Skip main navigation

The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode


You can add notes or queries to any part of the poetic text by simply clicking on the line in question and filling in the annotations form with your details. All contributions will be submitted to the editor in the first instance for review.

The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode


ϕωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν· ἐς
δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἑρμηνέων χατίζει.
Pindar, Olymp[ian Odes]. II. [85]


I. 1.

1 Awake, Aeolian lyre, awake,
2 And give to rapture all thy trembling strings.
3 From Helicon's harmonious springs
4 A thousand rills their mazy progress take:
5 The laughing flowers, that round them blow,
6 Drink life and fragrance as they flow.
7 Now the rich stream of music winds along,
8 Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong,
9 Through verdant vales and Ceres' golden reign:
10 Now rowling down the steep amain,
11 Headlong, impetuous, see it pour:
12 The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar.

I. 2.

13 Oh! Sovereign of the willing soul,
14 Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs,
15 Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares
16 And frantic Passions hear thy soft control.
17 On Thracia's hills the Lord of War,
18 Has curbed the fury of his car,
19 And dropped his thirsty lance at thy command.
20 Perching on the sceptered hand
21 Of Jove, thy magic lulls the feathered king
22 With ruffled plumes and flagging wing:
23 Quenched in dark clouds of slumber lie
24 The terror of his beak, and lightnings of his eye.

I. 3.

25 Thee the voice, the dance, obey,
26 Tempered to thy warbled lay.
27 O'er Idalia's velvet-green
28 The rosy-crowned Loves are seen
29 On Cytherea's day
30 With antic Sports and blue-eyed Pleasures,
31 Frisking light in frolic measures;
32 Now pursuing, now retreating,
33 Now in circling troops they meet:
34 To brisk notes in cadence beating
35 Glance their many-twinkling feet.
36 Slow melting strains their queen's approach declare:
37 Where'er she turns the Graces homage pay.
38 With arms sublime, that float upon the air,
39 In gliding state she wins her easy way:
40 O'er her warm cheek and rising bosom move
41 The bloom of young desire and purple light of love.

II. 1.

42 Man's feeble race what ills await,
43 Labour, and penury, the racks of pain,
44 Disease, and sorrow's weeping train,
45 And death, sad refuge from the storms of fate!
46 The fond complaint, my song, disprove,
47 And justify the laws of Jove.
48 Say, has he given in vain the heavenly Muse?
49 Night, and all her sickly dews,
50 Her spectres wan, and birds of boding cry,
51 He gives to range the dreary sky:
52 Till down the eastern cliffs afar
53 Hyperion's march they spy, and glittering shafts of war.

II. 2.

54 In climes beyond the solar road,
55 Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam,
56 The Muse has broke the twilight-gloom
57 To cheer the shivering native's dull abode.
58 And oft, beneath the odorous shade
59 Of Chile's boundless forests laid,
60 She deigns to hear the savage youth repeat
61 In loose numbers wildly sweet
62 Their feather-cinctured chiefs, and dusky loves.
63 Her track, where'er the goddess roves,
64 Glory pursue, and generous Shame,
65 The unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame.

II. 3.

66 Woods that wave o'er Delphi's steep,
67 Isles that crown the Aegean deep,
68 Fields that cool Ilissus laves,
69 Or where Maeander's amber waves
70 In lingering lab'rinths creep,
71 How do your tuneful echoes languish,
72 Mute, but to the voice of anguish?
73 Where each old poetic mountain
74 Inspiration breathed around:
75 Every shade and hallowed fountain
76 Murmured deep a solemn sound:
77 Till the sad Nine in Greece's evil hour
78 Left their Parnassus for the Latian plains.
79 Alike they scorn the pomp of tyrant-power,
80 And coward Vice that revels in her chains.
81 When Latium had her lofty spirit lost,
82 They sought, oh Albion! next thy sea-encircled coast.

III. 1.

83 Far from the sun and summer-gale,
84 In thy green lap was Nature's darling laid,
85 What time, where lucid Avon strayed,
86 To him the mighty Mother did unveil
87 Her awful face: the dauntless child
88 Stretched forth his little arms and smiled.
89 'This pencil take,' (she said) 'whose colours clear
90 Richly paint the vernal year:
91 Thine too these golden keys, immortal boy!
92 This can unlock the gates of joy;
93 Of horror that, and thrilling fears,
94 Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.'

III. 2.

95 Nor second he, that rode sublime
96 Upon the seraph-wings of Ecstasy,
97 The secrets of the abyss to spy.
98 He passed the flaming bounds of place and time:
99 The living throne, the sapphire-blaze,
100 Where angels tremble while they gaze,
101 He saw; but blasted with excess of light,
102 Closed his eyes in endless night.
103 Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car,
104 Wide o'er the fields of glory bear
105 Two coursers of ethereal race,
106 With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace.

III. 3.

107 Hark, his hands the lyre explore!
108 Bright-eyed Fancy hovering o'er
109 Scatters from her pictured urn
110 Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.
111 But ah! 'tis heard no more—
112 Oh! lyre divine, what daring spirit
113 Wakes thee now? Though he inherit
114 Nor the pride, nor ample pinion,
115 That the Theban eagle bear
116 Sailing with supreme dominion
117 Through the azure deep of air:
118 Yet oft before his infant eyes would run
119 Such forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
120 With orient hues, unborrowed of the sun:
121 Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant way
122 Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate,
123 Beneath the Good how far— but far above the Great.

Gray's annotations

1
Awake [up], my glory: awake, lute and harp.
    David's Psalms. [Prayer Book version, lvii. 9]
Pindar styles his own poetry with its musical accompanyments, [Greek sentence (omitted), translation:], Aeolian song, Aeolian strings, the breath of the Aeolian flute.
3
The subject and simile, as usual with Pindar, are united. The various sources of poetry, which gives life and lustre to all it touches, are here described; its quiet majestic progress enriching every subject (otherwise dry and barren) with a pomp of diction and luxuriant harmony of numbers; and its more rapid and irresistible course, when swoln and hurried away by the conflict of tumultuous passions.
13
Power of harmony to calm the turbulent sallies of the soul. The thoughts are borrowed from the first Pythian of Pindar. [See note to l. 20.]
20
This is a weak imitation of some incomparable lines in the same Ode. [Pindar, Pythian Ode I, 1-12.]
25
Power of harmony to produce all the graces of motion in the body.
35
[Greek line (omitted)] [He (Odysseus) gazed at the quick twinkling of (the dancers') feet; and he wondered in his heart.]
    Homer. Od[yssey]. O. [viii. 265]
41
[Greek line (omitted)] [And on his rose-red cheeks there gleams the light of love.]
    Phrynichus, apud Athenaeum. [Deipnosophistae, xiii. 604a]
[Modern texts give the line as follows: Greek line (omitted).]
42
To compensate the real and imaginary ills of life, the Muse was given to Mankind by the same Providence that sends the Day by its chearful presence to dispel the gloom and terrors of the Night.
52
Or seen the Morning's well-appointed Star
Come marching up the eastern hills afar.
    Cowley. [Brutus, an Ode, st. 4]
54
Extensive influence of poetic Genius over the remotest and most uncivilized nations: its connection with liberty, and the virtues that naturally attend on it. [See the Erse, Norwegian, and Welch Fragments, the Lapland and American songs.]
    [solar road]
''Extra anni solisque vias—'' [Beyond the paths of the year and the sun—]
Virgil. [Aeneid, vi. 796]
''Tutta lontana dal camin del sole.'' [Quite far from the road of the sun.]
Petrarch, Canzon 2. [Canzoniere, 'Canzone II', l. 48]
66
Progress of Poetry from Greece to Italy, and from Italy to England. Chaucer was not unacquainted with the writings of Dante or of Petrarch. The Earl of Surrey and Sir Tho. Wyatt had travelled in Italy, and formed their taste there; Spenser imitated the Italian writers; Milton improved on them: but this School expired soon after the Restoration, and a new one arose on the French model, which has subsisted ever since.
84
[Nature's Darling] Shakespear.
95
[He] Milton.
98
''—flammantia moenia mundi.'' [—the flaming ramparts of the world].
    Lucretius. [De Rerum Natura, i. 74]
99
For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels - And above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a saphire-stone. - This was the appearance [of the likeness] of the glory of the Lord.
    Ezekiel i. 20, 26, 28.
102
[Greek line (omitted)] [(the Muse) took away (his) eyes, but she gave (him the gift of) sweet song].
    Homer. Od[yssey, viii. 64].
105
Meant to express the stately march and sounding energy of Dryden's rhimes.
106
Hast thou cloathed his neck with thunder?
    Job. [xxxix. 19]
110
Words, that weep, and tears, that speak.
    Cowley. ["The Prophet" in The Mistress, line 20]
111
We have had in our language no other odes of the sublime kind, than that of Dryden on St. Cecilia's day: for Cowley (who had his merit) yet wanted judgment, style, and harmony, for such a task. That of Pope is not worthy of so great a man. Mr. Mason indeed of late days has touched the true chords, and with a masterly hand, in some of his Choruses, - above all in the last of Caractacus,
    Hark! heard ye not yon footstep dread? &c.
115
[Greek line (omitted)] [against the god-like bird of Zeus].
    [Pindar] Olymp. 2. [88]
Pindar compares himself to that bird, and his enemies to ravens that croak and clamour in vain below, while it pursues its flight, regardless of their noise.

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 The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode

Metrical notation:  irregular
Metrical foot type:  iambic (-+)
Metrical foot number:  tetrameter (4 feet), pentameter (5 feet)
Rhyme scheme:  irregular
Stanza:  strophe (I), antistrophe (II), epode (III)
Genre(s):  ode
Theme(s):  poetry, literature, writing

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


ϕωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν· ἐς
δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἑρμηνέων χατίζει.
Pindar, Olymp[ian Odes]. II. [85]


I. 1.

1 Awake, Aeolian lyre, awake,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  awake   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪk/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Awake/awake /eɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Awake/awake /ə/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Awake/awake /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Awake/awake /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Aeolian/lyre /l/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): Awake/awake

Add a correction, note or query to this line

2 And give to rapture all thy trembling strings.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  strings   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪŋz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/rapture /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): give/strings /ɪ/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

3 From Helicon's harmonious springs    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  springs   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪŋz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Helicon's/harmonious /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): From/harmonious /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Helicon's/harmonious /h/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

4 A thousand rills their mazy progress take:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  take   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪk/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): mazy/take /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): thousand/mazy /z/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

5 The laughing flowers, that round them blow,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  blow   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): that/them /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): flowers/round /aʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): laughing/flowers /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): that/them /ð/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

6 Drink life and fragrance as they flow.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  flow   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): fragrance/flow /f/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/as /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): fragrance/they /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): life/fragrance/flow /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

7 Now the rich stream of music winds along,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  along   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): rich/winds /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/along /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Now/winds /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): stream/music /m/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

8 Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  strong   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): smooth/strong /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): majestic/smooth/strong /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

9 Through verdant vales and Ceres' golden reign:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  reign   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): verdant/vales /v/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): vales/reign /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): verdant/vales /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): vales/golden /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

10 Now rowling down the steep amain,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  amain   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Now/down /aʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Now/down/amain /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

11 Headlong, impetuous, see it pour:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  pour   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Headlong/impetuous /e/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): impetuous/it /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): impetuous/pour /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): impetuous/it /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

12 The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  roar   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): rocks/rebellow/roar /r/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): rocks/nodding /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): rocks/rebellow/roar /r/

Add a correction, note or query to this line


I. 2.

13 Oh! Sovereign of the willing soul,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  soul   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Sovereign/soul /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Oh/soul /əʊ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Sovereign/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Sovereign/of /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Sovereign/soul /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): willing/soul /l/
Figure:  ecphonesis (pragmatic): Oh...

Add a correction, note or query to this line

14 Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  airs   |   Rhyme sound:  /eəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): sweet/solemn-breathing /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Parent/airs /eə/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/solemn-breathing /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): sweet/solemn-breathing /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sweet/solemn-breathing /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

15 Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  Cares   |   Rhyme sound:  /eəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): shell/sullen /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

16 And frantic Passions hear thy soft control.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  control   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/frantic/Passions /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): frantic/control /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): frantic/soft /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

17 On Thracia's hills the Lord of War,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  War   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): On/of /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Lord/War /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): hills/Lord /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

18 Has curbed the fury of his car,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  car   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): curbed/car /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Has/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Has/his /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): curbed/car /k/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

19 And dropped his thirsty lance at thy command.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  command   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːnd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/at /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): lance/command /ɑː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lance/command /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

20 Perching on the sceptered hand    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  hand   |   Rhyme sound:  /ænd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Perching/sceptered /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): on/hand /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

21 Of Jove, thy magic lulls the feathered king    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  king   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Of/Jove /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Jove/magic /dʒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): thy/feathered /ð/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

22 With ruffled plumes and flagging wing:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  wing   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): With/wing /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/flagging /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): With/wing /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): ruffled/flagging /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

23 Quenched in dark clouds of slumber lie    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  lie   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Quenched/clouds /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Quenched/in /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Quenched/dark/clouds /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): dark/clouds /d/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

24 The terror of his beak, and lightnings of his eye.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  eye   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): his/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/of /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/his /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): lightnings/eye /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): terror/lightnings /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): of/of /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/his /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/his /z/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): of/of
Figure:  diacope (morphological): his/his

Add a correction, note or query to this line


I. 3.

25 Thee the voice, the dance, obey,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  obey   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

26 Tempered to thy warbled lay.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  lay   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

27 O'er Idalia's velvet-green    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  velvet-green   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Idalia's/velvet-green /l/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): O'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

28 The rosy-crowned Loves are seen    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  seen   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): rosy-crowned/seen /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

29 On Cytherea's day    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  day   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

30 With antic Sports and blue-eyed Pleasures,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  Pleasures   |   Rhyme sound:  /eʒəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): antic/and /æ/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

31 Frisking light in frolic measures;    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  measures   |   Rhyme sound:  /eʒəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Frisking/frolic /f/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Frisking/in /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Frisking/frolic /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): light/frolic /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

32 Now pursuing, now retreating,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  retreating   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːtɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Now/now /n/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Now/now /aʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Now/now /n/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): Now/now
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): Now

Add a correction, note or query to this line

33 Now in circling troops they meet:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  meet   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Now/in /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): troops/meet /t/
Figure:  anaphora (morphological): Now

Add a correction, note or query to this line

34 To brisk notes in cadence beating    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  beating   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːtɪŋ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): brisk/beating /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): brisk/in /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): brisk/beating /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): notes/in /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): notes/beating /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

35 Glance their many-twinkling feet.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  feet   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Glance/many-twinkling /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): many-twinkling/feet /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

36 Slow melting strains their queen's approach declare:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  declare   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Slow/strains /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Slow/approach /əʊ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): their/declare /eə/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Slow/strains /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): strains/queen's /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): queen's/declare /k/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

37 Where'er she turns the Graces homage pay.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  pay   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Graces/pay /eɪ/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): Where'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

38 With arms sublime, that float upon the air,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  air   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): sublime/upon /ə/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): With/that /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): arms/sublime /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): that/float /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

39 In gliding state she wins her easy way:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  way   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): wins/way /w/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): In/wins /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): state/way /eɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): she/easy /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/wins /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): wins/way /w/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

40 O'er her warm cheek and rising bosom move    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  move   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːv/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): warm/move /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): rising/bosom /z/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): O'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

41 The bloom of young desire and purple light of love.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  love   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌv/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): light/love /l/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): of/of /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): young/love /ʌ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): desire/light /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): of/of/love /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): light/love /l/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): of/of

Add a correction, note or query to this line


II. 1.

42 Man's feeble race what ills await,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  await   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): race/await /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): what/await /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): what/await /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

43 Labour, and penury, the racks of pain,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  pain   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): penury/pain /p/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Labour/pain /eɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/racks /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): penury/pain /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): penury/pain /p/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

44 Disease, and sorrow's weeping train,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  train   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Disease/weeping /iː/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

45 And death, sad refuge from the storms of fate!    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  fate   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): sad/storms /s/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): from/fate /f/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/sad /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): death/refuge /e/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): from/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): death/sad /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sad/storms /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): refuge/from/fate /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): from/storms /m/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

46 The fond complaint, my song, disprove,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  disprove   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːv/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): fond/song /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): fond/complaint /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): complaint/disprove /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): complaint/my /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): song/disprove /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

47 And justify the laws of Jove.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  Jove   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊv/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): justify/Jove /dʒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): justify/Jove /dʒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): of/Jove /v/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

48 Say, has he given in vain the heavenly Muse?    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  Muse   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/heavenly /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Say/vain /eɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): given/in /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): has/he/heavenly /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): has/Muse /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): given/vain/heavenly /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/vain /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

49 Night, and all her sickly dews,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  dews   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

50 Her spectres wan, and birds of boding cry,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  cry   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): birds/boding /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Her/birds /ɜː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): wan/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): spectres/cry /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): birds/boding /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): birds/boding /d/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

51 He gives to range the dreary sky:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  sky   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): range/dreary /r/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

52 Till down the eastern cliffs afar    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  afar   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Till/cliffs /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): cliffs/afar /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

53 Hyperion's march they spy, and glittering shafts of war.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  war   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Hyperion's/spy /aɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): march/shafts /ɑː/

Add a correction, note or query to this line


II. 2.

54 In climes beyond the solar road,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  road   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): In/beyond /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): solar/road /əʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/beyond /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

55 Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  roam   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): o'er/roam /əʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): forms/mountains/roam /m/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

56 The Muse has broke the twilight-gloom    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  twilight-gloom   |   Rhyme sound:  /uːm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Muse/twilight-gloom /uː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Muse/twilight-gloom /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Muse/has /z/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

57 To cheer the shivering native's dull abode.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  abode   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): dull/abode /d/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

58 And oft, beneath the odorous shade    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  shade   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): odorous/shade /d/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

59 Of Chile's boundless forests laid,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  laid   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Of/forests /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Chile's/laid /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

60 She deigns to hear the savage youth repeat    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  repeat   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): She/repeat /iː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): to/youth /uː/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

61 In loose numbers wildly sweet    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  sweet   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/numbers /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): loose/wildly /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): loose/sweet /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

62 Their feather-cinctured chiefs, and dusky loves.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  loves   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌvz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): dusky/loves /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Their/feather-cinctured /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): feather-cinctured/chiefs /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

63 Her track, where'er the goddess roves,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  roves   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊvz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): where'er/roves /r/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): where'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

64 Glory pursue, and generous Shame,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  Shame   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

65 The unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  flame   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Freedom's/flame /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): unconquerable/Mind /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Mind/flame /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Freedom's/flame /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line


II. 3.

66 Woods that wave o'er Delphi's steep,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  steep   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːp/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Woods/wave /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Woods/wave /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Woods/Delphi's /d/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

67 Isles that crown the Aegean deep,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  deep   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːp/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Aegean/deep /iː/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

68 Fields that cool Ilissus laves,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  laves   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪvz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Fields/cool/Ilissus/laves /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

69 Or where Maeander's amber waves    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  waves   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪvz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): where/waves /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): where/waves /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Maeander's/amber /m/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

70 In lingering lab'rinths creep,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  creep   |   Rhyme sound:  /iːp/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): lingering/lab'rinths /l/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): In/lingering /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lingering/lab'rinths /l/
Figure:  syncope (morphological): lab'rinths

Add a correction, note or query to this line

71 How do your tuneful echoes languish,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  languish   |   Rhyme sound:  /æŋgwɪʃ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): do/tuneful /uː/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

72 Mute, but to the voice of anguish?    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  anguish   |   Rhyme sound:  /æŋgwɪʃ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Mute/to /uː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Mute/but /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): voice/of /v/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

73 Where each old poetic mountain    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  mountain   |   Rhyme sound:  /aʊntɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): old/poetic /əʊ/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

74 Inspiration breathed around:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  around   |   Rhyme sound:  /aʊnd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Inspiration/around /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Inspiration/around /r/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

75 Every shade and hallowed fountain    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  fountain   |   Rhyme sound:  /aʊntɪn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): and/hallowed /æ/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

76 Murmured deep a solemn sound:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  sound   |   Rhyme sound:  /aʊnd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): solemn/sound /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): solemn/sound /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

77 Till the sad Nine in Greece's evil hour    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  hour   |   Rhyme sound:  /aʊə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Till/in /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Greece's/evil /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sad/Greece's /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Nine/in /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

78 Left their Parnassus for the Latian plains.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  plains   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪnz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Left/Latian /l/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Parnassus/plains /p/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Latian/plains /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Left/Latian /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Left/for /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Parnassus/plains /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Parnassus/plains /p/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

79 Alike they scorn the pomp of tyrant-power,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  tyrant-power   |   Rhyme sound:  /aʊə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Alike/tyrant-power /aɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): pomp/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): pomp/tyrant-power /p/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

80 And coward Vice that revels in her chains.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  chains   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪnz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): And/that /æ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Vice/revels /v/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/chains /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

81 When Latium had her lofty spirit lost,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  lost   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɒst/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Latium/lofty/lost /l/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): had/her /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): lofty/lost /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Latium/lofty/lost /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): had/her /h/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): spirit/lost /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

82 They sought, oh Albion! next thy sea-encircled coast.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  coast   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊst/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): They/thy /ð/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): sought/sea-encircled /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): oh/coast /əʊ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): They/thy /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sought/sea-encircled/coast /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): next/sea-encircled /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): next/sea-encircled/coast /k/
Figure:  apostrophe (pragmatic): oh...

Add a correction, note or query to this line


III. 1.

83 Far from the sun and summer-gale,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  summer-gale   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Far/from /f/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): sun/summer-gale /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): sun/summer-gale /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Far/from /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): from/summer-gale /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sun/summer-gale /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

84 In thy green lap was Nature's darling laid,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  laid   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): lap/laid /l/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Nature's/laid /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): In/green/Nature's /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lap/darling/laid /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): darling/laid /d/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

85 What time, where lucid Avon strayed,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  strayed   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪd/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): What/where /w/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Avon/strayed /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): What/where /w/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): What/time /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): lucid/strayed /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

86 To him the mighty Mother did unveil    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  unveil   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪl/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): mighty/Mother /m/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): him/did /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Mother/unveil /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): him/mighty/Mother /m/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

87 Her awful face: the dauntless child    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  child   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪld/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): awful/dauntless /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): awful/face /f/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

88 Stretched forth his little arms and smiled.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  smiled   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪld/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Stretched/smiled /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/little /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Stretched/smiled /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): little/smiled /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

89 'This pencil take,' (she said) 'whose colours clear    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  clear   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): colours/clear /k/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): pencil/said /e/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): This/said /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): take/colours/clear /k/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

90 Richly paint the vernal year:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  year   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): paint/vernal /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

91 Thine too these golden keys, immortal boy!    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  boy   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Thine/these /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): these/keys /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Thine/these /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): too/immortal /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): these/keys /z/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

92 This can unlock the gates of joy;    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  joy   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): unlock/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): can/unlock /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): can/unlock /k/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

93 Of horror that, and thrilling fears,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  fears   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Of/horror /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): that/and /æ/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

94 Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.'    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  tears   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪəz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  strophe (I)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): sacred/source/sympathetic /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Or/source /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sacred/source/sympathetic /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): sympathetic/tears /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line


III. 2.

95 Nor second he, that rode sublime    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  sublime   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): second/sublime /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): second/sublime /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

96 Upon the seraph-wings of Ecstasy,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  Ecstasy   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Upon/of /ɒ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): seraph-wings/Ecstasy /e/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

97 The secrets of the abyss to spy.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  spy   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): secrets/spy /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): secrets/abyss/spy /s/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

98 He passed the flaming bounds of place and time:    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  time   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪm/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): passed/place /p/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): flaming/place /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): passed/place /p/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): passed/place /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): flaming/time /m/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

99 The living throne, the sapphire-blaze,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  sapphire-blaze   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

100 Where angels tremble while they gaze,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  gaze   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪz/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Where/while /w/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): angels/they/gaze /eɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Where/while /w/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

101 He saw; but blasted with excess of light,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  light   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): but/blasted /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): with/excess /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): saw/blasted/excess /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): but/blasted /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): but/light /t/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

102 Closed his eyes in endless night.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  night   |   Rhyme sound:  /aɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/in /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): eyes/night /aɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Closed/his/eyes /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): in/endless/night /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

103 Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  car   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Behold/presumptuous /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Behold/less /l/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

104 Wide o'er the fields of glory bear    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  bear   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

105 Two coursers of ethereal race,    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  race   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): coursers/race /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): ethereal/race /r/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

106 With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace.    
Rhyme:  abbaccddeeff   |   Rhyme word(s):  pace   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪs/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  antistrophe (II)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): With/in/long-resounding /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): With/clothed /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): necks/in/thunder/long-resounding /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): necks/clothed /k/

Add a correction, note or query to this line


III. 3.

107 Hark, his hands the lyre explore!    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  explore   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Hark/his/hands /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/explore /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Hark/explore /k/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Hark/his/hands /h/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

108 Bright-eyed Fancy hovering o'er    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  o'er   |   Rhyme sound:  /əʊə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  syncope (morphological): o'er

Add a correction, note or query to this line

109 Scatters from her pictured urn    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  urn   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): her/urn /ɜː/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

110 Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  burn   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɜːn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): that/that /ð/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): breathe/burn /b/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): that/and/that /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): words/burn /ɜː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Thoughts/that/that /t/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): that/breathe/that /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): breathe/burn /b/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

111 But ah! 'tis heard no more—    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  more   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  consonance (phonological): But/'tis /t/
Figure:  aphaeresis (morphological): 'tis
Figure:  ecphonesis (pragmatic): ah...

