taken from an unreclaimed Hawk, called an Hagard; in which its proper sense the Poet uses it finely on a sublime occasion [Bard 17-18]', Mason, Memoirs p. 220 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 151.

Add a note or query to this line

130 Already had condemned the sinner.
131 My lady rose and with a grace—
132 She smiled, and bid him come to dinner. 1 Explanatory

132.1-8 She ... dinner.] "'Here the story finishes; the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'Here the story finishes; the exclamation of the Ghosts which follows is characteristic of the Spanish manner of the age, when they are supposed to have lived; and the 500 stanzas, said to be lost, may be imagined to contain the remainder of their long-winded expostulation', Mason, Memoirs p. 220 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 151.

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133 'Jesu-Maria! Madam Bridget, 3 Explanatory

133.1-3 'Jesu-Maria! ... Bridget,] "'The exclamation of the Ghosts [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'The exclamation of the Ghosts which follows is characteristic of the Spanish manners of the age when they are supposed to have lived; and the 500 stanzas, said to be lost, may be imagined to contain the remainder of their long-winded expostulation.'   Mason.
The exclamation is characteristic of the 'drawing room of fierce Queen Mary.' An old songster (Dowland's second book of songs, 1600) marks the change of times from the ascendency of Roman Catholicism by suggesting Vivat Eliza for an Ave Mary."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 176/177.

133.1-3 'Jesu-Maria! ... Bridget,] "Here the story finishes; the [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Here the story finishes; the exclamation of the Ghosts which follows is characteristic of the Spanish manners of the age, when they are supposed to have lived; and the 500 stanzas [see l. 140 below], said to be lost may be imagined to contain the remainder of their long-winded expostulation. M[ason]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 226.

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

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134 'Why, what can the Viscountess mean?' 1 Explanatory

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

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135 (Cried the square hoods in woeful fidget) 3 Explanatory

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

135.2-4 the ... hoods] "i.e., the ladies mentioned above [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"i.e., the ladies mentioned above as prudes. They are of course sticklers for exclusiveness and etiquette."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 148.

135.3-4 square hoods] "the dames of honour in [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"the dames of honour in the portraits, so-called from their wearing square or peaked hoods."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891], 235.

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136 'The times are altered quite and clean! 1 Explanatory

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

Add a note or query to this line


137 'Decorum's turned to mere civility; 1 Explanatory, 1 Textual

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

137.2 turned] "chang'd G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"chang'd G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 48.

Add a note or query to this line

138 'Her air and all her manners show it. 1 Explanatory

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

Add a note or query to this line

139 'Commend me to her affability! 1 Explanatory

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

Add a note or query to this line

140 'Speak to a commoner and poet!' 4 Explanatory, 1 Textual

133.1 - 140.6 'Jesu-Maria! ... poet!'] "These lines satirize the position [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"These lines satirize the position of a mere poet in society."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

140.1-6 'Speak ... poet!'] "Miss Speed (Gray and His [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Miss Speed (Gray and His Friends) speaks of 'the loss of the 400 stanzas'; so perhaps in first draft."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 177.

140.1-6 'Speak ... poet!'] "(Here 500 stanzas are lost.) H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"(Here 500 stanzas are lost.) (Here 500 Stanzas are lost, the last only remaining.) G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 48.

140.1-6 'Speak ... poet!'] "In her letter of thanks [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"In her letter of thanks (T & W no. 155) Miss Speed wrote: '... and Lady Cobham was the first, tho' not the last that regretted the loss of the 400 stanzas. ...' The 400 may be a slip of the pen or the figure in a lost first draft."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 226.

140.1-6 'Speak ... poet!'] "Miss Speed in her note [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Miss Speed in her note to G[ray]. (Corresp i 333) refers to 'the loss of the 400 stanzas'. This may be her mistake or could indicate the number in the first draft of the poem."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 152.

Add a note or query to this line


(Here 500 Stanzas are lost.)

141 And so God save our noble King,
142 And guard us from long-winded lubbers, 2 Explanatory

142.6 lubbers,] "Johnson defines a 'lubber' as [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Johnson defines a 'lubber' as 'A sturdy drone; an idle, fat, bulky losel; a booby'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 152.

142.6 lubbers,] "idle people." J. Reeves, 1973.

"idle people."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

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143 That to eternity would sing, 1 Textual

143.1 That] "Who G[arret]t [Library MS.]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Who G[arret]t [Library MS.]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 48.

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144 And keep my lady from her rubbers. 3 Explanatory

144.7 rubbers.] "The Lady's games at cards." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The Lady's games at cards."

Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894, 148.

144.7 rubbers.] "Games of whist, cribbage, backgammon, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Games of whist, cribbage, backgammon, etc."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 152.

144.7 rubbers.] "games of whist." J. Reeves, 1973.

"games of whist."

The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973, 113.

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Gray's annotations

3
N:B: the House was built by the Earls of Huntingdon, & came from them to S[i]r Christopher afterwards L[or]d Keeper, Hatton, prefer'd by Q: Elizabeth for his graceful Person & fine Dancing. [Garrett MS.]
11
[Lord-Keeper] [Sir Christopher] Hatton [Lord Chancellor], prefer'd by Queen Elizabeth for his graceful Person and fine Dancing.
[brawls] an old fashion'd Dance. [Garrett MS.]
87
[Great-House] So the Country People call it. [Garrett MS.]
103
[Styack] The House-Keeper.
115
[Squib] [James Squibb] Groom of the Chambers.
116
[Groom] The Steward.
120
[Macleane] A famous Highwayman hang'd the week before.

Works cited

  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891].
  • Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited by W. C. Eppstein. London and Glasgow: Blackie & Son Ltd., 1959.
  • The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1912 [1st ed. 1884], vol. i.
  • The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969.
  • The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919].
  • Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Thomas Gray. Ed. with an introduction and notes by William Lyon Phelps. The Athenaeum press series. Boston: Ginn & company, 1894.
  • The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973.
  • The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966.
  • Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

Spelling has been modernized throughout, except in case of conscious archaisms. Contractions, italics and initial capitalization have been largely eliminated, except where of real import. Obvious errors have been silently corrected, punctuation has been lightly modernized. Additional contextual information for Gray's notes, presented here in unmodernized form, has been taken from the Starr/Hendrickson edition. The editor would like to express his gratitude to the library staff of the Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen) for their invaluable assistance.

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Editions in the Digital Library

  • 1753: Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for six poems by Mr. T. Gray London, 1753.
  • 1753: Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for six poems by Mr. T. Gray London, 1753.
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. Gray. Dublin, 1768.
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. T. Gray. Cork, 1768.
  • 1775: The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. York, 1775.
  • 1775: Poems by Mr. Gray. Dublin, 1775.
  • 1782: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. Edinburg, 1782.
  • 1798: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1798.
  • 1799: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, [1799].
  • 1799: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, LL.B. London, 1799.
  • 1800: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, LL.B. London, 1800.
  • 1800: The Poems of Gray. A new edition. London, 1800.
  • 1805: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1805.
  • 1814: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1814.
  • 1814: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. Thomas James Mathias. London, 1814.
  • 1816: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1816.
  • 1826: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1826.
  • 1836: The Works of Thomas Gray, Volume I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1836.