Add a correction, note or query to this line

112 Oh! lyre divine, what daring spirit    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  spirit   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪrɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): divine/daring /d/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): lyre/divine /aɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): divine/spirit /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): divine/daring /d/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): daring/spirit /r/
Figure:  ecphonesis (pragmatic): Oh...

Add a correction, note or query to this line

113 Wakes thee now? Though he inherit    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  inherit   |   Rhyme sound:  /erɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): thee/Though /ð/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): thee/he /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): thee/Though /ð/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): now/inherit /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/inherit /h/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

114 Nor the pride, nor ample pinion,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  pinion   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪnjən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Nor/nor /n/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): pride/pinion /p/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Nor/nor /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Nor/nor/pinion /n/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): pride/pinion /p/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): Nor/nor

Add a correction, note or query to this line

115 That the Theban eagle bear    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  bear   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Theban/eagle /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Theban/bear /b/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

116 Sailing with supreme dominion    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  dominion   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɪnjən/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Sailing/supreme /s/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): with/dominion /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Sailing/supreme /s/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): supreme/dominion /m/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

117 Through the azure deep of air:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  air   |   Rhyme sound:  /eə/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)

Add a correction, note or query to this line

118 Yet oft before his infant eyes would run    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  run   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): before/his/infant /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): oft/before /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): his/eyes /z/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): infant/run /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

119 Such forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  ray   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): glitter/in /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): forms/Muse's /m/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): as/Muse's /z/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

120 With orient hues, unborrowed of the sun:    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  sun   |   Rhyme sound:  /ʌn/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): unborrowed/sun /ʌ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): unborrowed/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): orient/unborrowed /r/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): unborrowed/sun /n/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

121 Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant way    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  way   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪ/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): he/his /h/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): shall/and /æ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): he/keep /iː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): his/distant /ɪ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): he/his /h/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

122 Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate,    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  fate   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Beyond/limits /ɪ/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Beyond/of /ɒ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): limits/vulgar /l/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): of/vulgar /v/

Add a correction, note or query to this line

123 Beneath the Good how far— but far above the Great.    
Rhyme:  aabbaccdedefgfghh   |   Rhyme word(s):  Great   |   Rhyme sound:  /eɪt/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Stanza:  epode (III)
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Beneath/but /b/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): Good/Great /g/
Figure:  alliteration (phonological): far/far /f/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): far/far /ɑː/
Figure:  assonance (phonological): but/above /ʌ/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Beneath/but/above /b/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): Good/Great /g/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): far/far /f/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): but/Great /t/
Figure:  diacope (morphological): far/far

Add a correction, note or query to this line

Gray's annotations

1
Awake [up], my glory: awake, lute and harp.
    David's Psalms. [Prayer Book version, lvii. 9]
Pindar styles his own poetry with its musical accompanyments, [Greek sentence (omitted), translation:], Aeolian song, Aeolian strings, the breath of the Aeolian flute.
3
The subject and simile, as usual with Pindar, are united. The various sources of poetry, which gives life and lustre to all it touches, are here described; its quiet majestic progress enriching every subject (otherwise dry and barren) with a pomp of diction and luxuriant harmony of numbers; and its more rapid and irresistible course, when swoln and hurried away by the conflict of tumultuous passions.
13
Power of harmony to calm the turbulent sallies of the soul. The thoughts are borrowed from the first Pythian of Pindar. [See note to l. 20.]
20
This is a weak imitation of some incomparable lines in the same Ode. [Pindar, Pythian Ode I, 1-12.]
25
Power of harmony to produce all the graces of motion in the body.
35
[Greek line (omitted)] [He (Odysseus) gazed at the quick twinkling of (the dancers') feet; and he wondered in his heart.]
    Homer. Od[yssey]. O. [viii. 265]
41
[Greek line (omitted)] [And on his rose-red cheeks there gleams the light of love.]
    Phrynichus, apud Athenaeum. [Deipnosophistae, xiii. 604a]
[Modern texts give the line as follows: Greek line (omitted).]
42
To compensate the real and imaginary ills of life, the Muse was given to Mankind by the same Providence that sends the Day by its chearful presence to dispel the gloom and terrors of the Night.
52
Or seen the Morning's well-appointed Star
Come marching up the eastern hills afar.
    Cowley. [Brutus, an Ode, st. 4]
54
Extensive influence of poetic Genius over the remotest and most uncivilized nations: its connection with liberty, and the virtues that naturally attend on it. [See the Erse, Norwegian, and Welch Fragments, the Lapland and American songs.]
    [solar road]
''Extra anni solisque vias—'' [Beyond the paths of the year and the sun—]
Virgil. [Aeneid, vi. 796]
''Tutta lontana dal camin del sole.'' [Quite far from the road of the sun.]
Petrarch, Canzon 2. [Canzoniere, 'Canzone II', l. 48]
66
Progress of Poetry from Greece to Italy, and from Italy to England. Chaucer was not unacquainted with the writings of Dante or of Petrarch. The Earl of Surrey and Sir Tho. Wyatt had travelled in Italy, and formed their taste there; Spenser imitated the Italian writers; Milton improved on them: but this School expired soon after the Restoration, and a new one arose on the French model, which has subsisted ever since.
84
[Nature's Darling] Shakespear.
95
[He] Milton.
98
''—flammantia moenia mundi.'' [—the flaming ramparts of the world].
    Lucretius. [De Rerum Natura, i. 74]
99
For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels - And above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a saphire-stone. - This was the appearance [of the likeness] of the glory of the Lord.
    Ezekiel i. 20, 26, 28.
102
[Greek line (omitted)] [(the Muse) took away (his) eyes, but she gave (him the gift of) sweet song].
    Homer. Od[yssey, viii. 64].
105
Meant to express the stately march and sounding energy of Dryden's rhimes.
106
Hast thou cloathed his neck with thunder?
    Job. [xxxix. 19]
110
Words, that weep, and tears, that speak.
    Cowley. ["The Prophet" in The Mistress, line 20]
111
We have had in our language no other odes of the sublime kind, than that of Dryden on St. Cecilia's day: for Cowley (who had his merit) yet wanted judgment, style, and harmony, for such a task. That of Pope is not worthy of so great a man. Mr. Mason indeed of late days has touched the true chords, and with a masterly hand, in some of his Choruses, - above all in the last of Caractacus,
    Hark! heard ye not yon footstep dread? &c.
115
[Greek line (omitted)] [against the god-like bird of Zeus].
    [Pindar] Olymp. 2. [88]
Pindar compares himself to that bird, and his enemies to ravens that croak and clamour in vain below, while it pursues its flight, regardless of their noise.

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 112 textual and 328 explanatory notes/queries.

All notes and queries are shown by default.

0 The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode 16 Explanatory, 11 Textual

Title/Paratext] "[The Progress of Poesy was [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"[The Progress of Poesy was written at Cambridge in 1754. On the 26th of December Gray put the finishing touches to it, and sent it as ''an Ode in the Greek manner'' to Dr. Wharton. It appeared, in company with the Bard, in a thin quarto volume: - ''Odes by Mr. Gray. [Greek motto omitted] - Pindar, Olymp. II. Printed at Strawberry Hill, for R. and J. Dodsley in Pall Mall. MDCCLVII. Pp. 21. - (Price One Shilling.)'' This was published on the 8th of August 1757; it had an engraving of Strawberry Hill on the title-page, immediately below the citation from Pindar. The Progress of Poesy bears no other title in this first edition than Ode I. The notes which are here printed were not in the edition of 1757, but were added by Gray in 1768, with this Advertisement: - ''When the Author first published this and the following Ode, he was advised, even by his Friends, to subjoin some explanatory Notes, but had too much respect for the understanding of his Readers to take that liberty.'' The full quotation from Aeschylus first appeared in 1768, when the general motto to the two Odes was dropped. - Ed.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 28.

Title/Paratext] "This ode Gray wrote in [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"This ode Gray wrote in 1754 at Cambridge. It was printed in 1757, in company with The Bard, at Horace Walpole's press at Strawberry-Hill, with the following title: ''Odes by Mr. Gray. Printed at Strawberry-Hill. For R. and J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall. MDCCLVII.'' This thin quarto contained only a very few notes. Walpole, writing to Sir Horace Mann, 4 August 1757, said, ''I send you two copies ... of a very honourable opening of my press - two amazing Odes of Mr. Gray: they are Shakspearian, they are Pindaric, they are sublime! consequently, I fear, a little obscure: the second particularly, by the confinement of the measure, and the nature of prophetic vision, is mysterious. I could not persuade him to add more notes; he says, whatever wants to be explained, don't deserve to be.'' In the 1768 edition of his poems, Gray added explanatory notes to these odes, and in his sarcastic Advertisement (see p. 26) told the public why he did so. Gray's foot-notes must certainly be read, as they are exceedingly important for a correct understanding of his Pindaric Odes."

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.

Title/Paratext] "The selections from Gray's letters [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The selections from Gray's letters which contain the most important references to these Odes are given on pp. 73, 74, 76, and 87.

Historical Sketch of the English Pindaric Ode.

The popular notion is that the poet Cowley (1618-1667) was the first man to write Pindaric Odes in English. He published his Pindaric Odes in 1656. They were not a mere imitation, but an invention. But he was more indebted to earlier work than seems to be generally supposed. Spenser's Epithalamion (1595) reminds one instantly of later odes. His stanzas fall into three or four parts, with short lines to break the monotony, but the parts are held together by rime. The grouping of verses is somewhat similar to what we see in the Pindaric Odes.
It is sometimes claimed that Ben Jonson wrote the first Pindaric Ode. In his Underwoods there is a Pindaric Ode To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary, and Sir H. Morison. This is divided as Pindar's odes were divided, into Strophes, Antistrophes, and Epodes. Jonson called his Strophe a ''Turn,'' his Antistrophe a ''Counter-turn,'' and his Epode the ''Stand.'' Undoubtedly he had classic odes in mind. Thomas Randolph, in his Ode to Ben Jonson, upon the occasion of the failure of The New Inn, says: '' 'Twere fond to let all other flames expire, To sit by Pindar's fire.''; thus recognizing Jonson's Pindaric attempts. Randolph himself wrote poems that look something like Pindaric Odes.
Cowley's Pindarics are by no means a strict imitation of Pindar. They are simply groups of verses of irregular length ending with a long line. At the time (1656) his curious metrical forms surprised everybody. He thought his rhapsodies and variations made his odes Pindaric; and some of his odes were in reality paraphrases of Pindar. But of course it was his deliberately studied enthusiasm joined with his poor ear for music, that killed his odes.
Congreve wrote true Pindaric Odes, going back more to Ben Jonson's notions, without apparently knowing what Jonson had done. The most famous man to write Pindarics after Cowley and Congreve, was Gray. It is unnecessary to say that the Progress of Poesy and the Bard are the best Pindaric Odes ever written.

The Metre

As Hales pointed out, this Ode is really divided into 3 stanzas, with 41 lines in each stanza. Again, each stanza is divided into 3 parts - strophe, antistrophe, and epode - the turn, counter-turn, and after-song, Greek theatrical names. The three strophes, antistrophes, and epodes are identical in construction; hence the architecture of the whole poem is curiously symmetrical, though one could easily read it without any perception of this fact.
This was, of course, in imitation of the symmetry of the Greek odes, which particularly appealed to Gray's precise metrical sense.
His own remarks on the metre are interesting. In a letter to Wharton, 9 March 1755 (Works, II, 262), he said: ''I am not quite of your opinion with regard to Strophe and Antistrophe. Setting aside the differences, methinks it has little or no effect upon the ear, which scarce perceives the regular return of metres at so great a distance from one another. To make it succeed, I am persuaded the stanzas must not consist of above nine lines each at the most. Pindar has several such odes.'' Mason adds an interesting note: ''He often made the same remark to me in conversations, which led me to form the last Ode of Caractacus in shorter stanzas: But we must not imagine that he thought the regular Pindaric method without its use. though, as he justly says, when formed in long stanzas, it does not fully succeed in point of effect on the ear: for there was nothing which he more disliked than that chain of irregular stanzas which Cowley introduced, and falsely called Pindaric; and which from the extreme facility of execution, produced a number of miserable imitators. ... It is also to be remarked, that Mr. Congreve, who first introduced the regular Pindaric form into the English language, made use of the short stanzas which Mr. Gray here recommends.''"

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, 148-150.

Title/Paratext] "[The Motto:] Pindar, Olymp. ii, [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"[The Motto:] Pindar, Olymp. ii, 153, 154. Gray himself translates this motto in a Letter to the Rev. James Brown, 17 Feb. 1763 (Works, III, 148): ''The Odes ..., as their motto shews, were meant to be vocal to the intelligent alone. How few they were in my own country, Mr. Howe can testify; and yet my ambition was terminated by that small circle.'' Cf. Letter to Wharton, 7 Sept. 1757 (Works, II, 330): ''Miss Sp[eed] seems to understand; and to all such, as do not, she says - [Greek motto] - in so many words. And this is both my motto and comment.''
The Critical Review, IV, 167, says, ''The author might, with great propriety, have added [second part of the Greek motto added in 1768].'' It is interesting to see that in the edition of 1768, Gray actually adopted this suggestion."

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, 150.

Title/Paratext] "This Ode was written at [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"This Ode was written at Cambridge in 1754, and in a letter dated 26th December, Gray sent it as an ''Ode in the Greek manner'' to Dr. Wharton, observing ''If this be as tedious to you as it is grown to me, I shall be sorry that I sent it to you.''
In 1757 it was printed along with the ''Bard,'' but neither with their present title, but merely Ode I. and Ode II. The little quarto volume of twenty-one pages was published on the 8th of August - the first issue of Horace Walpole's printing press - with an engraving of Strawberry Hill, and the following title: - ''Odes by Mr. Gray. [Greek motto (omitted)] - Pindar, Olymp. II. Printed at Strawberry Hill, for R. and J. Dodsley in Pall Mall. MDCCLVII. (Price One Shilling.)''"

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], 189.

Title/Paratext] "There were no notes in [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"There were no notes in the edition of 1757, but they were supplied by Gray in the edition of 1768, who apologized for so doing thus: - ''Advertisement. - When the Author first published this and the following Ode, he was advised, even by his Friends, to subjoin some explanatory Notes, but had too much respect for the understanding of his Readers to take that liberty.''
Before reading the Poem it would be well for the student to read the commentary Gray gives in his notes, which is virtually an analysis of the Ode."

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], 189/190.

Title/Paratext] "To the edition of 1768 [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"To the edition of 1768 Gray has added the following: ''Advertisement.   When the Author first published this and the following Ode, he was advised, even by his Friends, to subjoin some explanatory Notes, but had too much respect for the understanding of his Readers to take that liberty.''
With the exception therefore of a brief advertisement to the Bard and four notes to the same poem, which were given in 1757, Gray's notes belong to 1768."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 183.

Title/Paratext] "The motto from Pindar belongs [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The motto from Pindar belongs both to this and to the succeeding Ode. Therefore I have taken it from the place in which it has been set, in all editions of Gray which I have seen, except that of the Two Odes printed by Walpole at Strawberry Hill in 1757. Though it is certain that Gray afterwards permitted it to stand below the title of the first Ode only, perhaps this was but an oversight. The motto includes them both. I could not bring myself to follow Dr Phelps in separating for chronological reasons these companions by interpolating between them the fragment on 'Vicissitude.'
The motto was originally simply

[Greek line (omitted)], Pindar, Olymp. II.
'The Critical Review IV. 167 says, ''The author might, with great propriety, have added
[Greek lines (omitted)]"
It is interesting to note that in the edition of 1768 Gray actually adopted this suggestion.' Phelps. On the 7th of Sept. 1757, Gray wrote to Wharton,
Miss Sp. [Speed] seems to understand, and to all such, as do not, she says - [Greek words (omitted)] - in so many words. And this is both my Motto and Comment.'
He refers once more to the motto in a letter to Brown, 17 Feb. 1763, 'The Odes in question, as their motto shows, were meant to be vocal to the intelligent alone.'
'I have many shafts in my quiver,' so Pindar is generally understood, 'which have meaning for the intelligent, but for the generality need interpreters.'
Dr Verrall (Journal of Philology, vol. IX. p. 129) says, 'In spite of the familiarity of this famous epigram, I am confident that any scholar will upon reflection pronounce the traditional interpretation of it quite indefensible.'
However this may be, Gray undoubtedly followed the traditional interpretation. He knew nothing of the reading [Greek words (omitted)] (which Donaldson gives, recording the MS. reading [Greek words (omitted)] which points to it) - and which Dr Verrall interprets 'for the explanation of words' - i.e. veiled allusions.
It is noteworthy that the fuller motto was given when most of the explanatory notes were added by Gray. The earliest intimation of the Progress of Poesy is from Gray to Walpole (in a letter given without date, but probably Dec. 1752), ''I don't know but I may send Dodsley very soon (by your hands)...a high Pindaric upon stilts, which one must be a better scholar than he is to understand a line of, and the very best scholars will understand but a little matter here and there. It wants but seventeen lines of having an end.''
Mason affirms that he was the innocent cause of Gray's delaying to finish this Ode. ' ''I told him on reading the part he showed me that though I admired it greatly, and thought it breathed the very spirit of Pindar, yet I suspected it would by no means hit the public taste.'' Finding afterwards that he did not proceed in finishing it, I often expostulated with him on the subject; but he always replied, ''No, you have thrown cold water upon it.'' ' Mason mentions this in illustration of Gray's earlier reluctance to finish Agrippina after West's criticisms on it. (See Introductory note there.)"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 180/181.

Title/Paratext] "On the 26th of Dec. [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"On the 26th of Dec. 1754 Gray sent Wharton the completed Ode, calling it 'Ode in the Greek manner,' and writing: 'If this be as tedious to you, as it is grown to me I shall be sorry that I sent it you. ...I desire that you would by no means suffer this to be copied; nor even shew it, unless to very few, and especially not to mere scholars, that can scan all the measures in Pindar, and say all the Scholia by heart.'
Though Gray observed the law of Strophe and Antistrophe he did not set much store by it. Writing again to Wharton on March 9, 1755, he says, 'Setting aside the difficulties, methinks it has little or no effect upon the ear, which scarce perceives the regular return of metres at so great a distance from one another. To make it succeed, I am persuaded the Stanzas must not consist of above nine lines each at the most. Pindar has several such odes.'
It will be noted that each strophe and antistrophe consists of 12 lines, each epode of 17; and that every strophe corresponds with every strophe and antistrophe, every epode with every epode, line for line.
Mason (on this letter of Gray) tells us that Gray often made the same remark to him about strophe and antistrophe; and that in consequence the last Ode of Caractacus was formed in shorter stanzas. He sagely remarks, 'Had the regular return of Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode no other merit than that of extreme difficulty, it ought on this very account to be valued; because we well know that ''Easy writing is no easy reading.'' ' Perhaps the justification of the true Pindaric Ode lies elsewhere than in this perversion of a common sense maxim, which never meant that we must multiply difficulties before we can be lucid.
'There was nothing,' Mason says, 'which Gray more disliked than that chain of irregular stanzas which Cowley introduced, and falsely called Pindaric; and which, from the extreme facility of execution, produced a number of miserable imitators. ...It is also to be remarked that Mr Congreve, who first introduced the regular Pindaric form into the English language, made use of the short stanzas which Mr Gray recommends. See his Ode to the Queen.'
'It is sometimes claimed,' says Dr Phelps, 'that Ben Jonson wrote the first Pindaric Ode. In his Underwoods there is a Pindaric Ode To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morison. This is divided as Pindar's Odes were divided, into Strophes, Antistrophes and Epodes. Jonson called his Strophe a ''Turn,'' his Antistrophe a Counter-Turn, and his Epode the ''Stand'' ' [?{Greek word [omitted]}].
Walpole writes to Chute, July 12, 1757: 'On Monday next the Officina Arbuteana [Strawberry Hill Press] opens in form. The Stationers' Company, that is, Mr Dodsley, Mr Tonson, &c. are summoned to meet here on Sunday night. And with what do you think we open? Cedite Romani Impressores - with nothing under Graii Carmina. I found him in town last week: he had brought his two Odes to be printed. I snatched them out of Dodsley's hands, and they are to be the firstfruits of my press. ...Now, my dear Sir, can I stir?

Not ev'n thy virtues, tyrant, shall avail.' [Bard, l. 6.]
Again, to Sir Horace Mann on the 4th of August he sends 'two copies of a very honourable opening of my press - two amazing Odes of Mr Gray; they are Greek, they are Pindaric, they are sublime! consequently I fear a little obscure; the second particularly, by the confinement of the measure and the nature of prophetic vision, is mysterious. I could not persuade him to add more notes; he says whatever wants to be explained, don't deserve to be.'
I have a copy of this edition. In it, as in the Irish editions (Cork and Dublin) mentioned on A Long Story, The Progress of Poesy is headed simply Ode, and the Bard simply Ode II. In the Dublin and Cork editions of 1768 mentioned on Long Story, they are called Ode I. and Ode II. It will be seen that the drift of the first Ode was mistaken, by some not very bright readers."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 181-183.

Title/Paratext] "Written at Cambridge in 1754; [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Written at Cambridge in 1754; first published with 'The Bard' in1757, without notes. 'It appeared', says Wharton, 'that there were not twenty people in England who liked them.' Piqued by the charge of obscurity (see Letter XXX) Gray added notes in the edition of 1768, with the following explanation: 'When the author first published this and the following Ode he was advised, even by his friends, to subjoin some explanatory notes; but had too much respect for the understanding of his readers to take that liberty.'"

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

Title/Paratext] "The motto may be translated: [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"The motto may be translated: 'Vocal to the intelligent, but for the world at large requiring interpreters.'"

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

Title/Paratext] "[The Ode was sent to [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"[The Ode was sent to Wharton in a letter dated December 26, 1754. Lines 1 to 24 were sent to Bedingfield on December 29, 1756. There is another copy in Gray's handwriting among the Pembroke MSS., at the foot of which is noted ' finish'd in 1754, printed together with The Bard, An Ode, Aug: 8, 1757 '. The two poems (with the title of Odes) formed the first volume issued from Walpole's Press at Strawberry Hill. The notes and advertisement were added in the 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], 44.

Title/Paratext] "The Pembroke and Wharton MSS. [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"The Pembroke and Wharton MSS. head each division 'strophe 1', 'antistrophe 1', ['epode 1'] &c."

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], 170.

Title/Paratext] "In invoking the Aeolian lyre, [...]" W.C. Eppstein, 1959.

"In invoking the Aeolian lyre, or what Pindar calls [...] ''the breath of the Aeolian flute'', Gray sings of the influence of poetry in the thousand channels through which it flows. He traces the progress of poetry in Greece - ''Till the sad Nine, in Greece's evil hour, / Left their Parnassus for the Latin plains''. From Italy the influence is traced to England; and to Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden, ''the mighty mother did unveil her awful face'', till at last in a final epode whose rhythm is meant to express Dryden's stately measure, Gray closes with the regret that the lyre had fallen into the infant hands of one like himself that inherits - ''Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, / That the Theban eagle bear''."

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

Title/Paratext] "First published by Walpole, Strawberry [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"First published by Walpole, Strawberry Hill, 1757. Advertisement and notes added in 1768. The [...] headings [...] (Strophe, Antistrophe, Epode) [...] [appear only in] the autograph MSS. (C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754], [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, 29 Dec. 1756])."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 12.

Title/Paratext] "Gray was working on the [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Gray was working on the poem early in 1752 'by fits & starts at very distant intervals' (T & W nos. 169, 215), but probably completed it well before Dec. 1754 (T & W no. 194, n. 1), although, according to Mason (i. 145 n.), he at one time lost interest in the ode: 'I was ... the innocent cause of his delaying to finish ... the progress of Poetry. I told him ... that ''though I admired it greatly, and thought that it breathed the very spirit of Pindar, yet I suspected it would by no means hit the public taste''. Finding afterwards that he did not proceed in finishing it, I often expostulated with him on the subject, but he always replied ''No, you have thrown cold water upon it''. I mention this little anecdote, to shew how much the opinion of a friend, even when it did notconvince his judgment, affected his inclination.'"

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 204/205.

Title/Paratext] "In both the Progress and [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"In both the Progress and the Bard his aversion to the irregular Pindaric odes practised by Cowley caused him to attempt the rather difficult task of making a strict imitation of Pindar in English. (For an analysis of the metrics, see Starr, Gray as a Literary Critic [Philadelphia, 1941], Appendix, pp. 132-40.) Accordingly the editors have inserted in brackets the designations Strophe, Antistrophe, and Epode, which appear in the MSS.
Gray wrote to Walpole, July 1752 (T & W no. 169): '... I may send ... a high Pindarick upon stilts, which one must be a better scholar than he [Dodsley] is to understand a line of, and the very best scholars will understand but a little matter here and there.' Despite this comment Gray was rather exasperated to learn that so many of his readers found The Bard and The Progress of Poesy obscure - hence when he finally decided to add explanatory notes to the 1768 editions, he prefixed to the poems the somewhat double-edged 'Advertisement'. For his comments on the reaction of the public and the parody by Colman and Lloyd see T & W nos. 247, 248, 249, 312, 367. In the first edition the motto was [Greek (omitted)] [speaking clearly to the wise] (Pindar, Olymp. ii. 85); in the 1768 edition it was expanded to [the present reading] [(shafts) that speak clearly to the wise; but for the generality they need interpreters]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 205.

Title/Paratext] "Title: Ode. in the Greek [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Title: Ode. in the Greek manner. C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]. In P[oems, 1768,] the poem is preceded by the motto:

ϕωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν· ἐς
δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἑρμηνέων χατίζει.
[For translation see explanatory notes.] The Powers of Poesy (the title given in the Receipt to Dodsley, 29 June 1757, T & W no. 243, n. 1)."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 12.

Title/Paratext] "Written between Sept. 1751 and [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Written between Sept. 1751 and Dec. 1754. In the late summer of 1751 Walpole asked G[ray]. about the truth of a rumour that he had promised a poem for the fourth volume of Dodsley's Collection of Poems, which the publisher was planning at this time. In a letter dated 8 Sept. 1751 (corrected by the editors of the Walpole Correspondence xiv 52, to 8 Oct.) G. denied the rumour: 'I have nothing more, either nocturnal or diurnal, to deck his Miscellany with' (Corresp i 348). But he kept the proposed volume in mind and, in a letter to Walpole in July 1752 which discussed the forthcoming publication by Dodsley of his Six Poems... With Designs by Mr R. Bentley, he revealed that he might yet contribute to the continuation of Dodsley's anthology (Corresp i 364): 'I don't know but I may send him very soon (by your hands) an ode to his own tooth, a high Pindarick upon stilts, which one must be a better scholar than he is to understand a line of, and the very best scholars will understand but a little matter here and there. It wants but seventeen lines of having an end, I don't say of being finished. As it is so unfortunate to come too late for Mr. Bentley, it may appear in the fourth volume of the Miscellanies, provided you don't think it execrable, and suppress it.'
Although the poem lacked only 17 ll. G. no doubt also revised this first draft extensively and it was not completed until 1754. In April 1756 he described it as being written 'by fits & starts at very distant intervals' (Corresp ii 462). In 1775 William Mason admitted, Memoirs p. 145 n, to having been 'the innocent cause of his delaying to finish his fine ode on the progress of Poetry. I told him, on reading the part he shewed me, that ''though I admired it greatly, and thought that it breathed the very spirit of Pindar, yet I suspected it would by no means hit the public taste.'' Finding afterwards that he did not proceed in finishing it, I often expostulated with him on the subject; but he always replied ''No, you have thrown cold water upon it.'' I mention this little anecdote, to shew how much the opinion of a friend, even when it did not convince his judgement, affected his inclination.'
G.'s transcript of the poem in his Commonplace Book (ii 727-8) is entitled 'Ode in the Greek Manner' and described as 'Finish'd in 1754'. All the marginal corrections in this text were followed in a MS of the poem (still entitled 'Ode in the Greek Manner') which G. sent to Wharton on 26 Dec. 1754 (Corresp i 412-6), so that it may have been completed some months earlier. This possibility is perhaps confirmed by G.'s remark in his covering letter to Wharton: 'If this be as tedious to You, as it is grown to me, I shall be sorry that I sent it you.' No doubt remembering his experience with the Elegy, he instructed Wharton to use great caution in circulating the poem: 'I desire you would by no means suffer this to be copied; nor even shew it, unless to very few, & especially not to mere Scholars, that can scan all the measures in Pindar, & say the Scholia by heart.'
That G. was now troubled about the form in which his new poem should be published is clear from another letter to Wharton of 9 March 1755 (Corresp i 420). He had finished it too late for inclusion in the new volume of Dodsley's Collection, published this year, but in any case he obviously now viewed that anthology with some distaste. On the other hand, he was not enthusiastic about the prospect of publishing the poem and others which he had in mind (The Bard and probably the fragment entitled by Mason Ode on the Pleasure Arising from Vicissitude) in separate, pretentious pamphlets: 'in truth I am not so much against publishing, as against publishing this alone. I have two or three Ideas more in my head. what is to come of them? must they too come out in the shape of little six-penny flams, dropping one after another, till Mr Dodsley thinks fit to collect them with Mr this's Song, and Mr t'other's epigram, into a pretty Volume?'
The solution to the problem which probably occurred to G. was to withhold his 'Ode in the Greek Manner' until he had written enough other poems to justify publication in book form. By the summer of 1755 he had made good progress with what was to become The Bard and the earlier ode was laid aside in the meantime. In a letter to Bedingfield of 29 April 1756 G. referred to it under a new title, 'the Powers of Poetry' (Corresp ii 462), adding: 'I have been already threaten'd with publication, tho' there are no more than three copies of it in the world, to abate your curiosity I assure you it is very incorrect, & being wrote by fits & starts at very distant intervals is so unequal that it will hardly admit of particular corrections. ... you call it celebrated, but its celebrity is only owing to its being yet unpublish'd.' Another letter from G. to Bedingfield of 27 Aug. 1756 (Corresp ii 475) gives the impression that the latter had by then seen a large part of the poem, perhaps as much as from l. 23 to the end. On 29 Dec. 1756, G. sent Bedingfield ll. 1-23 of the poem (which he described as 'no favourite of mine'), adding that 'the end you have already' (Corresp ii 491-2).
Since G. did not complete The Bard until the summer of 1757, the earlier poem remained unpublished for some three years after its completion. The two Odes were eventually published by Dodsley on 8 Aug. 1757, having been printed at Horace Walpole's newly established press at Strawberry Hill. (For a more detailed account of the publication and reception of the Odes, see the headnote to The Bard, pp. 179-80). Dodsley paid G. 40 guineas for the copyright and in G.'s receipt for this sum, dated 29 June 1757, the first of the two poems is still referred to as The Powers of Poetry (Corresp ii 513 n). When published it was entitled merely Ode and it was not until 1768 that it received its full title, The Progress of Poesy. A Pindaric Ode. Shortly before its publication in 1757 Horace Walpole had referred to it as an ode 'on the power and progress of Poetry' (in his Journal of the Printing-Office at Strawberry Hill ed. Toynbee (1923) p. 3); but in a letter to Lyttelton, Letters, ed. Toynbee (1903) iv 85, he wrote that G. had decided to give the poem no title, because 'Mr Cooke published an ode with such a title.' Thomas Cooke's Ode on the Powers of Poetry was published in 1751."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 155-157.

Title/Paratext] "In 1757 G. did not [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In 1757 G. did not provide notes to The Progress of Poesy. Perhaps embarrassed by the great popularity of the Elegy, he seems to have been determined to puzzle all but the most learned of his readers, as is clear from the brief motto from Pindar's Olympian Odes ii 85, which he himself translated 'vocal to the Intelligent alone' (Corresp ii 797), prefixed to the Odes. G. amplified the quotation in 1768 as an early reviewer, Critical Review iv (1757) 167, had recommended. Walpole tried to persuade G. to help his readers, as he told Horace Mann in a letter of 4 Aug. 1757 (Walpole Correspondence xxi 120), when he sent him 'two amazing odes of Mr Gray - they are Greek, they are Pindaric, they are sublime - consequently I fear a little obscure. ... I could not persuade him to add more notes; he says whatever wants to be explained, don't deserve to be.' G. had told Walpole in July, 'I do not love notes. ... They are signs of weakness and obscurity. If a thing cannot be understood without them, it had better be not understood at all' (Corresp ii 508). Although G. restated this conviction in Sept. 1757 - 'I would not have put another note to save the souls of all the Owls in London' (Corresp ii 522) - he was undoubtedly hurt by the misunderstandings and confusion the Odes caused, derisive as he may have been about their readers. A writer in the Critical Review made a conspicuous blunder about the opening of the The Progress of Poesy (see l. 1 n); and 'a lady of quality, a friend of Mason's' was baffled by ll. 83-106: 'She knew there was a compliment to Dryden, but never suspected there was anything said about Shakspeare or Milton, till it was explained to her; and wishes that there had been titles prefixed to tell what they were about' (Corresp ii 520). Bedingfield wrote to tell him in Oct. (Corresp ii 532), 'that at York-races he overheard three People, whom by their dress & manner he takes for Lords, say, that I was impenetrable & inexplicable, and they wish'd, I had told them in prose, what I meant in verse'.
In 1768 G. virtually submitted to the wishes of the racegoers by providing an extensive prose commentary on the poem, albeit with a somewhat derisive 'Advertisement': 'When the Author first published this and the following Ode, he was advised, even by his Friends, to subjoin some few explanatory Notes; but had too much respect for the understanding of his Readers to take that liberty.' G. had written virtually the same words in his own copy of the 1757 Odes (now in the Pierpont Morgan Library), but had added: 'The words of Pindar prefixed to them ... were prophetic of their fate: Very few understood them; the multitude of all ranks call'd them unintelligible.' The Odes were, however, to become, after the Elegy, the most admired of G.'s poems, as is clear from the indignation aroused by Johnson's severe criticism of them in his Life of the poet. In any case, some of the first readers of the Odes were much more discerning and appreciative than G. admitted. For a detailed account of their reception see W. Powell Jones, 'The contemporary reception of Gray's Odes', MP xxviii (1930-1) 61-82."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 157/158.

Title/Paratext] "Like The Bard, The Progress [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Like The Bard, The Progress of Poesy is a 'Pindaric Ode'. The effective introduction of the form into English poetry has usually been attributed to Cowley, whose Pindarique Odes were published in 1656. Cowley was unaware of the metrical and structural principles of Pindar's poetry, and the irregular stanzaic forms of his imitations did much to promulgate what rapidly became a common misconception of Pindar as an impassioned poet, whose genius was unfettered by normal rules. This misconception, as well as the popularity of the Pindaric Ode itself, was fostered by Dryden's effective use of the irregular stanza in his Song for St Cecilia's Day and Alexander's Feast. As a vehicle for 'enthusiastic' religious and patriotic poetry, the Pindaric Ode became a popular form, permitting (as it was supposed to do) virtually any kind of metrical and thematic inconsequentiality and providing an attractively emancipated alternative to the logical and metrical demands of stricter verse forms.
A vigorous protest against this misconception of Pindar was made by William Congreve in 1706, in the preface to his Pindarique Ode to the Queen. Congreve objected that most supposed imitations of Pindar were merely 'a Bundle of rambling incoherent Thoughts, express'd in a like parcel of irregular Stanza's, which also consist of such another Complication of disproportion'd, uncertain and perplex'd Verses and Rhimes'. Congreve went on to expound the true principles of Pindar's odes and to show that 'there is nothing more regular than the Odes of Pindar, both as to the exact Observation of the Measures and Numbers of his Stanza's and Verses, and the perpetual Coherence of his Thoughts'. As Congreve explained, the ode usually (but by no means invariably) consisted of three stanzas, the strophe, antistrophe and epode. The poet fixed the metre and stanzaic form of the strophe (which varied from ode to ode), which had to be duplicated precisely in the antistrophe. In the epode the poet devised another, usually contrasting, stanzaic form. The ode could consist of several sets of three stanzas, but the stanzaic forms established in the first tripartite set had to be duplicated exactly thereafter. Pindar himself varies this basic form, which is however that followed meticulously by G. Although it gave considerable scope for metrical variation within the symmetrical pattern, it was never irregular.
Congreve's protest did not immediately dispose of the misconception of Pindar as an artless genius or halt the flow of the irregular ode. But Collins's Odes represent an attempt to compromise more closely with Greek principles and the argument for the regularity of Pindar was firmly repeated by Gilbert West in the Preface to his Odes of Pindar. Translated from the Greek in 1749. In any case, G. had already investigated the principles of Pindar's odes for himself. A letter to Wharton of 17 March 1747 (Corresp i 277) shows that he was studying Pindar at that time; and a notebook now in the British Museum (Add. MS 36817 ff 4-5) contains his notes on the poet, dated 20 March 1747. G. transcribed several of the passages from Pindar which he was to imitate in The Progress of Poesy and carefully analysed the metre. It is not surprising, therefore, that G. observed the principles of Pindar's verse in his imitations more faithfully than any earlier English poet. In addition, G. attempted to capture the manner of Pindar's odes by imitating the highly allusive and concise narrative technique and the swift transitions from one topic to another which characterize them. G.'s repeated emphasis on the learned character of his Pindaric poems (reinforced in the MSS by the fact that the divisions of the poem are labelled Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode) points to his desire to dissociate himself from the debased, irregular form, which had, in any case, lost much of its popularity by the mid-century. (Johnson more than once speaks of 'our Pindarick infatuation' as lasting only into the first decade or two of the century; Lives of the Poets, ed. G. B. Hill, ii 210, 234, iii 303.) Mason, Memoirs p. 233n, states explicitly that 'there was nothing which [G.] more disliked than that chain of irregular stanzas which Cowley introduced, and falsely called Pindaric; and which from the extreme facility of execution produced a number of miserable imitators'. These remarks were made in a note to a letter from G. to Wharton, 9 March 1755 (Corresp i 420-1), in which G. discusses the length of stanza desirable in the strophe and antistrophe. If it is too great, he believed, 'it has little or no effect upon the ear, wch scarce perceives the regular return of Metres at so great a distance from one another. to make it succeed, I am persuaded the Stanza's must not consist of above 9 lines each at the most.' Ironically, it was precisely on these grounds that Johnson was to criticise the stanzas of The Bard: 'the ode is finished before the ear has learned its measures, and consequently before it can receive pleasure from their consonance and recurrence' (Lives of the Poets iii 439)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 158-160.

Title/Paratext] "The first of G.'s 'Pindaric [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The first of G.'s 'Pindaric Odes' is a 'progress poem', as the title on which he eventually settled makes clear. It therefore belongs to one of the most popular poetic genres of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a genre which flourished as the Augustans developed a historical perspective that established them as the heirs in a direct line of succession from the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. The purpose of the progress poem was to expound this genealogy, tracing back their arts and virtues to Greece and then describing the continuous historical and geographical progress westward to Britain. The route could show minor variations, but usually proceeded through Rome and medieval Italy. The reason for the steady progress of the arts to Britain was usually - as in The Progress of Poesy 77-82 - the decline of liberty in the former cultural centres of the world. Only in Britain was true liberty to be found, according to the Augustans, so that the arts had inevitably settled there. The route followed by Liberty herself to Britain is explicitly described in such progress poems as Thomson's Liberty and Collins's Ode to Liberty. A number of Collins's other odes belong to the genre. Nevertheless, by the mid-eighteenth century the patriotic conviction that the classical arts and virtues had not merely been transmitted to Britain but had thrived there as never before was losing some of its confidence. That the sense of the past out of which the progress poem sprang could induce in this new generation a sense of inferiority rather than simple complacency is clear from the conclusion of G.'s Progress of Poesy and from Collins's Ode on the Poetical Character. For further information about the progress poem, see R. H. Griffith, 'The progress pieces of the eighteenth century', Texas Review v (1919-20) 218-33; Mattie Swayn, 'The progress piece of the seventeenth century', Univ. of Texas Bulletin (Studies in English) xvi (1936) 84-92; and Aubrey L. Williams, Pope's Dunciad (1955) pp. 42-8. Two earlier poems have virtually the same title and framework as G.'s: the section 'The Progress of Poetry' in Of Poetry, in Samuel Cobb's Poems on Several Occasions (1707); and Judith Madan's Progress of Poetry (1721).
The Progress of Poesy, like The Bard, has received relatively little critical attention: there are some perceptive comments on both poems in F. Doherty, 'The two voices of Gray', Essays in Criticism xiii (1963) 222-30 and P. M. Spacks, '"Artful strife": Conflict in Gray's poetry', PMLA lxxxi (1966) 63-9."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 160/161.

Title/Paratext] "The epigraph from Pindar may [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"The epigraph from Pindar may be translated: 'vocal to the intelligent alone'."

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.

Title/Paratext] "[Epigraph.] Gray's epigraph to the [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"[Epigraph.] Gray's epigraph to the poem is taken from the second of the Olympian Odes of Pindar, and a translation of the full passage reads: 'Full many a swift arrow have I beneath mine arm, within my quiver, many an arrow that is vocal to the wise; but for the crowd they need interpreters. The true poet is he who knoweth much by gift of nature, but they that have only learned the lore of song, and are turbulent and intemperate of tongue, like a pair of crows, chatter in vain against the godlike bird of Zeus.'"

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, 28.

Title/Paratext] "Written between Sept. 1751 and [...]" J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"Written between Sept. 1751 and Dec. 1754. Printed, together with 'The Bard', Aug. 8, 1757, by Horace Walpole from his press at Strawberry Hill."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 77.

Title/Paratext] "'The Bard' and 'The Progress [...]" J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"'The Bard' and 'The Progress of Poesy' [...] are attempts to reproduce in English the form and manner of the Greek Pindaric Ode. The odes of Pindar were composed to be performed by a choir of dancers, in honour of a victor at the games - the Olympic, Nemean, Pythian and Isthmian Games, those great national and religious occasions held at regular intervals in antiquity. The form of the poem consisted of a repeated sequence of strophe, anti-strophe, and epode. In the strophe and anti-strophe the dancers danced the same figure, while the epode was performed standing still, and therefore had a different metrical and melodic structure."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 12/13.

Title/Paratext] "The Progress of Poesy and [...]" D. Fairer/C. Gerrard, 1999.

"The Progress of Poesy and The Bard were first published by Horace Walpole at his Strawberry Hill Press as Odes, by Mr. Gray (1757). They soon became enormously admired by a baffled reading public ('nobody understands me, & I am perfectly satisfied', Gray wrote to William Mason, 7 September 1757). But the odes' obscurity led to embarrassing mistakes by reviewers and critics, and Gray eventually bowed to pressure by adding footnotes to them for his 1768 Poems. Difficulty and daring were thought appropriate for a 'Pindaric', a genre which invited comparison with the most dazzling of Greek lyric writers, Pindar (518-438 BC), whose odes were metrically adventurous (no two used the same metre) and were praised as challenging, fervid and inspired. For his own celebration of poetic power, Gray focuses his Progress on the continued inheritance of Ancient Greece, and his debt to Pindar is made explicit; but Gray also invokes the inspired word of the Hebrew Bible, and the voice of that other great lyricist, King David. The ode to some extent explores its own genealogy as a modern representative of a twin Hellenistic-Hebraic tradition. In its emphasis on voice, it is also able to accommodate the 'primitive' oral poetry of other nations. The poem carries the imprint of Gray's researches into the history of English, or rather British, poetry, an aborted project he worked on between 1753 and 1762. In his commonplace book Gray entitles the poem Ode in the Greek Manner. He adopts the triadic structure of Greek lyric, in which two symmetrical stanzas (the 'strophe' and 'antistrophe' - so called from the chorus dancing to right and left in turn as they sang) are followed by the 'epode' in a different though related metrical form. Gray marked these in his commonplace book transcript. His ode has three such triads, making nine stanzas in all, and like Pindar's odes it is regular, in that each triad is identical in rhyme and metre. Annotating Gray's odes poses problems of scope and detail. Once again, Lonsdale's exhaustive commentary would repay study. [...]"

Eighteenth-Century Poetry. An Annotated Anthology. Edited by David Fairer and Christine Gerrard. Blackwell annotated anthologies. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999, 333-334.

Add a note or query to this line


ϕωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν· ἐς
δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἑρμηνέων χατίζει.
Pindar, Olymp[ian Odes]. II. [85]


I. 1.

1 Awake, Aeolian lyre, awake, 11 Explanatory, 6 Textual

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "''Awake, my lyre: my glory, [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Awake, my lyre: my glory, wake.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 29.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Gray's note on this line [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray's note on this line inaccurately quotes Psalms, 57, 8: ''Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp.'' The word ''lute,'' which occurs in Gray's quotation, does not occur in Young's Analytical Concordance."

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, 150.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Gray quotes (incorrectly) from the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Gray quotes (incorrectly) from the Prayer Book version of Psalm lvii. 9."

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], 190.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Awake, my lyre; my glory, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Awake, my lyre; my glory, wake. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 195.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "In his manuscript it originally [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"In his manuscript it originally stood: ''Awake, my lyre: my glory, wake.'' Mason."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 183/184.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "He quotes from the Prayer-Book [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"He quotes from the Prayer-Book version, Psalm lvii. 9, which however runs 'Awake up' etc. Cf. also Cowley's Supplication (given in Palgrave's Golden Treasury):

        ''Awake, awake, my lyre
And tell thy silent master's humble tale.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 183.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "This note [Gray's footnote on [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This note [Gray's footnote on l. 1] was provoked by a writer in the Critical Review (IV. 167) who says (as quoted by Phelps) ''The first of these odes is addressed to the AEolian lyre, which it emulates in the enchanting softness, ravishing flow, and solemn tones of melody. A severe critic .... would censure the sentiment which represents the Loves as dancing to the sound of this lyre. Such an instrument as the AEolian harp, which is altogether uncertain and irregular, must be very ill adapted to the dance, which is one continued regular movement.''
The same reviewer, with more truth, suggests that l. 20 ought to mean that the lyre (rather, its magic) was perching on Jove's hand.
Gray, (to Mason, and to Wharton Sep. 7, 1757) attributes this review to Francklin [footnote: The edition of the two odes of 1757 in my possession has 'Francklin 1757' in MS. on the cover. It was possibly the copy of Gray's sapient critic (vid. infra), unless it was that of the quondam printer of the Craftsman, who strangely enough tenanted a house which became Walpole's, on his little demesne of Strawberry Hill. ''Can there be,'' says Walpole, ''an odder revolution of things, than that the printer of the Craftsman should live in a house of mine, and that the author of the Craftsman should write a panegyric on a house of mine?'' ''Lord Bath,'' Mr Austin Dobson explains, ''if not the actual, was at least the putative writer of most of the Craftsman's attacks upon Sir Robert Walpole.'' He wrote, in part, a praise of Strawberry Hill in verse.], Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge. The blunder about the AEolian lyre, inexcusable perhaps in a Greek Professor, was not unnatural in less instructed readers. Thomson had in 1748 prepossessed the mind of the reading public with a description of what we commonly call the AEolian harp, in the Castle of Indolence:

''A certain music, never known before,
Here lulled the pensive, melancholy mind;
Full easily obtained. Behoves no more,
But sidelong, to the gently waving wind,
To lay the well-tuned instrument reclined;
From which with airy flying fingers light,
Beyond each mortal touch the most refined,
The god of winds drew sounds of deep delight,
Whence, with just cause, the harp of AEolus it hight.''
            (Canto I. XL.)
It was necessary however to add a note: 'This is not an invention of the author; there being in fact such an instrument called AEolus' Harp, which when placed against a little rushing or current of air, produces the effect here described.'
In the same year Thomson published an Ode on AEolus' Harp, describing it in a note as the invention of Mr Oswald."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 183/184.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Awake, my Lyre, my Glory, [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Awake, my Lyre, my Glory, wake, Pembroke MS. (present reading in margin)."

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], 170.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Awake my Lyre, my Glory, [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Awake my Lyre, my Glory, wake, C[ommonplace] B[ook] with present reading in margin."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 12.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Th[e] note ['Pindar styles...'] was [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Th[e] note ['Pindar styles...'] was inserted by Gray as a result of an error made by the reviewer in the Critical Review, iv (Aug. 1757), 167, who thought that by 'Aeolian lyre' Gray meant an Aeolian harp, an instrument which when hung in the open air produces notes as the wind strikes it. On 7 Sept. 1757 Gray wrote to Mason (T & W no. 248) concerning the review: 'even the Critical Review ... that is rapt, & surprised, & shudders at me; yet mistakes the Aeolian Lyre for the Harp of Aeolus, wch indeed, as he observes, is a very bad instrument to dance to.'"

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 205.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Awake, my Lyre, my Glory, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Awake, my Lyre, my Glory, wake   Commonplace Book, with present reading in margin."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 161.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Mason, Poems p. 86, explained [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason, Poems p. 86, explained that this note was not 'the mere parade of Greek quotation': he believed that G. included it because a writer in the Critical Review iv 167, reviewing the Odes in Aug. 1757, assumed that 'Aeolian' referred to the Harp of Aeolus, or wind-harp, instead of a mode in Greek music (Corresp ii 523 and n).
Cp. also Cowley, Davideis Bk iii: 'Awake, awake, my lyre'; Pope, Ode on St Cecilia's Day 3-4: 'Wake into Voice each silent String, / And sweep the sounding Lyre'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 161.

1.1-4 Awake, ... awake,] "Pindar applied the term Aeolian [...]" J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"Pindar applied the term Aeolian music to his own poetry. The Aeolian dialect was that of Boetia, of which Thebes, Pindar's native town, was the principal city. The phrase should not be taken as referring to the Aeolian or wind harp, producing musical sounds by the action of the wind on its strings."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 77.

1.2-3 Aeolian lyre,] "Gray's note on this is [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray's note on this is said to have been called out by a blundering critic (Critical Review, IV, 167) who mistook the Aeolian lyre for the harp of Aeolus, or wind-harp: ''The first of these odes is addressed to the Aeolian lyre, which it emulates in the enchanting softness, ravishing flow, and solemn tones of melody. ... A severe critic would ... censure the sentiment ... which represents the Loves dancing to the sound of this lyre. Such an instrument as the Aeolian harp, which is altogether uncertain and irregular, must be very ill apted to the dance, which is one continued regular movement.'' The whole article deserves to be read as an example of the puerilities that then passed for criticism. The same critic suggested that v. 20 ff. meant, strictly speaking, that the lyre not the eagle was perching on Jove's sceptred hand. That Gray had seen this article is obvious from two places in his letters (Works, II, 327): ''Even the Critical Review (Mr. Franklin, I am told), that is rapt and surprised and shudders at me, yet mistakes the Aeolian for the harp of Aeolus which indeed, as he observes, is a very bad instrument to dance to.'' A second is in a letter to Wharton, 7 Sept. 1757: ''The Critical Review you have seen or may see. He is in raptures (they say it is Professor Franklin) but mistakes the Aeolian lyre for the harp of Aeolus and on this mistake founds a compliment and a criticism.'' (Works, II, 331.)"

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, 150/151.

1.2-3 Aeolian lyre,] "This is equivalent to ''lyre [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"This is equivalent to ''lyre of Pindar.'' Aeolia extended along the coast of Asia Minor from the Troad to the Hermus. Aleaeus and Sappho belonged to Lesbos, an island of the Aeolians, and hence one of the chief Greek rhythms was called Aeolian. Cf. the following lines from Milton, ''Paradise Regained,'' iv. 254: -

''There thou shalt hear and learn the secret power
Of harmony, in tones and numbers hit
By voice or hand, and various-measured verse,
Aeolian charms and Dorian lyric odes.''
In a letter to Wharton, dated October 7, 1757, Gray says: - ''The 'Critical Review' ... is in raptures, but mistakes the Aeolian lyre for the harp of Aeolus, and on this pleasant error founds both a compliment and a criticism.'' In spite of this and Gray's footnote a recent annotator has repeated the wrong interpretation."

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], 190.

1.2-3 Aeolian lyre,] "alluding to Aeolia, in Asia [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"alluding to Aeolia, in Asia Minor, the district which produced Alcaeus and Sappho."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

1.2 Aeolian] "a mode in Greek music. [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"a mode in Greek music. The line has its origin in Psalm lvii, 9 'Awake, my glory; awake, lute and harp.'"

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

2 And give to rapture all thy trembling strings. 1 Explanatory, 7 Textual

2.1-8 And ... strings.] "Cp. Dryden, Ovid's Amours I [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Dryden, Ovid's Amours I i 15: 'As well may Phoebus quit the trembling String'; but see also the passage from Pindar quoted in l. 25 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 161.

2.4 rapture] "Transport. - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"Transport. - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 29.

2.4 rapture] "Transport. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]." J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Transport. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 195.

2.4 rapture] "v. l. MS. Transport." D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"v. l. MS. Transport."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 184.

2.4 rapture] "transport Pembroke and Wharton MSS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"transport Pembroke and Wharton MSS."

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], 170.

2.4 rapture] "transport C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"transport C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 12.

2.4 rapture] "transport   Commonplace Book, Wharton." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"transport   Commonplace Book, Wharton."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 161.

2.8 strings.] "strings! C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"strings! C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 12.

Add a note or query to this line

3 From Helicon's harmonious springs 5 Explanatory

3.1 - 4.7 From ... take:] "The subject, the Progress of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The subject, the Progress of Poesy, is not explicitly compared to the rush of the streams from Mount Helicon; that would be simile, in the ordinary sense. Pindar and Gray may be said to displace simile by metaphor, which is implied simile. The Greek tragedians were apt to pass from the one to the other; thus in the Choephoroe (246 sq.) AEschylus makes Orestes call on Zeus to behold 'the brood bereft of their parent eagle' etc. and then add 'so mayst thou see me and Electra' etc., though he has identified, or as Gray would say united, the persons and the simile already. The reverse passage from simile to metaphor is seen in the Ajax of Sophocles (167 sq.) where the detractors of Ajax are first explicitly compared to flocks of clamorous birds, and then it is said of them that they dread the mighty vulture and would cower still and dumb if he should appear."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 184/185.

3.2 Helicon's] "Gray does not of course [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray does not of course adopt, although he helps us to account for, the common error of the Elizabethans who made Helicon a fountain, instead of a mountain, in Boeotia."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

3.2 Helicon's] "A mountain in Boeotia, sacred [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A mountain in Boeotia, sacred to the Muses. The springs on it were Hippocrene and Aganippe."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 161.

3.2 Helicon's] "the spring on Parnassus, the [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"the spring on Parnassus, the home of 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, 113.

3.2-4 Helicon's ... springs] "The Muses, daughters of Jupiter [...]" Alexander Huber, 2000.

"The Muses, daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, were originally nymphs who presided over springs that had the power to give inspiration, especially Aganippe and Hippocrene on Mount Helicon in Boetia."

Alexander Huber <huber@thomasgray.org> (SUB Göttingen), URL: http://www.thomasgray.org/. Contributed on Sun Sep 24 12:11:50 2000 GMT.

Add a note or query to this line

4 A thousand rills their mazy progress take: 2 Explanatory

3.1 - 4.7 From ... take:] "The subject, the Progress of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The subject, the Progress of Poesy, is not explicitly compared to the rush of the streams from Mount Helicon; that would be simile, in the ordinary sense. Pindar and Gray may be said to displace simile by metaphor, which is implied simile. The Greek tragedians were apt to pass from the one to the other; thus in the Choephoroe (246 sq.) AEschylus makes Orestes call on Zeus to behold 'the brood bereft of their parent eagle' etc. and then add 'so mayst thou see me and Electra' etc., though he has identified, or as Gray would say united, the persons and the simile already. The reverse passage from simile to metaphor is seen in the Ajax of Sophocles (167 sq.) where the detractors of Ajax are first explicitly compared to flocks of clamorous birds, and then it is said of them that they dread the mighty vulture and would cower still and dumb if he should appear."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 184/185.

4.5 mazy] "Milton has 'mazie error', Par. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton has 'mazie error', Par. Lost iv 239. Cp. also Pope, Odyssey v 91-2: 'And every fountain pours a several rill, / In mazy windings wandering down the hill.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

Add a note or query to this line

5 The laughing flowers, that round them blow, 2 Explanatory

5.2 laughing] "a bolder and better translation [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"a bolder and better translation than 'smiling' of the epithet 'ridens' as applied to flowers, as in Virgil, Ecl. IV. 20, Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

5.2 laughing] "Johnson gives one meaning of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Johnson gives one meaning of 'laugh' as 'To appear gay, favourable, pleasant, or fertile'. Cp. Latin ridens, e.g. ridenti acantho (with the laughing acanthus), Virgil, Eclogues iv 20."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

Add a note or query to this line

6 Drink life and fragrance as they flow. 2 Explanatory

6.1-7 Drink ... flow.] "The turn here is very [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The turn here is very like his favourite Green's:

''And mounting in loose robes the skies
Shed light and fragrance as she flies.'' Spleen l. 79.
which Mitford compares."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

6.1-7 Drink ... flow.] "Virgil, Georgics iv 32: bibant [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Virgil, Georgics iv 32: bibant violaria fontem, translated by Dryden, iv 46, 'And let the purple Vi'lets drink the Stream'. G[ray].'s phrasing may echo Matthew Green, The Spleen 80: 'Shed light and fragrance as she flies.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

Add a note or query to this line

7 Now the rich stream of music winds along, 3 Explanatory

7.1-8 Now ... along,] "Cf. Horace, Odes, iii, 29, [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Cf. Horace, Odes, iii, 29, 32: perhaps Gray thought this too obvious to mention."

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, 151.

7.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "See Pope's 'Postscript' to the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Pope's 'Postscript' to the Odyssey, 12mo edn, v (1726) 236, for a similar contrast as a metaphor for poetic effects, particularly the 'sublime'. Like Pope, G[ray]. probably had in mind two much imitated passages in Horace, Odes III xxix 33-41: cetera fluminis / ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo / cum pace delabentis Etruscum / in mare, nunc lapides adesos // stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos / volventis una non sine montium / clamore vicinaeque silvae , / cum fera diluvies quietos // inritat amens (All else is borne along like some river, now gliding peacefully in mid-channel into the Tuscan Sea, now rolling polished stones, uprooted trees, and flocks and homes together, with echoing of the hills and neighbouring woods, while the wild deluge stirs up the peaceful streams); and Odes IV ii 5-8: monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres / quem super notas aluere ripas, / fervet immensusque ruit profundo / Pindarus ore (Like a river from the mountain rushing down, which the rains have swollen above its wonted banks, so does Pindar seethe and, brooking no restraint, rush on with deep-toned voice)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

7.1 - 8.5 Now ... strong,] "A couplet of Pope, Imitations [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A couplet of Pope, Imitations of Horace, Ep. II ii 171-2, is often quoted as G.'s source: 'Pour the full Tide of Eloquence along, / Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong'; but there are closer passages in Thomson, cp. Winter 688-90: 'through the varied maze / Of eloquence, now smooth, now quick, now strong, / Profound and clear, you roll the copious flood'; and Liberty ii 257-60: 'In thy full language, speaking mighty things, / Like a clear torrent close, or else diffused / A broad majestic stream, and rolling on / Through all the winding harmony of sound'. See also Pope, Ode on St Cecilia's Day 11: 'The deep, majestic, solemn Organs blow'; Thomson, 'Winds in progressive majesty along', Summer 815, and 'Large, gentle, deep, majestic yet sedate', Autumn 122. Prior, Carmen Seculare 276-83, has similar ideas and diction, as has Young, To the King st. v: 'The Roman ode / Majestic flowed; / Its stream divinely clear, and strong; / In sense, and sound, / Thebes rolled profound; / The torrent roared, and foamed along.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

Add a note or query to this line

8 Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong, 3 Explanatory

7.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "See Pope's 'Postscript' to the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Pope's 'Postscript' to the Odyssey, 12mo edn, v (1726) 236, for a similar contrast as a metaphor for poetic effects, particularly the 'sublime'. Like Pope, G[ray]. probably had in mind two much imitated passages in Horace, Odes III xxix 33-41: cetera fluminis / ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo / cum pace delabentis Etruscum / in mare, nunc lapides adesos // stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos / volventis una non sine montium / clamore vicinaeque silvae , / cum fera diluvies quietos // inritat amens (All else is borne along like some river, now gliding peacefully in mid-channel into the Tuscan Sea, now rolling polished stones, uprooted trees, and flocks and homes together, with echoing of the hills and neighbouring woods, while the wild deluge stirs up the peaceful streams); and Odes IV ii 5-8: monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres / quem super notas aluere ripas, / fervet immensusque ruit profundo / Pindarus ore (Like a river from the mountain rushing down, which the rains have swollen above its wonted banks, so does Pindar seethe and, brooking no restraint, rush on with deep-toned voice)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

7.1 - 8.5 Now ... strong,] "A couplet of Pope, Imitations [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A couplet of Pope, Imitations of Horace, Ep. II ii 171-2, is often quoted as G.'s source: 'Pour the full Tide of Eloquence along, / Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong'; but there are closer passages in Thomson, cp. Winter 688-90: 'through the varied maze / Of eloquence, now smooth, now quick, now strong, / Profound and clear, you roll the copious flood'; and Liberty ii 257-60: 'In thy full language, speaking mighty things, / Like a clear torrent close, or else diffused / A broad majestic stream, and rolling on / Through all the winding harmony of sound'. See also Pope, Ode on St Cecilia's Day 11: 'The deep, majestic, solemn Organs blow'; Thomson, 'Winds in progressive majesty along', Summer 815, and 'Large, gentle, deep, majestic yet sedate', Autumn 122. Prior, Carmen Seculare 276-83, has similar ideas and diction, as has Young, To the King st. v: 'The Roman ode / Majestic flowed; / Its stream divinely clear, and strong; / In sense, and sound, / Thebes rolled profound; / The torrent roared, and foamed along.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

8.1-2 Deep, majestic,] "Pope (compared by Wakefield) Ode [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Pope (compared by Wakefield) Ode on S. Cecilia's Day l. 111: ''The deep, majestic solemn organs blow.'' Perhaps also, as Mitford suggests, there is some recollection of

''Pour the full tide of eloquence along,
Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong.'' -
in Pope's Imitation of Horace, Ep. II. ii. ll. 171, 172."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

Add a note or query to this line

9 Through verdant vales and Ceres' golden reign: 2 Explanatory

7.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "See Pope's 'Postscript' to the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Pope's 'Postscript' to the Odyssey, 12mo edn, v (1726) 236, for a similar contrast as a metaphor for poetic effects, particularly the 'sublime'. Like Pope, G[ray]. probably had in mind two much imitated passages in Horace, Odes III xxix 33-41: cetera fluminis / ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo / cum pace delabentis Etruscum / in mare, nunc lapides adesos // stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos / volventis una non sine montium / clamore vicinaeque silvae , / cum fera diluvies quietos // inritat amens (All else is borne along like some river, now gliding peacefully in mid-channel into the Tuscan Sea, now rolling polished stones, uprooted trees, and flocks and homes together, with echoing of the hills and neighbouring woods, while the wild deluge stirs up the peaceful streams); and Odes IV ii 5-8: monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres / quem super notas aluere ripas, / fervet immensusque ruit profundo / Pindarus ore (Like a river from the mountain rushing down, which the rains have swollen above its wonted banks, so does Pindar seethe and, brooking no restraint, rush on with deep-toned voice)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

9.5 Ceres'] "goddess of the harvest." J. Reeves, 1973.

"goddess of the harvest."

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

10 Now rowling down the steep amain, 4 Explanatory, 3 Textual

7.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "See Pope's 'Postscript' to the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Pope's 'Postscript' to the Odyssey, 12mo edn, v (1726) 236, for a similar contrast as a metaphor for poetic effects, particularly the 'sublime'. Like Pope, G[ray]. probably had in mind two much imitated passages in Horace, Odes III xxix 33-41: cetera fluminis / ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo / cum pace delabentis Etruscum / in mare, nunc lapides adesos // stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos / volventis una non sine montium / clamore vicinaeque silvae , / cum fera diluvies quietos // inritat amens (All else is borne along like some river, now gliding peacefully in mid-channel into the Tuscan Sea, now rolling polished stones, uprooted trees, and flocks and homes together, with echoing of the hills and neighbouring woods, while the wild deluge stirs up the peaceful streams); and Odes IV ii 5-8: monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres / quem super notas aluere ripas, / fervet immensusque ruit profundo / Pindarus ore (Like a river from the mountain rushing down, which the rains have swollen above its wonted banks, so does Pindar seethe and, brooking no restraint, rush on with deep-toned voice)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

10.1-6 Now ... amain,] "Gray must certainly here have [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray must certainly here have had Horace's description of Pindar in mind: Odes IV. 2. (5-8).

''Monte decurrens vehtt amnis, imbres
quem super notas aluere ripas,
fervet immensusque ruit profundo
Pindarus ore.''
[''As when a river, swollen by sudden showers
O'er its known banks from some steep mountain pours,
So in profound, unmeasurable song
The deep-mouth'd Pindar, foaming, pours along.'' Francis.]"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

10.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "Most such descriptions contain 'headlong' [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Most such descriptions contain 'headlong' and/or 'impetuous', as well as echoing rocks: 'The headlong torrents foaming down the hills', Thomson, Spring 817, and Summer 590-3, 596: 'Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood / Rolls fair and placid; where, collected all / In one impetuous torrent, down the steep / It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round / ... / And from the loud-resounding rocks below'; etc. Johnson defines 'rebellow' as 'to echo back a loud noise'. It occurs in Spenser (Faerie Queene I viii 11, 4; IV x 46, 4; V xii 41, 6) and is frequently used by Dryden and Pope in their heroic verse: Dryden, Aeneid v 1127-8: 'Th'impetuous Ocean roars; / And Rocks rebellow from the sounding Shores'; Pope, Iliad xvii 315: 'And distant rocks rebellow from the shore'; Thomson, Liberty iii 284-5: 'On every hand rebellowed to their joy / The swelling sea, the rocks and vocal hills'. It is equivalent to Latin reboare, as used by Virgil, etc."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

10.2 rowling] "rushing Bedingfield MS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"rushing Bedingfield 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], 170.

10.2 rowling] "rushing [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, 29 [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"rushing [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, 29 Dec. 1756]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 13.

10.2 rowling] "rushing   Bedingfield." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"rushing   Bedingfield."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

10.6 amain,] "'With vehemence; with vigour; fiercely; [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'With vehemence; with vigour; fiercely; violently. It is used of any action performed with precipitation' (Johnson). It is frequently used by Dryden: e.g. Georgics i 155-6: 'And calls the floods from high, to rush amain / With pregnant streams.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

Add a note or query to this line

11 Headlong, impetuous, see it pour: 2 Explanatory, 6 Textual

7.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "See Pope's 'Postscript' to the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Pope's 'Postscript' to the Odyssey, 12mo edn, v (1726) 236, for a similar contrast as a metaphor for poetic effects, particularly the 'sublime'. Like Pope, G[ray]. probably had in mind two much imitated passages in Horace, Odes III xxix 33-41: cetera fluminis / ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo / cum pace delabentis Etruscum / in mare, nunc lapides adesos // stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos / volventis una non sine montium / clamore vicinaeque silvae , / cum fera diluvies quietos // inritat amens (All else is borne along like some river, now gliding peacefully in mid-channel into the Tuscan Sea, now rolling polished stones, uprooted trees, and flocks and homes together, with echoing of the hills and neighbouring woods, while the wild deluge stirs up the peaceful streams); and Odes IV ii 5-8: monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres / quem super notas aluere ripas, / fervet immensusque ruit profundo / Pindarus ore (Like a river from the mountain rushing down, which the rains have swollen above its wonted banks, so does Pindar seethe and, brooking no restraint, rush on with deep-toned voice)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

10.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "Most such descriptions contain 'headlong' [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Most such descriptions contain 'headlong' and/or 'impetuous', as well as echoing rocks: 'The headlong torrents foaming down the hills', Thomson, Spring 817, and Summer 590-3, 596: 'Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood / Rolls fair and placid; where, collected all / In one impetuous torrent, down the steep / It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round / ... / And from the loud-resounding rocks below'; etc. Johnson defines 'rebellow' as 'to echo back a loud noise'. It occurs in Spenser (Faerie Queene I viii 11, 4; IV x 46, 4; V xii 41, 6) and is frequently used by Dryden and Pope in their heroic verse: Dryden, Aeneid v 1127-8: 'Th'impetuous Ocean roars; / And Rocks rebellow from the sounding Shores'; Pope, Iliad xvii 315: 'And distant rocks rebellow from the shore'; Thomson, Liberty iii 284-5: 'On every hand rebellowed to their joy / The swelling sea, the rocks and vocal hills'. It is equivalent to Latin reboare, as used by Virgil, etc."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

11.1-5 Headlong, ... pour:] "''With torrent rapture, see it [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''With torrent rapture, see it pour.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 30.

11.1-5 Headlong, ... pour:] "With torrent rapture, see it [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With torrent rapture, see it pour. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 195.

11.1-5 Headlong, ... pour:] "With torrent rapture see it [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"With torrent rapture see it pour   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

11.1-5 Headlong, ... pour:] "With torrent-rapture see it pour; [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"With torrent-rapture see it pour; Pembroke and Wharton MSS."

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], 170.

11.1-2 Headlong, impetuous,] "With torrent-rapture C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"With torrent-rapture C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]; Impetuous, headlong, [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, 29 Dec. 1756]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 13.

11.1-2 Headlong, impetuous,] "With torrent-rapture   Commonplace Book, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"With torrent-rapture   Commonplace Book, Wharton; Impetuous, headlong,   Bedingfield."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

Add a note or query to this line

12 The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar. 4 Explanatory, 3 Textual

7.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "See Pope's 'Postscript' to the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Pope's 'Postscript' to the Odyssey, 12mo edn, v (1726) 236, for a similar contrast as a metaphor for poetic effects, particularly the 'sublime'. Like Pope, G[ray]. probably had in mind two much imitated passages in Horace, Odes III xxix 33-41: cetera fluminis / ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo / cum pace delabentis Etruscum / in mare, nunc lapides adesos // stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos / volventis una non sine montium / clamore vicinaeque silvae , / cum fera diluvies quietos // inritat amens (All else is borne along like some river, now gliding peacefully in mid-channel into the Tuscan Sea, now rolling polished stones, uprooted trees, and flocks and homes together, with echoing of the hills and neighbouring woods, while the wild deluge stirs up the peaceful streams); and Odes IV ii 5-8: monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres / quem super notas aluere ripas, / fervet immensusque ruit profundo / Pindarus ore (Like a river from the mountain rushing down, which the rains have swollen above its wonted banks, so does Pindar seethe and, brooking no restraint, rush on with deep-toned voice)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 162.

10.1 - 12.9 Now ... roar.] "Most such descriptions contain 'headlong' [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Most such descriptions contain 'headlong' and/or 'impetuous', as well as echoing rocks: 'The headlong torrents foaming down the hills', Thomson, Spring 817, and Summer 590-3, 596: 'Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood / Rolls fair and placid; where, collected all / In one impetuous torrent, down the steep / It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round / ... / And from the loud-resounding rocks below'; etc. Johnson defines 'rebellow' as 'to echo back a loud noise'. It occurs in Spenser (Faerie Queene I viii 11, 4; IV x 46, 4; V xii 41, 6) and is frequently used by Dryden and Pope in their heroic verse: Dryden, Aeneid v 1127-8: 'Th'impetuous Ocean roars; / And Rocks rebellow from the sounding Shores'; Pope, Iliad xvii 315: 'And distant rocks rebellow from the shore'; Thomson, Liberty iii 284-5: 'On every hand rebellowed to their joy / The swelling sea, the rocks and vocal hills'. It is equivalent to Latin reboare, as used by Virgil, etc."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

12.1-2 The rocks] "While rocks Bedingfield MS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"While rocks Bedingfield 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], 170.

12.1-2 The rocks] "While rocks [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"While rocks [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, 29 Dec. 1756]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 13.

12.1-2 The rocks] "While rocks   Bedingfield." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"While rocks   Bedingfield."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

12.6 rebellow] "Imitated from Latin reboare [trans. [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Imitated from Latin reboare [trans. 'resound, reecho; bellow back']: cf. ''reboant silvaeque et longus Olympus,'' Vergil, Georg. iii, 223. Mitford refers to Pope's Iliad, ''Rocks rebellow to the roar.''"

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, 151.

12.6 rebellow] "The equivalent, for Dryden and [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The equivalent, for Dryden and Pope, of the Latin reboare."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 185.

Add a note or query to this line


I. 2.

13 Oh! Sovereign of the willing soul, 3 Explanatory

13.1-6 Oh! ... soul,] "Richard II IV i 108: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Richard II IV i 108: 'with willing soul'; and Dryden, The Fair Stranger 8: 'The mighty Soveraign of my Soul'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

13.1-6 Oh! ... soul,] "G. was imitating Pythian Odes [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G. was imitating Pythian Odes i 5-12, which celebrates the power of the lyre: 'Thou abatest even the warring thunderbolt of everlasting flame; and the eagle, king of birds, sleepeth on the sceptre of Zeus, while his swift pinions twain are drooping, and a darksome mist is shed over his bending head, sweetly sealing his eyelids; and the bird, as he slumbereth, heaveth his buxom back beneath the spell of thy throbbing tones. For even the stern god of war setteth aside his rude spears so keen, and warmeth his heart in deep repose; and thy shafts of music soothe even the minds of the deities, by grace of the skill of Leto's son and the deep-zoned Muses.' See also l. 25 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

13.4-6 the ... soul,] "Cf. Milton's ''Vacation Exercise,'' 50-52: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Cf. Milton's ''Vacation Exercise,'' 50-52: -

''While sad Ulysses' soul and all the rest
Are held with his melodious harmony
In willing chains and sweet captivity.''"

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], 190.

Add a note or query to this line

14 Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs, 4 Explanatory

14.3-6 sweet ... airs,] "Cf. Milton, Comus, 555: ''A [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Cf. Milton, Comus, 555: ''A soft and solemn-breathing sound.''"

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, 151.

14.5 solemn-breathing] "This compound is taken from [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"This compound is taken from Milton; the whole passage in which the following lines occur should be read: - ''At last a soft and solemn-breathing sound / Rose like a stream of rich distilled perfumes.'' - Comus, 555."

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], 190.

14.5 solemn-breathing] "''A soft and solemn-breathing sound.'' [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"''A soft and solemn-breathing sound.'' Milton, Comus 555."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 186.

14.5 solemn-breathing] "Comus 555: 'A soft and [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Comus 555: 'A soft and solemn breathing sound'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 163.

Add a note or query to this line

15 Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares 4 Explanatory

15.1 - 16.7 Enchanting ... control.] "Cp. Collins, The Passions 3-4 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins, The Passions 3-4 (p. 480 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

15.2 shell!] "Alluding to the mythical origin [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Alluding to the mythical origin of the lyre; Hermes made it from a tortoise shell."

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, 151.

15.2 shell!] "the equivalent in English poetry [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"the equivalent in English poetry to the [Greek word (omitted)] in Greek, and testudo in Latin. The name was given to the lyre from the myth of its invention by Hermes out of a tortoise-shell, as described in the Hymn to Hermes (ll. 25 sq.) attributed to Homer."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 186.

15.2 shell!] "Lyre, in imitation of Latin [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Lyre, in imitation of Latin testudo. The first lyre was traditionally supposed to have been invented by Hermes from strings stretched across a tortoise shell. Cp. Spenser, Prothalamion 5: 'sullen care'; Dryden, Aeneid vi 385: 'Revengeful Cares, and sullen Sorrows dwell'; and Ceyx and Alcyone 312: 'Care shuns thy soft approach, and sullen flies away'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

Add a note or query to this line

16 And frantic Passions hear thy soft control. 2 Explanatory

15.1 - 16.7 Enchanting ... control.] "Cp. Collins, The Passions 3-4 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins, The Passions 3-4 (p. 480 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

16.1-7 And ... control.] "Faerie Queene V viii 48, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene V viii 48, 7: 'With franticke passion and with furie fraught'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

Add a note or query to this line

17 On Thracia's hills the Lord of War, 7 Explanatory

17.1 - 19.8 On ... command.] "Cp. Collins, Ode to Mercy [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins, Ode to Mercy 4-6 (p. 439 below), and Ode to Peace 4-5 (p. 468 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

17.2-7 Thracia's ... War,] "Ares, or Mars. He was [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Ares, or Mars. He was especially worshiped in Thrace. Cf. Chaucer's splendid description of ''the grete temple of Mars in Trace'' (Knight's Tale, vv. 1114 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, 151.

17.2 Thracia's] "That Thrace was the domain [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"That Thrace was the domain of Ares or Mars is a notion by some traced to the warlike characters of the inhabitants, as old as the Odyssey (VIII. 361) and a commonplace of Greek and Latin Poetry. As Phelps remarks, Chaucer, Knightes Tale ll. 1114 sq., has splendidly described 'the grete temple of Mars in Trace.' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 186.

17.2-3 Thracia's hills] "Ares, the god of war, [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Ares, the god of war, was associated with Thrace, the ferocity of whose inhabitants was for a time tamed by the songs of Orpheus."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

17.2-7 Thracia's ... War,] "Mars is repeatedly associated with [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mars is repeatedly associated with Thrace in classical literature: e.g. Homer, Odyssey viii 361; Ovid, Art of Love ii 588; Statius, Achilleid i 201: studiis multum Mavortia Thrace (Thrace, steeped in the passionate love of war); and Claudian, In Rufinum ii, 'Praefatio', 17-20: fertur et indomitus tandem post proelia Mavors / lassa per Odrysias fundere membra nives / oblitusque sui posita clementior hasta / Pieriis aures pacificare modis (Even unwearying Mars is said to have stretched his tired limbs in the snowy Thracian plain when at last the battle was ended, and, unmindful of his wonted fierceness, to have laid aside his spear in gender mood, soothing his ear with the Muses' melody)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

17.2 Thracia's] "Thrace, a region famous for [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"Thrace, a region famous for its fighting men."

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.

17.2-7 Thracia's ... War,] "The Greek war god Ares [...]" J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"The Greek war god Ares (identified with the Roman Mars) was associated with the country of Thrace, north of Greece. These lines, and those following describing 'the feather'd king', the eagle perching on Jove's sceptre, are closely imitated from Pindar's first Pythian ode."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 77.

Add a note or query to this line

18 Has curbed the fury of his car, 3 Explanatory

17.1 - 19.8 On ... command.] "Cp. Collins, Ode to Mercy [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins, Ode to Mercy 4-6 (p. 439 below), and Ode to Peace 4-5 (p. 468 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

18.4 fury] "Like Jehu the son of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Like Jehu the son of Nimshi, Ares drives furiously. It is perhaps Jehu that suggests 'fury' to Gray here. Note that as Homer uses [Greek word] (horses) to include the 'car' so Gray conversely uses 'car' to include the horses."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 186.

18.7 car,] "chariot." Alexander Huber, 2003.

"chariot."

Alexander Huber <huber@thomasgray.org> (University of Oxford), URL: http://www.thomasgray.org/. Contributed on Mon Feb 10 14:58:04 2003 GMT.

Add a note or query to this line

19 And dropped his thirsty lance at thy command. 3 Explanatory

17.1 - 19.8 On ... command.] "Cp. Collins, Ode to Mercy [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins, Ode to Mercy 4-6 (p. 439 below), and Ode to Peace 4-5 (p. 468 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

19.1-8 And ... command.] "Already Collins had represented Valour [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Already Collins had represented Valour as subdued through the power of song, by Mercy

''Who oft with songs, divine to hear
Winn'st from his fatal grasp the spear,
And hid'st in wreaths of flowers his bloodless sword.''
            Ode to Mercy ll. 4-7.
Here note also that just before this Gray has said to the shell:
        ''the sullen Cares
And frantic Passions hear thy soft controul.''
as Collins had written of Music (Passions ll. 3, 4):
''The passions oft, to hear her shell,
Thronged around her magic cell'';
and, lastly, in structure Gray's Progress of Poesy bears a marked resemblance to Collins' Ode to Simplicity. By Simplicity Collins means the voice of nature and genuine emotion expressed in poetry, and like Gray he describes how this genuine poetry fled first from Greece to Rome and then from Rome, with the decline of freedom; unlike Gray, he does not attempt to trace the course of Poetry in England, his theme being more limited; yet like Gray he ends with his own modest aspirations as a poet."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 186/187.

19.3-5 his ... lance] "Spenser, Faerie Queene I v [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Spenser, Faerie Queene I v 15, 2: 'his thirstie blade'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

Add a note or query to this line

20 Perching on the sceptered hand 3 Explanatory

20.1 Perching] "Perhaps Gray had Gilbert West's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Perhaps Gray had Gilbert West's version of Pindar before him:

''Perch'd on the sceptre of th' Olympic King.''
A literal translation of the opening lines of the first Pythian, will best enable the reader to measure Gray's obligation to Pindar:
''O golden lyre, joint treasure of Apollo and the dark-tressed Muses, whom the dancers' step ushering in the festive joy obeys, the singers too are guided by thy notes (cf. infr. l. 25), whenever, set-a-trill, thou workest the preambles of the choir-leading overtures; moreover thou quenchest the barbed lightning of ever-flowing fire: and the eagle sleeps on the sceptre of Zeus, drooping on either side the swift pinions, - that prince of birds - whene'er thou sheddest o'er his curved head a swart cloud, sweet barrier of his eyelids; and he, slumbering heaves his supple back, subdued by thy vibrations. For e'en headstrong Ares (cf. l. 17 sq.), leaving far away his sharp-pointed spears, melts his heart in trance, and thy shafts soothe the souls of gods, through the skill of Latona's son, and of the deep-zoned Muses.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 186.

20.1-5 Perching ... hand] "A translation of Pythian Ode [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"A translation of Pythian Ode i. 1-12, is as follows:

    'O golden lyre, joint possession of Apollo and the violet-tressed [footnote: ''In Pindar, [Greek word (omitted)]. This epithet is an excellent illustration of how inadequate and even misleading translations frequently are. The more common epithet would be [Greek word (omitted)], 'violet-crowned'; but Pindar avoids common expressions, and so he uses here a metaphor instead of a visual image.''] Muses! The feet of the dancers heed thy first note, leader of the festive joys, and the singers obey thy signals to begin, whenever thy vibrating strings sound the first note of the preludes that precede the choral dance.
    'Thou dost also dim the everlasting fire of the pointed thunderbolt. The eagle sleeps upon the sceptre of Zeus, with his swift wings drooping at his sides, the king of birds, when round his beaked head thou hast poured a dusky cloud, a sweet seal upon his eyelids; and as he sleeps, overcome by thy trembling notes, he arches his supple back.
    'Nor is this the limit of thy power, for fierce Ares, leaving far away the deadly clash of arms, takes delight in deep slumber, and thy shafts cast a spell of enchanted sleep over the passions of demi-gods, by the skill of the son of Leto and the deep-breasted Muses.'"

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 205/206.

20.1-5 Perching ... hand] "The writer in the Critical [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The writer in the Critical Review (see l. 1 n) observed that 'perching' appears strictly to refer to the lyre's 'magic' rather than the eagle."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

Add a note or query to this line

21 Of Jove, thy magic lulls the feathered king 5 Explanatory

21.1 - 23.7 Of ... lie] "Faerie Queene I i 41, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene I i 41, 1: 'The more to lulle him in his slumber soft'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

21.7-8 feathered king] "The eagle, sacred to Zeus, [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The eagle, sacred to Zeus, and often represented with the thunderbolt in his clutch."

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, 151.

21.7-8 feathered king] "the eagle, the ''bird of [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"the eagle, the ''bird of Jove,'' ''Par. Lost,'' xi, 185. This expression occurs in verses attributed to Shakespeare: - ''Every fowl of tyrant wing, / Save the eagle, feathered king.''"

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], 190/191.

21.7-8 feathered king] "Pindar's [Greek words (omitted)], Pythian [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Pindar's [Greek words (omitted)], Pythian I. 7. In the Phoenix and Turtle (published with Shakespeare's name in 1601) we have

''Every fowl of tyrant wing
Save the eagle, feather'd king.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 187.

21.7-8 feathered king] "Cp. Shakespeare, Phoenix and Turtle [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Shakespeare, Phoenix and Turtle 11: 'the eagle, feathered king'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

Add a note or query to this line

22 With ruffled plumes and flagging wing: 4 Explanatory

21.1 - 23.7 Of ... lie] "Faerie Queene I i 41, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene I i 41, 1: 'The more to lulle him in his slumber soft'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

22.1-6 With ... wing:] "Pope, Satires of Donne iv [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Pope, Satires of Donne iv 186: 'Where Contemplation prunes her ruffled Wings'; A. Philips, Pastorals v 119: 'She droops, she hangs her flagging wing'; Prior, Solomon ii 341: 'Tir'd may'st Thou pant, and hang thy flagging Wing'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

22.5-6 flagging wing:] "Horace Walpole, in describing the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Horace Walpole, in describing the famous Boccapadugli eagle, of Greek sculpture, says: ''Mr. Gray has drawn the flagging wing.''"

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], 191.

22.5-6 flagging wing:] "'In one of the recesses [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"'In one of the recesses of the Gallery at Strawberry Hill stood one of the finest surviving pieces of Greek sculpture, the Boccapadugli eagle, found in the precincts of the Baths of Caracalla.' Austin Dobson's Walpole, p. 221.
Walpole says ''Mr Gray has drawn the 'flagging wing,' '' not, I think, meaning that this piece of sculpture suggested the expression, though Gray knew it well, Walpole having bought it in 1745."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 187.

Add a note or query to this line

23 Quenched in dark clouds of slumber lie 2 Explanatory, 6 Textual

21.1 - 23.7 Of ... lie] "Faerie Queene I i 41, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene I i 41, 1: 'The more to lulle him in his slumber soft'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

23.1 - 24.10 Quenched ... eye.] "Faerie Queene I v 14, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene I v 14, 4-5: 'Let us now abate the terror of your might, / And quench the flame of furious despight ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

23.3 dark] "Black. - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"Black. - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 30.

23.3 dark] "Black. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]." J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Black. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 195.

23.3 dark] "black   MS." D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"black   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 187.

23.3 dark] "black Bedingfield, Pembroke, and Wharton [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"black Bedingfield, Pembroke, and Wharton MSS."

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], 170.

23.3 dark] "black C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"black C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754], [Letter to] Bed[ingfield, 29 Dec. 1756]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 13.

23.3 dark] "black   Commonplace Book, Wharton [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"black   Commonplace Book, Wharton and Bedingfield."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

Add a note or query to this line

24 The terror of his beak, and lightnings of his eye. 2 Explanatory

23.1 - 24.10 Quenched ... eye.] "Faerie Queene I v 14, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene I v 14, 4-5: 'Let us now abate the terror of your might, / And quench the flame of furious despight ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164.

24.1-10 The ... eye.] "Dryden, Epilogue to Calisto 8: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Dryden, Epilogue to Calisto 8: 'The force of any lightning but the eye'; and Fable of Acis, Polyphemus and Galatea 172: 'And only fear the lightning of your eyes'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 164/165.

Add a note or query to this line


I. 3.

25 Thee the voice, the dance, obey, 1 Explanatory

25.1-6 Thee ... obey,] "Cp. Pindar, Pythian Odes i [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Pindar, Pythian Odes i 1-4: '0 golden lyre, that are owned alike by Apollo and by the violet-tressed Muses! thou, lyre, which the footstep heareth as it beginneth the glad dance; lyre, whose notes the singers obey, whenever, with thy quivering strings, thou preparest to strike up the prelude of the choir-leading overture!' Walpole noted in his copy of the Odes: 'Mrs Garrick formerly the Violette, a famous Dancer, sd, nobody had ever understood dancing like Mr. Gray in this description' (Rothschild Library (1954) i 267)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

Add a note or query to this line

26 Tempered to thy warbled lay. 2 Explanatory

26.1 Tempered] "Milton, Lycidas 33 'Tempered to [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Milton, Lycidas 33 'Tempered to the oaten flute,' and P. Fletcher, Purple Island IX. 111 'Tempering their sweetest notes unto thy lay.' Luke."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 187.

26.1-5 Tempered ... lay.] "Cp. 'Their notes unto the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. 'Their notes unto the voice attempred sweet', Faerie Queene II xii 71, 2; 'Tempering their sweetest notes unto thy lay', P. Fletcher, Purple Island IX iii 6; 'With eager thought warbling his Dorick lay', Lycidas 189, and 'Temper'd to th'Oaten Flute', ibid 33."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

Add a note or query to this line

27 O'er Idalia's velvet-green 10 Explanatory

27.2 Idalia's] "This was the town in [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"This was the town in the island of Cyprus, containing a temple where Venus was worshiped. Venus first landed on Cyprus, after she had been born from the foam of the sea; but the island Cythera, in the Aegean sea, gave the name Cytherea to Venus, as many believed that she had appeared there before landing at Cyprus."

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, 151.

27.2 Idalia's] "Idalium, in Cyprus, where there [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Idalium, in Cyprus, where there was a temple sacred to the worship of Venus."

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], 191.

27.2 Idalia's] "Idalia or Idalium a town [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Idalia or Idalium a town in Cyprus, where Venus was worshipped."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 187.

27.2 - 29.2 Idalia's ... Cytherea's] "Aphrodite was associated with the [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Aphrodite was associated with the island of Cythera, but was worshipped also at Idalion in Cyprus."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

27.2 - 29.3 Idalia's ... day] "Aphrodite was said to have [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Aphrodite was said to have landed on Cythera, an island off the south coast of Laconia, after her birth in the sea and so was often called the Cytherean. Idalia was a town in Crete where she was worshipped. Cp. Juno's words to Venus, in Virgil, Aeneid x 86: est Paphus Idaliumque tibi, sunt alta Cythera (Paphus is thine, Idalium, and high Cythera)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

27.2 Idalia's] "a town in Crete where [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"a town in Crete where Aphrodite was worshipped."

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.

27.3 velvet-green] "The green grass-plot as soft [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The green grass-plot as soft as velvet; green is a noun, and velvet, an adj. Gray prints velvet-green, and has several similar compounds, e.g., ''desert-beach,'' ''Fatal Sisters,'' 37. Dr. Johnson objected to the use of velvet, on the ground that Nature should not borrow from Art; but Gray follows Shakespeare and other poets: - ''Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds.'' - Henry V. i. 2."

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], 191.

27.3 velvet-green] " 'An epithet or metaphor [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" 'An epithet or metaphor drawn from Nature ennobles Art; an epithet or metaphor drawn from Art degrades Nature.' Johnson.
Mitford quotes:

''At length a fair and spacious green he spide
Like calmest waters, plain; like velvet, soft.''
Fairfax, Tasso XIII. 38, [Fairfax has no voucher for the expression in his original].
Also Shakespeare, 'Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds.' Hen. V. I. 2 [194].
And Young, Love of Fame [1725] Sat. V.
''She rears her flowers, and spreads her velvet-green''
Mitford says ''Johnson appears by his criticism to have supposed it first introduced by Gray. It was numbered, however, among the absurd expressions of Pope, by the authors of the Alexandriad (some of the heroes of the Dunciad).'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 187/188.

27.3 velvet-green] "Johnson's objection seems to be [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Johnson's objection seems to be two-fold; first, that 'a metaphor from art degrades nature', and secondly, that the compound is 'cant', i.e. slang or jargon. Perhaps it reminded him of terms used in the drapery trade. In the fashion columns of the Ladies' Magazine a little later I find references to 'flame-of-burnt-brandy blue', 'French Pomona-green', 'marble-dust gray', 'broad Cleopatra-backs', and 'style-of-Isis ringlets'."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

27.3 velvet-green] "'She rears her flowers and [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'She rears her flowers and spreads her velvet green', Young, Universa Passion v 230. G. probably had this passage in mind (cp. Elegy 55-6 n) but Fairfax, in his translation of Tasso, XIII xxxviii 1-2, has 'a fair and spacious green ... / ... like velvet, soft'; and Matthew Green, The Spleen 650: 'a green like velvet neat'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

Add a note or query to this line

28 The rosy-crowned Loves are seen 3 Explanatory

27.2 - 29.2 Idalia's ... Cytherea's] "Aphrodite was associated with the [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Aphrodite was associated with the island of Cythera, but was worshipped also at Idalion in Cyprus."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

27.2 - 29.3 Idalia's ... day] "Aphrodite was said to have [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Aphrodite was said to have landed on Cythera, an island off the south coast of Laconia, after her birth in the sea and so was often called the Cytherean. Idalia was a town in Crete where she was worshipped. Cp. Juno's words to Venus, in Virgil, Aeneid x 86: est Paphus Idaliumque tibi, sunt alta Cythera (Paphus is thine, Idalium, and high Cythera)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

28.1 - 30.6 The ... Pleasures,] "Faerie Queene IV x 42, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene IV x 42, 2-3: 'A flocke of little loues, and sports, and ioyes, / With nimble wings of gold and purple hew'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

Add a note or query to this line

29 On Cytherea's day 5 Explanatory

27.2 - 29.2 Idalia's ... Cytherea's] "Aphrodite was associated with the [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Aphrodite was associated with the island of Cythera, but was worshipped also at Idalion in Cyprus."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160.

27.2 - 29.3 Idalia's ... day] "Aphrodite was said to have [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Aphrodite was said to have landed on Cythera, an island off the south coast of Laconia, after her birth in the sea and so was often called the Cytherean. Idalia was a town in Crete where she was worshipped. Cp. Juno's words to Venus, in Virgil, Aeneid x 86: est Paphus Idaliumque tibi, sunt alta Cythera (Paphus is thine, Idalium, and high Cythera)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

28.1 - 30.6 The ... Pleasures,] "Faerie Queene IV x 42, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene IV x 42, 2-3: 'A flocke of little loues, and sports, and ioyes, / With nimble wings of gold and purple hew'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

29.2 Cytherea's] "[Venus] was also called Cytherea, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"[Venus] was also called Cytherea, from Cythera, an island off the coast of Laconia, where she was said to have landed when she rose from the foam of the sea."

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], 191.

29.2 Cytherea's] "the island where Aphrodite was [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"the island where Aphrodite was born and by extension the goddess herself."

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

30 With antic Sports and blue-eyed Pleasures, 3 Explanatory, 3 Textual

28.1 - 30.6 The ... Pleasures,] "Faerie Queene IV x 42, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Faerie Queene IV x 42, 2-3: 'A flocke of little loues, and sports, and ioyes, / With nimble wings of gold and purple hew'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

30.2 antic] "Macbeth IV. 1. 130: ''I'll [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Macbeth IV. 1. 130:

''I'll charm the air to give a sound,
While you perform your antic round.''
Where Dr Wright remarks that ''the word is spelt, as usual, 'antique' in the Folios. Its modern sense of 'grotesque' is probably derived from the remains of ancient sculpture rudely imitated and caricatured by mediaeval artists, and from the figures in Masques and Antimasques dressed in ancient costume, particularly satyrs and the like.'' By antic here Gray means quaint, but not ungraceful."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 188.

30.2 antic] "Quaint, fantastic." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Quaint, fantastic."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

30.3 Sports] "Sport. - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"Sport. - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 31.

30.3 Sports] "Sport. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]." J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Sport. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 195.

30.3 Sports] "Sports   MS." D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Sports   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 188.

Add a note or query to this line

31 Frisking light in frolic measures; 4 Explanatory

31.1-5 Frisking ... measures;] "This line in rhythm is [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"This line in rhythm is certainly reminiscent of L'Allegro. It is useless to point out all the words that Milton and Gray happened to use in common."

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, 151.

31.1-5 Frisking ... measures;] "This line in rhythm is [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This line in rhythm is certainly reminiscent of L'Allegro. 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], 188.

31.1-5 Frisking ... measures;] "'In friskful glee / Their [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'In friskful glee / Their frolics play', Thomson, Spring 837-8."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165.

31.4 frolic] "frolic is here an adjective, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"frolic is here an adjective, as also in the two places it occurs in Milton, ''Comus,'' 59, and ''[L]'Allegro,'' 18: - ''The frolic wind that breathes the spring.'' And Tennyson has ''with a frolic welcome'' in ''Ulysses.''"

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], 191.

Add a note or query to this line

32 Now pursuing, now retreating, 1 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

Add a note or query to this line

33 Now in circling troops they meet: 2 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

33.1-6 Now ... meet:] "'The gladsome Ghosts, in circling [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'The gladsome Ghosts, in circling Troops, attend', Dryden, Aeneid vi 655."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

Add a note or query to this line

34 To brisk notes in cadence beating 1 Explanatory, 6 Textual

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

34.4-5 in cadence] "The cadence. - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"The cadence. - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 31.

34.4-5 in cadence] "The cadence. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]." J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The cadence. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 195.

34.4-5 in cadence] "the cadence   MS., 'beating' [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"the cadence   MS., 'beating' would then be transitive."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 188.

34.4 in] "the Pembroke and Wharton MSS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"the Pembroke and Wharton MSS."

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], 170.

34.4 in] "the C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"the C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 13.

34.4 in] "the   Commonplace Book, Wharton." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"the   Commonplace Book, Wharton."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

Add a note or query to this line

35 Glance their many-twinkling feet. 7 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

35.1-4 Glance ... feet.] "Homer, Odyssey, O, 265." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Homer, Odyssey, O, 265."

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, 152.

35.1 Glance] "'To shoot a sudden ray [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'To shoot a sudden ray of splendour' (Johnson). Cp. in Pope's translation of the passage cited by G[ray]., Odyssey viii 306: 'The glancing splendours as their sandals play'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

35.3 many-twinkling] "An incorrectly formed compound; but [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"An incorrectly formed compound; but it occurs in Thomson's ''Spring'' (1728): - ''Or rustling turn the many-twinkling leaves / Of aspen tall.''"

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], 191.

35.3 many-twinkling] "         [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"         ''[they with feet that seemed
To twinkle as they moved
, beat the hard ground.
Odysseus gazed and marvelled at the sight.''
            Earl of Carnarvon.]
Gray gets the word 'many-twinkling' from Thomson Spring, l. 158, [1728]
            ''not a breath
Is heard to quiver through the closing woods,
Or rustling turn the many-twinkling leaves
Of aspin tall.''
But Gray never acknowledged any obligation to that source. The word is nevertheless one of the rough felicities of Thomson; though Johnson (on Gray) protests against it: 'we may say,' he remarks 'many spotted' but scarcely 'many spotting.' Lyttelton though his beloved Thomson perhaps invented the word, yet seems to have been surprised at it in Gray; and to his objections, Walpole, obviously supposing that Gray got it directly from Homer, writes, ''As Greek as the expression is, it struck Mrs Garrick, and she says, on that whole picture, that Mr Gray is the only poet who ever understood dancing,'' (to Lyttelton, Aug. 25, 1757). Mrs Garrick (Violette) was an authority; she had been a dancer by profession. As the word serves Gray to translate one classic phrase, it serves Keble to translate another:
''When up some woodland dale we catch
The many-twinkling smile of ocean.''
(Christian Year, 2nd Sunday after Trinity),
after the
[Greek lines (omitted)]
of AEschylus P. V. 89."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 188/189.

35.3 many-twinkling] "another awkward compound (see Johnson), [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"another awkward compound (see Johnson), formed by analogy with Greek. Gray means that they were 'many' and that they were 'twinkling'; but with characteristic over subtlety he fabricates a compound in which 'many' must have an adverbial value (i.e. 'many-ly', or 'in a many fashion'). He is trying to suggest the appearance of the dancers' white feet, which move so swiftly that they seem more numerous than they are. But the English language will not allow of the device which he adopts. Johnson's objection is unanswerable."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 160/161.

35.3-4 many-twinkling feet.] "In 1768 G[ray]. acknowledged as [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In 1768 G[ray]. acknowledged as his source Homer, Odyssey viii 265: [Greek line omitted] (with feet that seemed to twinkle as they moved). But cp. 'many-twinkling leaves', Thomson, Spring 158."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

Add a note or query to this line

36 Slow melting strains their queen's approach declare: 3 Explanatory, 2 Textual

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

36.1-7 Slow ... declare:] "Compare the following stanza of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Compare the following stanza of a poem by Barton Booth, in his Life, written in 1718, published 1733

''Now to a slow and melting air she moves
So like in air, in shape, in mien,
She passes for the Paphian queen;
The Graces all around her play,
The wond'ring gazers die away.
Whether her easy body bend
Or her fair bosom heave with sighs;
Whether her graceful arms extend,
Or gently fall, or slowly rise;
Or returning or advancing,
Swimming round, or sidelong glancing,

Strange force of motion that subdues the soul.''
            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], 189.

36.2-3 melting strains] "Cp. 'melting strains', Dryden, To [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. 'melting strains', Dryden, To his Sacred Majesty 55."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

36.4 their] "the Wharton MS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"the Wharton 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], 170.

36.4 their] "the   Wharton." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"the   Wharton."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

Add a note or query to this line

37 Where'er she turns the Graces homage pay. 3 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

37.1-7 Where'er ... pay.] "''For wheresoe'er she turn'd her [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"''For wheresoe'er she turn'd her face, they bow'd.'' Dryden, Flower and Leaf l. 191.   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], 189.

37.1-7 Where'er ... pay.] "The Graces or Charites were [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The Graces or Charites were the personification of loveliness or grace, usually attendants of some greater goddess. They are attendants of Venus, as here, in Homer, Odyssey viii 364; in Pope's translation, viii 400. Cp. Tibullus, Elegies III viii 7-8: Illam, quidquid agit, quoquo vestigia movit, / componit furtim subsequiturque Decor (Whatsoever she does, whithersoever she turns her steps, Grace follows her unseen to order all aright); and the 'Queen' in Dryden, Flower and the Leaf 178-81, 190-1: 'She in the midst began with sober Grace; / Her Servants Eyes were fix'd upon her Face: / And as she mov'd or turn'd her Motions view'd, / Her Measures kept, and Step by Step pursu'd / ... / Admir'd, ador'd by all the circling Crowd, / For wheresoe'er she turn'd her Face, they bow'd.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

Add a note or query to this line

38 With arms sublime, that float upon the air, 2 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

38.3 sublime,] "In the physical sense of [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"In the physical sense of Latin sublimis, 'raised aloft'."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 206.

Add a note or query to this line

39 In gliding state she wins her easy way: 3 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

39.5-8 wins ... way:] "The phrase is in ''Paradise [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The phrase is in ''Paradise Lost,'' ii. 1016: - ''... on all sides round / Environed, wins his way.''"

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], 191/192.

39.5-8 wins ... way:] "'on all sides round / [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'on all sides round / Environ'd wins his way', Par. Lost ii 1015-16."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166.

Add a note or query to this line

40 O'er her warm cheek and rising bosom move 2 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

40.1-8 O'er ... move] "Gray's poetry is seldom so [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray's poetry is seldom so warm as this, though this would be cold for some poets."

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, 152.

Add a note or query to this line

41 The bloom of young desire and purple light of love. 4 Explanatory

32.1 - 41.10 Now ... love.] "Mitford cites the following lines [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford cites the following lines from an 'Ode. On Mira Dancing' in Memoirs of Barton Booth. To which are added Several Poetical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Victor (1733) pp. 49-50: 'Now to a slow and melting Air she moves; / Her Eyes their Softness steal from Venus' Doves: / So like in Shape in Air, and Mien, / She passes for the Paphian Queen; / The Graces all around her play; / The wondering Gazers die away. // Whether her easy Body bend, / Or her fair Bosom heave with Sighs; / Whether her graceful Arms extend, / Or gently fall, or slowly rise; / Or returning, or advancing; / Swimming round, or sidelong glancing. // ... // Strange Force of Motion! that subdues the Soul ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 165/166.

41.1-10 The ... love.] "Gray's note on this line [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray's note on this line refers to lines that are twice quoted in Athenaeus, viz. Athen. xiii, 604 (ed. Kaibel): [Greek quotation], and again, Athen. xiii, 564: [Greek quotation]. Gray no doubt had the former one in mind. The poet is Phrynichus tragicus (there was also a comic poet of the name). It is fragment 2 of Phrynichus in the fourth ed. of [Theodorus] Bergk's Poet[ae]. Lyr[ici]. Gr[aeci]."

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, 152.

41.1-10 The ... love.] "Given as one line thus [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Given as one line thus in the Tauchnitz text of Athenaeus

''[Greek line (omitted)]''
[And on his roseate cheeks there gleams the light of love.]
It was, as we learn from Athenaeus (Ib. 564 f.) a description of the youthful Troïlus. This Phrynichus is the early Tragic poet, in his time the chorus still held the principal place, and the lyric character (as seen in the quotation) preponderated in the drama. Wakefield further compares Virgil, AEn. I. 590:
            ''lumenque juventae
Purpureum, et laetos oculis afflarat honores.''
[Venus had breathed on her son the purple light of youth, and the grace of gladsome eyes.] They add that Ovid more than once uses 'purpureus' as an Epithet of 'Amor.' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 189/190.

41.1-10 The ... love.] "In 1768 G[ray]. gives a [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In 1768 G[ray]. gives a typically recondite source Phrynicus, apud Athenaeum [Deipnosophistae xiii 604a]: [Greek line omitted] (and on his roseate cheeks there gleams the light of love). But see also Virgil, Aeneid i 590-1: lumenque iuventare / purpureum et laetos oculis adflarat honores (with youth's ruddy bloom, and on his eyes a joyous lustre); imitated by Dryden, Britannia Rediviva 132-3: 'For She her self had made his Count'nance bright, / Breath'd honour on his eyes, and her own Purple Light.' See also lumine ... / purpureo, Aeneid vi 640-1; and Purpureus ... Amor, Ovid, Ars Amatoria i 232, and Amores II i 38 and ix 34. Cp. also Pope, Imitations of Horace, Odes IV i 26: 'the smiling Loves and young Desires'; and Akenside's description of Venus's birth in the sea, Pleasures of Imagination i 334-8: 'With fond acclaim attend her o'er the waves, / To seek th'Idalian bower. Ye smiling band / Of youths and virgins, who thro' all the maze / Of young desire with rival-steps pursue / This charm of beauty ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 166/167.

Add a note or query to this line


II. 1.

42 Man's feeble race what ills await, 1 Explanatory, 1 Textual

42.1 - 45.9 Man's ... fate!] "Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. 60-3), and Adversity 39-40 (p. 73). Cp. also William Broome, Melancholy: An Ode 27-8 (in Poems, 1727, p. 45): 'While round, stern Ministers of Fate, / Pain, and Disease, and Sorrow wait.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

42.6 await,] "await? C[ommonplace] B[ook]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"await? 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, 14.

Add a note or query to this line

43 Labour, and penury, the racks of pain, 2 Explanatory

42.1 - 45.9 Man's ... fate!] "Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. 60-3), and Adversity 39-40 (p. 73). Cp. also William Broome, Melancholy: An Ode 27-8 (in Poems, 1727, p. 45): 'While round, stern Ministers of Fate, / Pain, and Disease, and Sorrow wait.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

43.1-7 Labour, ... pain,] "Here Gray drops back into [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Here Gray drops back into his old fondness for Abstractions."

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, 152.

Add a note or query to this line

44 Disease, and sorrow's weeping train, 1 Explanatory

42.1 - 45.9 Man's ... fate!] "Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. 60-3), and Adversity 39-40 (p. 73). Cp. also William Broome, Melancholy: An Ode 27-8 (in Poems, 1727, p. 45): 'While round, stern Ministers of Fate, / Pain, and Disease, and Sorrow wait.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

Add a note or query to this line

45 And death, sad refuge from the storms of fate! 1 Explanatory, 1 Textual

42.1 - 45.9 Man's ... fate!] "Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Eton Ode 61-90 (pp. 60-3), and Adversity 39-40 (p. 73). Cp. also William Broome, Melancholy: An Ode 27-8 (in Poems, 1727, p. 45): 'While round, stern Ministers of Fate, / Pain, and Disease, and Sorrow wait.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

45.9 fate!] "Fate? [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Fate? [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 14.

Add a note or query to this line

46 The fond complaint, my song, disprove, 2 Explanatory

46.2 fond] "Foolish." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Foolish."

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, 152.

46.2-3 fond complaint,] "'fond complaints', Addison, Cato I [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'fond complaints', Addison, Cato I vi 53."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

Add a note or query to this line

47 And justify the laws of Jove. 1 Explanatory

47.1-6 And ... Jove.] "'And justifie the wayes of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'And justifie the wayes of God to men', Par. Lost i 26."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

Add a note or query to this line

48 Say, has he given in vain the heavenly Muse?
49 Night, and all her sickly dews, 1 Explanatory

49.1 - 50.8 Night, ... cry,] "R. Hurd, Select Works of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"R. Hurd, Select Works of Cowley, 1772, i 199, believed that G[ray]. was alluding to Cowley's Hymn to Light 37-40: 'Night, and her ugly subjects, then dost fright, / And sleep, the lazy owl of night; / Asham'd and fearful to appear / They screen their horrid shapes with the black hemisphere.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

Add a note or query to this line

50 Her spectres wan, and birds of boding cry, 4 Explanatory

49.1 - 50.8 Night, ... cry,] "R. Hurd, Select Works of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"R. Hurd, Select Works of Cowley, 1772, i 199, believed that G[ray]. was alluding to Cowley's Hymn to Light 37-40: 'Night, and her ugly subjects, then dost fright, / And sleep, the lazy owl of night; / Asham'd and fearful to appear / They screen their horrid shapes with the black hemisphere.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

50.2-3 spectres wan,] "'as wan / As the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'as wan / As the pale Spectre of a murder'd Man', Dryden, Palamon and Arcite i 528-9."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

50.5-8 birds ... cry,] "The regulation Screech-owl." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The regulation Screech-owl."

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, 152.

50.5-8 birds ... cry,] "Cp. Virgil, Georgics i 470: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Virgil, Georgics i 470: importunaeque volucres (ominous birds): and Aeneid xii 861-3: alitis in parvae subitam collecta figuram, / quae quondam in bustis aut culminibus desertis / nocte sedens serum canit importuna per umbras (suddenly shrinking to the shape of the small bird which oft, perched at night on tombs or deserted roofs, chants her late, ill-omened lay amid the shadows). Cp. also 'boding screech-owls', II Henry VI III ii 327; and 'the boding night-birds', Matthew Green, The Grotto 126."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

Add a note or query to this line

51 He gives to range the dreary sky: 4 Explanatory

51.1 - 52.6 He ... afar] "The couplet from Cowley has [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"The couplet from Cowley has been wrongly quoted by Gray, and so continued by his different editors. - [Mit.] But Mitford himself misquotes it. The lines are these, and they form ll.55-57 of Cowley's eighth Pindarique Ode, entitled Brutus: -

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed Star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.'' - [Ed.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 32.

51.1-2 He gives] "He permits; a Latinism. See [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"He permits; a Latinism. See ''Ode for Music,'' 16."

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], 192.

51.1 - 53.9 He ... war.] "Mitford noted that ''the couplet [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mitford noted that ''the couplet from Cowley was wrongly quoted by Gray, and so continued by his different editors;'' but he himself did not give the lines correctly. They are: -

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed Star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.'' - Brutus, an Ode.
Gray was fond of reproducing a word or phrase that pleased him; in his Journal of his Tour in the Lake District he writes under Oct. 4, 1769: - ''While I was here a little shower fell, red clouds came marching up the hills from the east, a part of a bright rainbow seemed to rise along the side of Castle-hill.''"

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], 192.

51.1-2 He gives] "Permits." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Permits."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167.

Add a note or query to this line

52 Till down the eastern cliffs afar 7 Explanatory, 6 Textual

51.1 - 52.6 He ... afar] "The couplet from Cowley has [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"The couplet from Cowley has been wrongly quoted by Gray, and so continued by his different editors. - [Mit.] But Mitford himself misquotes it. The lines are these, and they form ll.55-57 of Cowley's eighth Pindarique Ode, entitled Brutus: -

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed Star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.'' - [Ed.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 32.

51.1 - 53.9 He ... war.] "Mitford noted that ''the couplet [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mitford noted that ''the couplet from Cowley was wrongly quoted by Gray, and so continued by his different editors;'' but he himself did not give the lines correctly. They are: -

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed Star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.'' - Brutus, an Ode.
Gray was fond of reproducing a word or phrase that pleased him; in his Journal of his Tour in the Lake District he writes under Oct. 4, 1769: - ''While I was here a little shower fell, red clouds came marching up the hills from the east, a part of a bright rainbow seemed to rise along the side of Castle-hill.''"

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], 192.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "''Till fierce Hyperion from afarPours [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear, his glitt'ring shafts of war,
Hurls at their flying,
      o'er       scatter'd
     [o'er]      shadowy
Till o'er        from afar
Hyperion hurls around his.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 32.

52.1-6 Till ... afar] "The quotation from Cowley is [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The quotation from Cowley is given inaccurately in Gray's note; it is from the Pindaric ode Brutus, 55-57:

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow
Or seen her well-appointed Star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.''"

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, 152.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Till fierce Hyperion from afarPours [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear his glittereing shafts of war.
Hurls at their flying rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
Hurls o'er their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
Hurls o'er their shadowy rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
Till o'er their shadowy rear from afar
Hyperion hurls around his glitt'ring shafts of war. [ - Pembroke] Manuscript readings."

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], 195.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "MSS. readings. ''Till fierce Hyperion [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"MSS. readings.

''Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear his etc.
Hurls at their flying rear etc.
Hurls o'er their scatter'd (shadowy below) rear etc.
Till o'er [their shadowy rear] from far
Hyperion hurls around his etc.''
[I give these on the faith of 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], 190.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Gray [...] has condensed Cowley's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray [...] has condensed Cowley's language here, which is (Brutus, an Ode, Stanza IV.):

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.''
Mitford has noted that in Gray's Journal of his Tour in the Lake District [Letters to Wharton] Gray writes [under Oct. 4, 1769] 'While I was here a little shower fell, red clouds came marching up the hills from the east' etc."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 190.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Till o'er the eastern cliffs [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Till o'er the eastern cliffs from far / Hyperion hurls around his glittering shafts of war. Pembroke MS. (struck out).
Till fierce Hyperion from afar / Hurls at on their flying scatter'd shadowy rear his glitt'ring shafts of war. In margin of Pembroke MS.
Till fierce Hyperion from afar / Pours on their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war. Wharton 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], 170/1.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Till o'er the eastern cliffs [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Till o'er the eastern cliffs from far
Hyperion hurls around his glittering shafts of war.
The above is underlined and crossed out in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and in the margin is written
Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Hurls at their flying rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
        on       scatter'd.
                  shadowy.
In [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754] the lines read
Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 14.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "What Cowley wrote [quoted incorrectly [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"What Cowley wrote [quoted incorrectly in Gray's note] was 'Or seen her well-appointed star / Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar'. See also Alliance of Education and Government, ll. 46-47; Statius (vi. 646-88), ll. 30-31; Agrippina, l. 94."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 206.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Commonplace Book has: Till o'er [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Till o'er the eastern cliffs from far
Hyperion hurls around his glittering shafts of war.
These lines have been struck out and written in the margin is:
Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Hurls at their flying rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
In the second line G[ray]. has then substituted on for at and scatter'd, followed by shadowy, for flying. In Wharton this line reads: Pours on their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167/168.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "G[ray]. gives as his source [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. gives as his source Cowley, Brutus, an Ode st. iv: 'Or seen the Morning's well-appointed Star / Come marching up the eastern hills afar', a misquotation of 'Or seen her well-appointed Star / Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.' For the afar/war rhyme, see Education and Government 46-7 (p. 95-6), and G.'s translation of Statius (vi 646-88) 30-1 (p. 18)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 168.

52.4-5 eastern cliffs] "Par. Lost v 275: 'th'Eastern [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Par. Lost v 275: 'th'Eastern cliff of Paradise'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 168.

Add a note or query to this line

53 Hyperion's march they spy, and glittering shafts of war. 12 Explanatory, 6 Textual

51.1 - 53.9 He ... war.] "Mitford noted that ''the couplet [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mitford noted that ''the couplet from Cowley was wrongly quoted by Gray, and so continued by his different editors;'' but he himself did not give the lines correctly. They are: -

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed Star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.'' - Brutus, an Ode.
Gray was fond of reproducing a word or phrase that pleased him; in his Journal of his Tour in the Lake District he writes under Oct. 4, 1769: - ''While I was here a little shower fell, red clouds came marching up the hills from the east, a part of a bright rainbow seemed to rise along the side of Castle-hill.''"

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], 192.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "''Till fierce Hyperion from afarPours [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear, his glitt'ring shafts of war,
Hurls at their flying,
      o'er       scatter'd
     [o'er]      shadowy
Till o'er        from afar
Hyperion hurls around his.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 32.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Till fierce Hyperion from afarPours [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear his glittereing shafts of war.
Hurls at their flying rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
Hurls o'er their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
Hurls o'er their shadowy rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
Till o'er their shadowy rear from afar
Hyperion hurls around his glitt'ring shafts of war. [ - Pembroke] Manuscript readings."

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], 195.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "MSS. readings. ''Till fierce Hyperion [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"MSS. readings.

''Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear his etc.
Hurls at their flying rear etc.
Hurls o'er their scatter'd (shadowy below) rear etc.
Till o'er [their shadowy rear] from far
Hyperion hurls around his etc.''
[I give these on the faith of 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], 190.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Gray [...] has condensed Cowley's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray [...] has condensed Cowley's language here, which is (Brutus, an Ode, Stanza IV.):

''One would have thought 't had heard the Morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed star
Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.''
Mitford has noted that in Gray's Journal of his Tour in the Lake District [Letters to Wharton] Gray writes [under Oct. 4, 1769] 'While I was here a little shower fell, red clouds came marching up the hills from the east' etc."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 190.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Till o'er the eastern cliffs [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Till o'er the eastern cliffs from far / Hyperion hurls around his glittering shafts of war. Pembroke MS. (struck out).
Till fierce Hyperion from afar / Hurls at on their flying scatter'd shadowy rear his glitt'ring shafts of war. In margin of Pembroke MS.
Till fierce Hyperion from afar / Pours on their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war. Wharton 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], 170/1.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Till o'er the eastern cliffs [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Till o'er the eastern cliffs from far
Hyperion hurls around his glittering shafts of war.
The above is underlined and crossed out in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and in the margin is written
Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Hurls at their flying rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
        on       scatter'd.
                  shadowy.
In [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754] the lines read
Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Pours on their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 14.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "What Cowley wrote [quoted incorrectly [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"What Cowley wrote [quoted incorrectly in Gray's note] was 'Or seen her well-appointed star / Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar'. See also Alliance of Education and Government, ll. 46-47; Statius (vi. 646-88), ll. 30-31; Agrippina, l. 94."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 206.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "Commonplace Book has: Till o'er [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Till o'er the eastern cliffs from far
Hyperion hurls around his glittering shafts of war.
These lines have been struck out and written in the margin is:
Till fierce Hyperion from afar
Hurls at their flying rear his glitt'ring shafts of war.
In the second line G[ray]. has then substituted on for at and scatter'd, followed by shadowy, for flying. In Wharton this line reads: Pours on their scatter'd rear his glitt'ring shafts of war."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 167/168.

52.1 - 53.9 Till ... war.] "G[ray]. gives as his source [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. gives as his source Cowley, Brutus, an Ode st. iv: 'Or seen the Morning's well-appointed Star / Come marching up the eastern hills afar', a misquotation of 'Or seen her well-appointed Star / Come marching up the Eastern Hill afar.' For the afar/war rhyme, see Education and Government 46-7 (p. 95-6), and G.'s translation of Statius (vi 646-88) 30-1 (p. 18)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 168.

53.1 Hyperion's] "The Titan, who was the [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The Titan, who was the father of the sun, moon, and stars. Here used, as often, for the sun."

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, 152.

53.1 Hyperion's] "The Sun-God. He is the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The Sun-God. He is the Titan, father of Helios (the Sun) according to Hesiod. In Homer the name is an epithet of Helios, but as he gives him also the patronymic [Greek word (omitted)] he sanctions the same myth. Some ancients derived Hyperion from [Greek words (omitted)], he that moves above, but the quantity of the i is against this explanation. Liddell and Scott explain the Homeric Hyperion as a shortened form of the patronymic [Greek word (omitted)]. The Hyperion of Keats is, after Hesiod, of that older race of Gods, who fell with Cronos (or Saturn) supplanted by Zeus. Gray, though he of course knew better, follows usage in pronouncing Hyp'erion, not Hyper'ion, both here and in Hymn to Ignorance l. 1[1]. Shakespeare's 'Hyperion to a satyr' (Hamlet I. 2. 140) or 'Hyperion's curls' (Ib. III. 4. 56), and his invariable accentuation of the name elsewhere, gave this pronunciation a vogue which it would have been pedantic to contradict. Yet Akenside, Gray's contemporary, pronounced, as Mant observes, with the i long, Hymn to the Naiads l. 46; but Akenside has been accused of pedantry. Mitford produces two more exceptions to the customary usage of English poets; one from Drummond of Hawthornden (a man of much learning) (1585-1649):

''That Hyperion far beyond his bed
Doth see our lions ramp, our roses spread'';
the other from Gilbert West's Pindar (1749):
''Then Hyperion's son, pure fount of day
Did to his children the strange tale reveal.''
            (0l. VIII. 22).
(this is simply a rendering of [Greek word (omitted)], but a version from the classics must avoid false quantities).
'lucida tela diei' (Lucretius I. 147; VI. 40) which Munro, after Gray renders [']'glittering shafts of day.'' Lowell, as Mr Rolfe remarks, has imitated Gray and Lucretius:
'''Tis from these heights alone your eyes
The advancing spears of day can see
Which o'er the eastern hill-tops rise,
To break your long captivity.'' Above and Below.
Dr Bradshaw notes that Gray twice elsewhere rhymes 'far' with war: Education and Government, ll. 46, 47, and the Translation from Statius ll. 3[0], 3[1], also that the expression 'glittering front of war' had been used in Agrippina l. 94."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 190/191.

53.1 Hyperion's] "Ruler of the sun during [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Ruler of the sun during the reign of the Titans, before the gods were. Gray follows Shakespeare (Hamlet, I. ii.), and was followed by Keats in a false quantity. The name is Hyperion."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

53.1 Hyperion's] "One of the Titans, either [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"One of the Titans, either the father of the Sun or the Sun itself. Cp. Euripides, Phoenissae 168-9: 'Lo, how he flasheth in armour golden, like the morning shafts of the sun bright-blazing'; and Lucretius i 146-8: Hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necessest / non radii solis neque lucida tela diei / discutiant, sed naturae species ratioque (This terror of mind therefore and this gloom must be dispelled, not by the sun's rays or the bright shafts of day, but by the aspect and law of nature). See also Agrippina 94 (p. 36)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 168.

53.1 Hyperion's] "the sun." J. Reeves, 1973.

"the sun."

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.

53.4 spy,] "See, espy; without the idea [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"See, espy; without the idea of secrecy now always attaching to it; see ''Paradise Lost,'' iv. 1005."

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], 192.

53.6-7 glittering shafts] "The rays of the morning [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The rays of the morning sun."

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, 152.

53.8-9 of war.] "Equivalent to ''of armed men [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Equivalent to ''of armed men in battle array;'' the rays of the sun being compared to the spears and other shining weapons of an army. Mr. Rolfe quotes from Lowell: -

'''Tis from these heights alone your eyes
    The advancing spears of day can see,
Which o'er the eastern hill-tops rise,
    To break your long captivity.'' - Above and Below
In ''Agrippina'' Gray has ''the glittering front of war.'' Twice elsewhere he rhymes far with war: - ''Oft o'er the trembling nations from afar, / Has Scythia breathed the living cloud of war.'' - Education and Government. ''When blazing 'gainst the sun it shines from far, / And, clashed, rebellows with the din of war.'' - Translations from Statius."

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], 192/193.

Add a note or query to this line


II. 2.

54 In climes beyond the solar road, 6 Explanatory

54.1-6 In ... road,] "Vergil, Aeneid, vi, 797. Petrarch, [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Vergil, Aeneid, vi, 797. Petrarch, Canzone 5, line 48."

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, 152.

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

54.1-6 In ... road,] "It is Canzone I. [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"It is Canzone I. 3, l. 3 of the Sonetti sopra vari Argomenti in the edition before me; the context is nearer Gray than usual:

''Una parte del mondo e che si giace
Mai sempre in ghiaccio ed in gelate nevi
Tutta lontana etc.''
''[A clime there is that lies
Ever in ice and hardened snows congealed
All from the solar road remote.]"
Gray's is an improvement on Pope's expression 'walk.'
''His soul proud science never taught to stray
Far as the solar walk, or milky way.''
            (Essay on Man I. 102).
Dryden has 'solar walk' in Threnodia Augustalis stanza 12, and it was by this time perhaps a commonplace."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 192.

54.1-6 In ... road,] "Gray has in mind the [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Gray has in mind the 'translations' of Macpherson and the sources mentioned in the explanatory notes to The Fatal Sisters and The Death of Hoel."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 206.

54.1-6 In ... road,] "In 1768 G[ray]. gave as [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In 1768 G[ray]. gave as his sources Virgil, Aeneid vi 796: extra anni solisque vias (beyond the paths of the year and the sun); and Petrarch, Canzoniere ii 48: Tutta lontana dal camin del sole (all remote from the solar road). Petrarch was no doubt imitating Virgil, as many English poets had done: e.g. Dryden, 'Beyond the Year, and out of Heav'ns high-way', Annus Mirabilis 639; 'Out of the Solar walk and Heav'ns high-way', Threnodia Augustalis 353; 'Beyond the Sunny walks, and circling Year', Britannia Rediviva 306; 'Far as the solar walk', Pope, Essay on Man i 102."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

54.1-6 In ... road,] "A reference to the works [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A reference to the works of James Macpherson and Evan Evans discussed in the headnote to The Fatal Sisters and no doubt to his own translations of fragments of Norse and Welsh poetry. South American poetry had been discussed by various travellers, since Montaigne's essay On the Cannibals, which quotes from two songs. T. Warton Senior imitated the second of these in his American Love-Ode (Poems (1748) pp. 139-40). The 'Lapland songs' were no doubt the specimens of Lapp lyric poetry printed in John Scheffer's Lapponia (Frankfurt, 1673; Oxford, 1674), which became well known after translations had appeared in Spectator Nos. 366 and 404. See F. E. Farley, 'Three "Lapland Songs" ', PMLA xxi (1906) 1-39. The growing interest in primitive poetry at this period can be illustrated by a letter from Thomas Percy to Evan Evans, 14 Aug. 1762, suggesting that Evans publish a collection entitled Specimens of the ancient Poetry of different nations. Percy himself had collected Erse, Runic, Peruvian, Lapland and Greenland poetry, as well as that of other nations: see Correspondence of Percy and Evans, ed. A. Lewis, 1957, p. 31. See also Sir William Temple, Of Poetry (1690), on the 'Antiquity' of poetry: 'It is, I think, generally agreed to have been the first sort of Writing that has been used in the World, and in several Nations to have preceded the very Invention or Usage of Letters. This last is certain in America, where the first Spaniards met with many strains of Poetry, and left several of them Translated into their Language, which seem to have flowed from a true Poetick Vein before any Letters were known in those Regions' (Critical Essays of the l7th Century, ed. J. E. Spingarn (1908-9) iii 85)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 168.

Add a note or query to this line

55 Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam, 3 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

55.1-7 Where ... roam,] "See n. on l. 57 [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"See n. on l. 57 infr."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 192.

55.1 - 57.7 Where ... abode.] "Tovey suggests that the first [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Tovey suggests that the first of these lines is an epitome of Virgil, Georgics iii 354-5, 366, 383: sed iacet aggeribus niveis informis et alto / terra gelu late septemque adsurgit in ulnas / ... / stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis / ... / et pecudum fulvis velatur corpora saetis (But far and wide earth lies shapeless under mounds of snow and piles of ice, rising seven cubits in height ... and the rough icicle hardens on the unkempt beard ... their bodies clothed in the tawny furs of beasts). But, as Walpole noted in his copy of the Odes, G. must also have remembered Dryden's Prologue to his Royal Highness (1682) 1-7: 'In those cold Regions which no Summers cheer, / When brooding darkness covers half the year, / To hollow Caves the shivering Natives go; / Bears range abroad, and hunt in tracks of Snow: / But when the tedious Twilight wears away, / And Stars glow paler at th'approach of Day, / The longing Crowds to frozen Mountains run.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

Add a note or query to this line

56 The Muse has broke the twilight-gloom 3 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

55.1 - 57.7 Where ... abode.] "Tovey suggests that the first [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Tovey suggests that the first of these lines is an epitome of Virgil, Georgics iii 354-5, 366, 383: sed iacet aggeribus niveis informis et alto / terra gelu late septemque adsurgit in ulnas / ... / stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis / ... / et pecudum fulvis velatur corpora saetis (But far and wide earth lies shapeless under mounds of snow and piles of ice, rising seven cubits in height ... and the rough icicle hardens on the unkempt beard ... their bodies clothed in the tawny furs of beasts). But, as Walpole noted in his copy of the Odes, G. must also have remembered Dryden's Prologue to his Royal Highness (1682) 1-7: 'In those cold Regions which no Summers cheer, / When brooding darkness covers half the year, / To hollow Caves the shivering Natives go; / Bears range abroad, and hunt in tracks of Snow: / But when the tedious Twilight wears away, / And Stars glow paler at th'approach of Day, / The longing Crowds to frozen Mountains run.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

56.6 twilight-gloom] "'twilight shade', Milton, Nativity Ode [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'twilight shade', Milton, Nativity Ode 188."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

Add a note or query to this line

57 To cheer the shivering native's dull abode. 5 Explanatory, 12 Textual

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

55.1 - 57.7 Where ... abode.] "Tovey suggests that the first [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Tovey suggests that the first of these lines is an epitome of Virgil, Georgics iii 354-5, 366, 383: sed iacet aggeribus niveis informis et alto / terra gelu late septemque adsurgit in ulnas / ... / stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis / ... / et pecudum fulvis velatur corpora saetis (But far and wide earth lies shapeless under mounds of snow and piles of ice, rising seven cubits in height ... and the rough icicle hardens on the unkempt beard ... their bodies clothed in the tawny furs of beasts). But, as Walpole noted in his copy of the Odes, G. must also have remembered Dryden's Prologue to his Royal Highness (1682) 1-7: 'In those cold Regions which no Summers cheer, / When brooding darkness covers half the year, / To hollow Caves the shivering Natives go; / Bears range abroad, and hunt in tracks of Snow: / But when the tedious Twilight wears away, / And Stars glow paler at th'approach of Day, / The longing Crowds to frozen Mountains run.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

57.1-7 To ... abode.] "This line is entirely omitted [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"This line is entirely omitted in Bradshaw's Aldine edition of Gray."

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, 152.

57.1-7 To ... abode.] " 'Buried' was perhaps rejected [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" 'Buried' was perhaps rejected [in favour of 'shivering'] as obscure to all but scholars, for Gray was doubtless thinking of Virgil, Georg. III. 376.

''Ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub alta
Otia agunt terra.''
[Themselves in caverns deep sunken under earth they fleet their careless leisure. Mackail.] In fact from this place of Virgil the description ll. 54-58 is epitomised. Thus ll. 354, 355,
(Sed jacet aggeribus niveis informis et alto
Terra gelu late, septemque adsurgit in ulnas.)
l. 366 (Stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis---) and l. 383 (Gens pecudum fulvis velatur corpora saetis) combine to make up the picture in Gray's line 55.
The substitution of 'dull' for 'chill' is probably motived by 'Chili' in l. 59.'laid' is in agreement with 'She' (the Muse). Cf. the note on 'reclined,' Ode on Spring l. 17."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 192/193.

57.1-7 To ... abode.] "Cp. 'Mean time in dark [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. 'Mean time in dark Abodes the Natives mourn', Blackmore, The Nature of Man (1711) p. 11 (on the Arctic)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

57.4-5 shivering native's] "''buried'' in the Marg. MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"''buried'' in the Marg. MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 33.

57.4 shivering] "Buried - in the margin [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Buried - in the margin of the MS."

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], 196.

57.4 shivering] "Buried with shivering in the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Buried with shivering in the Margin.   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 192.

57.4 shivering] "buried Pembroke MS., but corrected [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"buried Pembroke MS., but corrected in margin."

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], 171.

57.4 shivering] "buried but shivering in margin, [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"buried but shivering in margin, both underlined, C[ommonplace] B[ook]; shivering [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754], 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, 14.

57.4 shivering] "buried   Commonplace Book, with [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"buried   Commonplace Book, with the present reading[] in the margin[]."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

57.6-7 dull abode.] "''chill'' in the Marg. MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"''chill'' in the Marg. MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 33.

57.6 dull] "in the margin of the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"in the margin of the Pembroke MS; and chill in the text."

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], 196.

57.6 dull] "Chill with dull in Margin. [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Chill with dull in Margin.   Ib. [MS.]"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 192.

57.6 dull] "chill Pembroke MS., but corrected [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"chill Pembroke MS., but corrected in margin."

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], 171.

57.6 dull] "chill but dull in margin, [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"chill but dull in margin, both underlined, 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, 14.

57.6 dull] "chill   Commonplace Book, with [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"chill   Commonplace Book, with the present reading[] in the margin[]. 'Chili' in l. 59 no doubt forced G[ray]. to abandon 'chill'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

Add a note or query to this line

58 And oft, beneath the odorous shade 1 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

Add a note or query to this line

59 Of Chile's boundless forests laid, 2 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

59.1 - 61.5 Of ... sweet] "Thomson, Castle of Indolence II [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Thomson, Castle of Indolence II xiv 6-8: 'Earth was till then a boundless Forest wild; / Nought to be seen but savage Woods and Skies; / No Cities nourished Arts, no Culture smiled ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

Add a note or query to this line

60 She deigns to hear the savage youth repeat 4 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

59.1 - 61.5 Of ... sweet] "Thomson, Castle of Indolence II [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Thomson, Castle of Indolence II xiv 6-8: 'Earth was till then a boundless Forest wild; / Nought to be seen but savage Woods and Skies; / No Cities nourished Arts, no Culture smiled ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

60.7 youth] "Young man, as Latin iuventus." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Young man, as Latin iuventus."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

60.8 repeat] "The OED defines 'To celebrate, [...]" Alexander Huber, 2003.

"The OED defines 'To celebrate, speak of (as). Obs. rare.' "

Alexander Huber <huber@thomasgray.org> (University of Oxford), URL: http://www.thomasgray.org/. Contributed on Mon Feb 10 15:27:55 2003 GMT.

Add a note or query to this line

61 In loose numbers wildly sweet 3 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

59.1 - 61.5 Of ... sweet] "Thomson, Castle of Indolence II [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Thomson, Castle of Indolence II xiv 6-8: 'Earth was till then a boundless Forest wild; / Nought to be seen but savage Woods and Skies; / No Cities nourished Arts, no Culture smiled ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

61.2-3 loose numbers] "See Horace on Pindar, Odes [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Horace on Pindar, Odes IV ii 11-12: numerisque ... / lege solutis (in measures freed from rule). Cp. also Milton, L'Allegro 133-4: 'Or sweetest Shakespear fancies childe, / Warble his native Wood-notes wilde.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 169.

Add a note or query to this line

62 Their feather-cinctured chiefs, and dusky loves. 5 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

62.2 feather-cinctured] "Cf. after Mitford,     [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Cf. after Mitford,

            ''Such of late
Columbus found the American, so girt
With feathered cincture, naked else and wild
Among the trees on isles and woody shores.''
            Milton, Par. Lost IX. 1116.
Also Spenser, Faerie Queene, III. 12. 8."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 193.

62.2-6 feather-cinctured ... loves.] "'girt / With feather'd Cincture', [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'girt / With feather'd Cincture', Par. Lost ix 1116; and Pope, Windsor Forest 404-5, 409-10: 'And Feather'd People crowd my wealthy Side, / And naked Youths and painted Chiefs admire / ... / Till the freed Indians in their native Groves / Reap their own Fruits, and woo their Sable Loves.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

62.2 feather-cinctured] "wearing feather headresses." J. Reeves, 1973.

"wearing feather headresses."

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.

62.5 dusky] " ''Till the freed Indians [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" ''Till the freed Indians in their native groves
Reap their own fruits and woo their sable loves.''
           Pope, Windsor Forest 410.
Gray's epithet, as Dr Warton observes, is the more correct. Cf. Education and Government l. 105. 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], 193.

Add a note or query to this line

63 Her track, where'er the goddess roves, 5 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

63.1-6 Her ... roves,] "track is the object of [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"track is the object of pursue."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 206.

63.1 - 65.7 Her ... flame.] "For the association of poetry [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"For the association of poetry and liberty, see ll. 77-82 below and The Bard (p. 178 below); Collins, Ode to Simplicity 31-6 (p. 426 below); Goldsmith, Deserted Village 407-16 (pp. 693-4 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

63.2 track,] "The object of 'pursue', which [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The object of 'pursue', which in turn is plural because governed by all the nouns which follow as well as 'Glory'. G[ray]. is imitating classical practice."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

63.5 goddess] "The Muse of Poetry." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The Muse of Poetry."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

Add a note or query to this line

64 Glory pursue, and generous Shame, 6 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

63.1 - 65.7 Her ... flame.] "For the association of poetry [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"For the association of poetry and liberty, see ll. 77-82 below and The Bard (p. 178 below); Collins, Ode to Simplicity 31-6 (p. 426 below); Goldsmith, Deserted Village 407-16 (pp. 693-4 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

64.1 - 65.7 Glory ... flame.] "Shame, used in the sense [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Shame, used in the sense of [Greek word (omitted)], that feeling in the warrior which makes him studious to shun disgrace. Perhaps Gray's association of ideas here is suggested by Milton's

''the unconquerable will,
* * * * * * * *
And courage never to submit or yield.''
            Par. Lost I. 106-108."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 193/194.

64.2 pursue,] " 'This use of the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" 'This use of the verb plural after the first substantive is in Pindar's manner,' says Wakefield, quoting Nem. X. 91, which is not apposite, and Pyth. 4. 318, an instance with plural participle, [Greek line (omitted)], - Echion, shouting in their pride of youth, and Erytus - also Hom. Il. V. 774 (a dual) [Greek line (omitted)] (lit. where Simois join their two floods and Scamander).
Mitford quotes Dugald Stewart, Philosophy of the Human Mind I. 505. ''I cannot help remarking the effect of the solemn and uniform flow of verse in this exquisite stanza, in retarding the pronunciation of the reader, so as to arrest his attention to every successive picture, till it has time to produce its proper impression.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 193.

64.2 pursue,] "In the sense of the [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"In the sense of the Latin prosequi, 'to follow closely after' or 'accompany', not 'to chase'."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

64.5 Shame,] "As used here, fear of [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"As used here, fear of disgrace or loss of reputation, see Elegy 70 (p. 130 above)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

Add a note or query to this line

65 The unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame. 4 Explanatory

54.1 - 65.7 In ... flame.] "Gray here refers to James [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray here refers to James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse language, published at Edinburgh in June, 1760. It is noteworthy that he here accepts these fragments as genuine. Yet in spite of his admiration of them he was from the very first puzzled; and the information which he got from Macpherson himself struck him as 'calculated to deceive, yet not cunning enough to do it cleverly.' The publication of the Epic 'Fingal' in 6 books (Dec. 1761) should have increased his scepticism; but it seems on the contrary to have made his admiration get the better of his doubts. On February 17, 1763 he could write 'Mr Howe would there see that Imagination dwelt many hundred years ago in all her pomp on the cold and barren mountains of Scotland. The truth (I believe) is that without any respect of climates she reigns in all nascent societies of men, where the necessities of life force everyone to think and act much for himself.'
After this there is a loud silence on this subject in Gray's correspondence, and it is noteworthy that in the very next month (March, 1763) Macpherson published 'Temora,' another Epic in eight Books, which was probably too much for Gray. This note of 1768 indicates, I think, that Gray continued to believe that there were some genuine elements in Macpherson's earliest publication, to confirm his thesis expressed both in this place of the Progress of Poesy, and in the letter above cited, that the Imagination is vigorous in 'nascent societies of men.' Strangely enough, Gray betrays no suspicion that his own 'Bard' had anything to do with the inspiration of Macpherson. See Introductory note there, and note on l. 20 ib.
For the reference Gray makes to 'the Norwegian and Welsh fragments,' see Introductory notes to Norse and Welsh Poems, infra."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 191/192.

63.1 - 65.7 Her ... flame.] "For the association of poetry [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"For the association of poetry and liberty, see ll. 77-82 below and The Bard (p. 178 below); Collins, Ode to Simplicity 31-6 (p. 426 below); Goldsmith, Deserted Village 407-16 (pp. 693-4 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

64.1 - 65.7 Glory ... flame.] "Shame, used in the sense [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Shame, used in the sense of [Greek word (omitted)], that feeling in the warrior which makes him studious to shun disgrace. Perhaps Gray's association of ideas here is suggested by Milton's

''the unconquerable will,
* * * * * * * *
And courage never to submit or yield.''
            Par. Lost I. 106-108."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 193/194.

65.1-7 The ... flame.] "'the unconquerable Will', Par. Lost [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'the unconquerable Will', Par. Lost i 106; and 'Love's holy flame', Akenside, Pleasures of Imagination i 468."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

Add a note or query to this line


II. 3.

66 Woods that wave o'er Delphi's steep, 9 Explanatory

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

66.1-6 Woods ... steep,] "''Dr Chandler flirts at Gray [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"''Dr Chandler flirts at Gray for having clothed 'Delphi's barren steep' with woods.'' Walpole to Mason, April 8, 1776."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

66.1-6 Woods ... steep,] "See his [Gray's] plan for [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See his [Gray's] plan for a history of English poetry, sent to Thomas Warton, 15 April 1770 (Corresp iii 1123-4), for an exposition of similar ideas."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

66.1 - 69.5 Woods ... waves] "Richard Chandler, in his Travels [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Richard Chandler, in his Travels in Greece (1776) p. 79, attacked this passage, although he did not mention G[ray]. by name: 'And here it may be remarked, that the poets who celebrate the Ilissus as a stream laving the fields, cool, lucid, and the like, have both conceived and conveyed a false idea of this renowned water-course. They may bestow a willow fringe on its naked banks, amber waves on the muddy Meander, and hanging woods on the bare steeps of Delphi, if they please; but the foundation in nature will be wanting.' Walpole believed that 'amber' was merely poetic diction for 'muddy' (Walpole Correspondence xxviii 257); but see l. 69 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

66.5 Delphi's] "the centre of the cult [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"the centre of the cult of Apollo."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

66.5 Delphi's] "There is a sketch and [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"There is a sketch and an extended description of Delphi in C[ommonplace] B[ook], i. 168-9."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

66.5 Delphi's] "'the steep of Delphos', Milton, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'the steep of Delphos', Milton, Nativity Ode 178. Delphi was an ancient oracular shrine and precinct of Apollo, the God of poetry, on Mt Parnassus. This allusion suitably introduces G[ray].'s references to the kinds of Greek poetry: the lyric poets, Sappho, Alcaeus and Simonides, associated with the Aegean islands; the tragic drama of Athens; and epic poetry associated with Asia Minor (see Maeander, l. 69), on the coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey may have originated. There are notes on Delphi and Parnassus, and many Greek islands, in G.'s Commonplace Book (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, 170/171.

66.5 Delphi's] "home of the oracle of [...]" J. Reeves, 1973.

"home of the oracle of Apollo."

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

67 Isles that crown the Aegean deep, 3 Explanatory

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

66.1 - 69.5 Woods ... waves] "Richard Chandler, in his Travels [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Richard Chandler, in his Travels in Greece (1776) p. 79, attacked this passage, although he did not mention G[ray]. by name: 'And here it may be remarked, that the poets who celebrate the Ilissus as a stream laving the fields, cool, lucid, and the like, have both conceived and conveyed a false idea of this renowned water-course. They may bestow a willow fringe on its naked banks, amber waves on the muddy Meander, and hanging woods on the bare steeps of Delphi, if they please; but the foundation in nature will be wanting.' Walpole believed that 'amber' was merely poetic diction for 'muddy' (Walpole Correspondence xxviii 257); but see l. 69 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

Add a note or query to this line

68 Fields that cool Ilissus laves, 7 Explanatory

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

66.1 - 69.5 Woods ... waves] "Richard Chandler, in his Travels [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Richard Chandler, in his Travels in Greece (1776) p. 79, attacked this passage, although he did not mention G[ray]. by name: 'And here it may be remarked, that the poets who celebrate the Ilissus as a stream laving the fields, cool, lucid, and the like, have both conceived and conveyed a false idea of this renowned water-course. They may bestow a willow fringe on its naked banks, amber waves on the muddy Meander, and hanging woods on the bare steeps of Delphi, if they please; but the foundation in nature will be wanting.' Walpole believed that 'amber' was merely poetic diction for 'muddy' (Walpole Correspondence xxviii 257); but see l. 69 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

68.4 Ilissus] "A river flowing through Athens." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"A river flowing through Athens."

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, 152.

68.4 Ilissus] "the river of Athens." J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"the river of Athens."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

68.4 Ilissus] "A stream originating on Mt [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A stream originating on Mt Hymettus and running past Athens. Cp. Collins, Pity 14 (see p. 416 below)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

68.4 Ilissus] "a stream running through Athens." J. Reeves, 1973.

"a stream running through Athens."

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

69 Or where Maeander's amber waves 11 Explanatory, 3 Textual

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

66.1 - 69.5 Woods ... waves] "Richard Chandler, in his Travels [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Richard Chandler, in his Travels in Greece (1776) p. 79, attacked this passage, although he did not mention G[ray]. by name: 'And here it may be remarked, that the poets who celebrate the Ilissus as a stream laving the fields, cool, lucid, and the like, have both conceived and conveyed a false idea of this renowned water-course. They may bestow a willow fringe on its naked banks, amber waves on the muddy Meander, and hanging woods on the bare steeps of Delphi, if they please; but the foundation in nature will be wanting.' Walpole believed that 'amber' was merely poetic diction for 'muddy' (Walpole Correspondence xxviii 257); but see l. 69 n."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 170.

69.1 Or] "And Pembroke MS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"And 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], 171.

69.1 Or] "And C[ommonplace] B[ook]." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"And 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, 15.

69.1 Or] "And   Commonplace Book." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"And   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, 171.

69.1 - 70.4 Or ... creep,] "There are many classical references [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"There are many classical references to the Maeander's tortuous course, but G[ray]. is probably remembering the description of it in Ovid, Metamorphoses viii 162-6, where Daedalus's labyrinth is compared to it. See also Fairfax's Tasso XVI viii."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

69.3 Maeander's] "The progress of this river [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The progress of this river was so winding that it gave its name to our verb, ''meander.'' It was in Phrygia."

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, 152.

69.3 Maeander's] "The Maeander, proverbial for its [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"The Maeander, proverbial for its wandering course, flowed through Phrygia, into the Icarian Sea. Miletus, on the Maeander, was the birthplace of Thales and other Greek philosophers; but the reference is probably suggested by Milton's lines: -

''Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that livest unseen,
Within thy airy shell;
By slow Maeander's margent green.'' - Comus, 230."

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], 193.

69.3 Maeander's] "a river of Asia Minor." J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"a river of Asia Minor."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

69.3-5 Maeander's ... waves] "The Maeander is a muddy [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"The Maeander is a muddy (hence brown or amber), winding river in western Asia Minor."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

69.3 Maeander's] "a particularly winding river." J. Reeves, 1973.

"a particularly winding river."

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, 114.

69.4 amber] "Gray does not, I think, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray does not, I think, get this epithet of the Maeander from any classical source. The Maeander is in fact a muddy river, and indeed the sinuosities of its course are attributed by Pliny to its fertilising mud deposits. The original source of this epithet of a river is probably for English poets Virg. Georg. III. 520 Purior electro campum petit amnis, said of a clear mountain stream; though perhaps Virgil got it from Callimachus, Cer. 29:

''[Greek lines (omitted)]''
Milton, Paradise Lost III. 359:
''And where the River of Bliss, through midst of Heav'n
Rolls o'er Elysian flow'rs her amber stream.''
Cf. also Par. Reg. III. 288, 289:
''There Susa by Choaspes, amber stream.
The drink of none but kings.
''
That Milton follows antiquity in as far as he associates with the word some notion of pureness is clear from both these passages, but especially from the second; for he refers to the notion (Pliny, H. N. 31, c. 3) that the Parthian kings drank only from this river and another (cf. Tibullus, 4. 1. 140 regia lympha Choaspes). Whether he has altogether correctly interpreted antiquity will be questioned by those who follow Servius on Virgil, in explaining 'electrum' of the metal of that name. The word is Greek, and there is the same ambiguity in that language as to its meaning. However Milton has a different meaning for 'amber' to Gray's, who has received it from him, but probably uses it of colour, 'yellow,' as 'flavus' was applied to the Tiber, and to the Pactolus. Indeed it might almost seem that he had transferred to the Maeander this epithet of the Pactolus (which flows into the same AEgean), a river so coloured by the sands it carried, that legend affirmed that it ran with gold. Dr Chandler, in his 'Travels' in Greece, 'flirts,' says Walpole, 'at Gray for having converted Maeander's muddy waves into amber, as if amber did not poetically imply the same' (to Mason, April 8, 1776). Not with all poets, as we have seen. Professor Hales (Folia Litteraria p. 232) gives the reason why the Maeander is associated with poetry, 'It was a famous haunt of swans, and the swan was a favourite bird with the Greek and Latin writers - one to whose sweet singing they perpetually allude.' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194/195.

69.4 amber] "Probably derived, as Tovey suggests, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Probably derived, as Tovey suggests, from Virgil's electrum: e.g. non ... / purior electro ... amnis (no stream purer than amber), Georgics iii 521-2. Milton has 'amber stream', Par. Lost iii 359 and Par. Regained iii 288. The Maeander is in fact a muddy river but, as Tovey points out, G[ray]. does not necessarily use the word to connote purity, as Virgil and Milton evidently do."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

Add a note or query to this line

70 In lingering lab'rinths creep, 7 Explanatory, 1 Textual

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

69.1 - 70.4 Or ... creep,] "There are many classical references [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"There are many classical references to the Maeander's tortuous course, but G[ray]. is probably remembering the description of it in Ovid, Metamorphoses viii 162-6, where Daedalus's labyrinth is compared to it. See also Fairfax's Tasso XVI viii."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

70.1 - 71.6 In ... languish,] "Milton suggests ''by slow Meander's [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Milton suggests ''by slow Meander's margent green'' as the residence of the nymph Echo (Comus, v. 232)."

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, 152.

70.1 - 71.6 In ... languish,] "Milton suggests ''by slow Maeander's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Milton suggests ''by slow Maeander's margent green'' as the haunt of the nymph Echo.   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], 195.

70.1 - 71.6 In ... languish,] "1757 has 'Lab'rinth's' and 'Echo's' [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"1757 has 'Lab'rinth's' and 'Echo's' in these lines, as though they were both genitive singular (see G[ray]. to Walpole, 10 Aug. 1757, Corresp ii 513). Only the first error was corrected in 1768."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

70.1-4 In ... creep,] "Virgil, Georgics iii 14-15: tardis [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Virgil, Georgics iii 14-15: tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat / Mincius (where great Mincius wanders in slow windings)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

70.2-3 lingering lab'rinths] "Cf. Ovid, Heroides IX. 55: [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Cf. Ovid, Heroides IX. 55:

''Maeandros, toties qui terris errat in isdem,
Qui lassas in se saepe retorquet aquas.''
And the description in Metamorphoses VIII. 162 sq. rendered by Tasso, Ger. Lib. XVI. 8, who again is rendered by Fairfax:
''As through his channel crook'd Meander glides
With turns and twines, and rolls now to and fro,
Whose streams run forth there to the salt sea sides,
Here back return, and to their spring-ward go.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 195.

Add a note or query to this line

71 How do your tuneful echoes languish, 6 Explanatory, 3 Textual

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

70.1 - 71.6 In ... languish,] "Milton suggests ''by slow Meander's [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Milton suggests ''by slow Meander's margent green'' as the residence of the nymph Echo (Comus, v. 232)."

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, 152.

70.1 - 71.6 In ... languish,] "Milton suggests ''by slow Maeander's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Milton suggests ''by slow Maeander's margent green'' as the haunt of the nymph Echo.   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], 195.

70.1 - 71.6 In ... languish,] "1757 has 'Lab'rinth's' and 'Echo's' [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"1757 has 'Lab'rinth's' and 'Echo's' in these lines, as though they were both genitive singular (see G[ray]. to Walpole, 10 Aug. 1757, Corresp ii 513). Only the first error was corrected in 1768."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

71.1-6 How ... languish,] "Milton, Comus 230-2, describes 'Sweet [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Comus 230-2, describes 'Sweet Echo' as living by 'Slow Meander's margent green'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

71.1 - 76.5 How ... sound:] "Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The lonely mountain o're, / And the resounding shore, / A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

71.5 echoes] "Pembroke and Wharton MSS. Walpole [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Pembroke and Wharton MSS. Walpole printed Echo's, which Gray corrects in a letter to him, August 10, 1757 (Correspondence, Letter 243). The error was repeated in Dodsley's 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], 171.

71.5 echoes] "Echo's O[des, 1757], P[oems, 1768]. [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Echo's O[des, 1757], P[oems, 1768]. Noted by Gray in letter to Walpole, 10 Aug. 1757 (T & W no. 243), but still uncorrected in P[oems, 1768]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 15.

Add a note or query to this line

72 Mute, but to the voice of anguish? 3 Explanatory

66.1 - 72.7 Woods ... anguish?] "With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"With lines 66-72, compare Byron's: -

''The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,
    Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their Sun, is set.'' - Don Juan."

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], 193.

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

71.1 - 76.5 How ... sound:] "Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The lonely mountain o're, / And the resounding shore, / A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

Add a note or query to this line

73 Where each old poetic mountain 6 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

71.1 - 76.5 How ... sound:] "Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The lonely mountain o're, / And the resounding shore, / A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

73.1-5 Where ... mountain] "In the ''Christian Year'' (third [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"In the ''Christian Year'' (third Sunday in Lent) Keble refers to these words in a note to his lines: -

''Fly from the 'old poetic' fields,
Ye Paynim shadows dark!
Immortal Greece, dear land of glorious lays.''
Those who are familiar with Gray's letters will remember the one to West, where he says: - ''In our little journey up to the Grande Chartreuse, I do not remember to have gone ten paces without an exclamation that there was no restraining; not a precipice, not a torrent, not a cliff, but is pregnant with religion and poetry.'' - November 16, 1739."

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], 193.

73.1-5 Where ... mountain] "Adopted, as Bradshaw notes, by [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Adopted, as Bradshaw notes, by Keble, Christian Year, 3rd Sunday in Lent:

''Fly from the 'old poetic' fields
Ye paynim shadows dark!''"

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 196.

73.1-5 Where ... mountain] " 'In our little journey [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" 'In our little journey up to the Grande Chartreuse, I do not remember to have gone ten paces without an exclamation that there was no restraining: not a precipice, not a torrent, not a cliff, but is pregnant with religion and poetry.' Gray to West (Nov. 16 N. S. 1739). This thought never left his mind: it finds its first expression in verse in the Latin ode he inscribed in the album of this same Grande Chartreuse on his homeward journey (1741) 'O Tu severi Relligio loci':

''O thou! the Spirit mid these scenes abiding,
    Whate'er the name by which thy power be known,
Surely no mean divinity presiding
    These native streams, these ancient forests own;
And here on pathless rock or mountain height,
    Amid the torrent's ever-echoing roar,
The headlong cliff, the wood's eternal night,
    We feel the Godhead's awful presence more
Than if resplendent 'neath the cedar beam,
    By Phidias wrought his golden image rose,'' &c.
        (Tr. by R. E. E. Warburton. See Elegy ad fin.)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 195/196.

73.1-5 Where ... mountain] "'Like that poetic mountain to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'Like that poetic mountain to be hight', G. West, Education (1751) I xvi 6."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

Add a note or query to this line

74 Inspiration breathed around: 2 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

71.1 - 76.5 How ... sound:] "Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The lonely mountain o're, / And the resounding shore, / A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

Add a note or query to this line

75 Every shade and hallowed fountain 3 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

71.1 - 76.5 How ... sound:] "Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The lonely mountain o're, / And the resounding shore, / A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

75.1-5 Every ... fountain] "Virgil, Eclogues i 51-2: hic [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Virgil, Eclogues i 51-2: hic inter flumina nota / et fontis sacros frigus captabis opacum (Here, amid familiar streams and sacred springs, you shall court the cooling shade)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

Add a note or query to this line

76 Murmured deep a solemn sound: 2 Explanatory, 6 Textual

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

71.1 - 76.5 How ... sound:] "Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Nativity Ode 181-3: 'The lonely mountain o're, / And the resounding shore, / A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

76.1-5 Murmured ... sound:] "''Murmur'd a celestial sound.'' - [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Murmur'd a celestial sound.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 34.

76.1-5 Murmured ... sound:] "Murmured a celestial sound. [Pembroke] [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Murmured a celestial sound. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 196.

76.1-5 Murmured ... sound:] "Murmur'd a celestial sound.   [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Murmur'd a celestial sound.   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 196.

76.1-5 Murmured ... sound:] "Murmur'd a celestial sound Pembroke [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Murmur'd a celestial sound Pembroke MS., with the later reading in the margin."

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], 171.

76.2-5 deep ... sound:] "a celestial sound: with present [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"a celestial sound: with present reading in margin, both underlined, 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, 15.

76.2-4 deep ... solemn] "a celestial   Commonplace Book, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"a celestial   Commonplace Book, with present reading in margin."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

Add a note or query to this line

77 Till the sad Nine in Greece's evil hour 4 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

77.2-4 the ... Nine] "the Muses." J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"the Muses."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

77.2-4 the ... Nine] "The Muses." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The Muses."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

77.2-4 the ... Nine] "the Muses." J. Reeves, 1973.

"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, 114.

Add a note or query to this line

78 Left their Parnassus for the Latian plains. 6 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

78.3 Parnassus] "The mountain near Delphi associated [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"The mountain near Delphi associated with the worship of the Muses."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

78.3 Parnassus] "home of the Muses." J. Reeves, 1973.

"home of 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, 114.

78.6-7 Latian plains.] "Italy." J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Italy."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

78.6 Latian] "Roman." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Roman."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 171.

78.6 Latian] "ancient Roman." J. Reeves, 1973.

"ancient Roman."

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, 114.

Add a note or query to this line

79 Alike they scorn the pomp of tyrant-power, 1 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

Add a note or query to this line

80 And coward Vice that revels in her chains. 3 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

80.1-8 And ... chains.] "Cf. Ode for Music, l. [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Cf. Ode for Music, l. 6."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 196.

80.1-8 And ... chains.] "Cp. Ode for Music 6 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Ode for Music 6 (p. 628)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line

81 When Latium had her lofty spirit lost, 1 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

Add a note or query to this line

82 They sought, oh Albion! next thy sea-encircled coast. 3 Explanatory

66.1 - 82.8 Woods ... coast.] "The classic names in this [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The classic names in this stanza are not inserted at random. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi is mentioned first, as the shrine of the God of Poesy. It was also in a sense the focus of a poetry of the severest and most religious type: that of Hesiod for example and Pindar. Thence we pass to the islands of the Aegean to Delos, the mythic birthplace of Apollo where Hymns were yearly sung in his honour, to Lesbos (Sappho and Aleaeus), Ceos (Simonides) etc.; the Ilissus again, represents for us Athens, as the scene in which dramatic poetry reached its perfection (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides); the Maeander recalls the poetry of Asia Minor, from the Ionian Coast of which the Iliad and Odyssey, according to the general belief both of ancient and modern times, first came to Greece proper."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 194.

82.1-8 They ... coast.] "Gray means that poetry flourishes [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray means that poetry flourishes best in eras of national vigor and political independence; when Greece was conquered, the Muses went to Rome; after the downfall of the Roman empire, they went to Albion, i.e., England."

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, 152.

82.1-8 They ... coast.] "J. Warton, Ode to Liberty [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"J. Warton, Ode to Liberty 60, refers to Britain's 'sea-encircled land'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line


III. 1.

83 Far from the sun and summer-gale, 1 Explanatory

83.1-6 Far ... summer-gale,] "In the more northern clime [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"In the more northern clime of England - far from sunny Italy."

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], 193.

Add a note or query to this line

84 In thy green lap was Nature's darling laid, 7 Explanatory

84.1 - 88.7 In ... smiled.] "J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: 'What are the lays of artful Addison, / Coldly correct, to Shakespeare's warblings wild? / Whom on the winding Avon's willowed banks / Fair Fancy found, and bore the smiling babe / To a close cavern ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

84.3-4 green lap] "Statius, Thebais IV. 786: ''At [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Statius, Thebais IV. 786:

''At puer in gremio vernae telluris,'' &c.
Milton, Song on May Morning, l. 4:
''The flowery May, who from her green lap throws
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.'' 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], 196.

84.6-7 Nature's darling] "In the two centuries that [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"In the two centuries that followed Shakspere, he was often spoken of as the child of Nature - in contrast to his more learned contemporaries, who drew their inspiration from the classics. The well-known passage in L'Allegro was chiefly responsible for this."

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, 152.

84.6-7 Nature's darling] "Mitford quotes from Cleveland: - [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mitford quotes from Cleveland: -

''Here lies, within this stony shade,
Nature's darling, whom she made
Her fairest model, her brief story,
In him heaping all her glory.''"

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], 193/194.

84.6-7 Nature's darling] "Knowledge of Greek and Latin [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Knowledge of Greek and Latin being the recognized learning in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and Shakespeare having little of it, he is often spoken of as deriving his knowledge from Nature; see in particular Ben Jonson's lines ''To the Memory of Shakespeare:'' -

''He was not of an age but for all time! ...
Nature herself was proud of his designs. ...
The merry Greek ... now not please, ...
As they were not of Nature's family,
Yet must I not give Nature all; thy Art,'' etc.
And in Milton (''[L]'Allegro,'' 132-134): -
''If Jonson's learned sock be on,
Or sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child,
Warble his native wood notes wild.''"

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], 194.

84.6-7 Nature's darling] "Mitford quotes (for the expression [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Mitford quotes (for the expression only) Cleveland [1613-1658]:

''Here lies within this stony shade
Nature's darling; whom she made
Her fairest model, her brief story,
In him heaping all her glory.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 196.

84.6-7 Nature's darling] "Mitford notes the phrase in [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mitford notes the phrase in Cleveland. Cf. Statius, Thebaid iv 786: At puer in gremio vernae telluris (But the child, lying in the lap of the vernal earth); 'The fresh green lap of fair King Richard's land', Richard II III iii 47, and 'the green lap of the new come spring', ibid V ii 47; 'her green lap', Milton, Sonnet on May Morning 3, and J. Warton, Ode to Fancy 80. See also Elegy 117 (p. 138)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line

85 What time, where lucid Avon strayed, 4 Explanatory

84.1 - 88.7 In ... smiled.] "J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: 'What are the lays of artful Addison, / Coldly correct, to Shakespeare's warblings wild? / Whom on the winding Avon's willowed banks / Fair Fancy found, and bore the smiling babe / To a close cavern ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

85.1-2 What time,] "Latin quo tempore." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Latin quo tempore."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

85.1-6 What ... strayed,] "The lines refer to Shakespeare." J. Reeves, 1973.

"The lines refer to Shakespeare."

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, 114.

85.4 lucid] "Also a Latinism: e.g. Seneca, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Also a Latinism: e.g. Seneca, Thyestes 129-30: lucidus / Alpheos."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line

86 To him the mighty Mother did unveil 4 Explanatory

84.1 - 88.7 In ... smiled.] "J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: 'What are the lays of artful Addison, / Coldly correct, to Shakespeare's warblings wild? / Whom on the winding Avon's willowed banks / Fair Fancy found, and bore the smiling babe / To a close cavern ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

86.3-5 the ... Mother] "This may refer either to [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"This may refer either to Nature or to Poetry."

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, 152.

86.3-5 the ... Mother] "Nature." J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"Nature."

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

86.3-5 the ... Mother] "Cybele, the goddess of the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cybele, the goddess of the powers of nature, known as magna mater. Cp. Dryden, Ovid's Metamorphoses i 528: 'This Earth our Mighty Mother is'; and Georgics i 465-6: 'On the green Turf thy careless Limbs display, / And celebrate the mighty Mother's day'. There is an odd echo in G[ray].'s lines of Dunciad i 1: 'The Mighty Mother and her Son' and i 262: 'A veil of fogs dilates her awful face'. A writer in the Gentleman's Mag. in 1781 (li 569) regretted that the reader was so 'forcibly reminded' of Pope, and Gilbert Wakefield remarked in 1786 that 'Wicked memory brings into the mind the Queen of the Dunces, and destroys all the pleasure of the description by an unlucky contrast' (Poems of Mr Gray p. 88)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line

87 Her awful face: the dauntless child 4 Explanatory

84.1 - 88.7 In ... smiled.] "J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: 'What are the lays of artful Addison, / Coldly correct, to Shakespeare's warblings wild? / Whom on the winding Avon's willowed banks / Fair Fancy found, and bore the smiling babe / To a close cavern ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

87.6 - 88.2 child ... forth] "Mitford quotes from Sandys' Ovid, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mitford quotes from Sandys' Ovid, ''Metam.'' iv. 515: - ''-- the child / Stretched forth its little arms, and on him smiled.''"

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], 194.

87.6 - 88.7 child ... smiled.] "The two lines in Gray, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The two lines in Gray, says Mitford, are the same as two in Sandys' Ovid (Metam. IV. 515):

           ''the child
Stretch'd forth its little arms, and on him smil'd.''
The expression is the same, but the context is quite different; the babe in Ovid stretches forth its arms to its frenzied father who dashes it to pieces. The commonplaces of classic poetry which influenced Gray here are Horace III. 4. 20, (the infant Horace sleeping, covered with bay and myrtle by the doves, in a wild scene, 'non sine dis animosus infans, 'a dauntless child by the grace of heaven') and 'Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem,' Virgil, Ecl. IV. 62 (said to the infant son of Pollio of whom heroic things were expected)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 196.

87.6 - 88.7 child ... smiled.] "Virgil, Eclogues iv 60: incipe, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Virgil, Eclogues iv 60: incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem (Begin, baby boy, to know thy mother with a smile); Horace, Odes III iv 20: non sine dis animosus infans (with the gods' help a fearless child); Catullus, lxi 213-5: matris e gremio suae / porrigens teneras manus / dulce rideat (stretching his baby hands from his mother's lap, smile a sweet smile); Dunciad iv 284: 'A dauntless infant' (imitating Horace above)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line

88 Stretched forth his little arms and smiled. 4 Explanatory

84.1 - 88.7 In ... smiled.] "J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"J. Warton, The Enthusiast 168-72: 'What are the lays of artful Addison, / Coldly correct, to Shakespeare's warblings wild? / Whom on the winding Avon's willowed banks / Fair Fancy found, and bore the smiling babe / To a close cavern ...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

87.6 - 88.2 child ... forth] "Mitford quotes from Sandys' Ovid, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Mitford quotes from Sandys' Ovid, ''Metam.'' iv. 515: - ''-- the child / Stretched forth its little arms, and on him smiled.''"

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], 194.

87.6 - 88.7 child ... smiled.] "The two lines in Gray, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The two lines in Gray, says Mitford, are the same as two in Sandys' Ovid (Metam. IV. 515):

           ''the child
Stretch'd forth its little arms, and on him smil'd.''
The expression is the same, but the context is quite different; the babe in Ovid stretches forth its arms to its frenzied father who dashes it to pieces. The commonplaces of classic poetry which influenced Gray here are Horace III. 4. 20, (the infant Horace sleeping, covered with bay and myrtle by the doves, in a wild scene, 'non sine dis animosus infans, 'a dauntless child by the grace of heaven') and 'Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem,' Virgil, Ecl. IV. 62 (said to the infant son of Pollio of whom heroic things were expected)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 196.

87.6 - 88.7 child ... smiled.] "Virgil, Eclogues iv 60: incipe, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Virgil, Eclogues iv 60: incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem (Begin, baby boy, to know thy mother with a smile); Horace, Odes III iv 20: non sine dis animosus infans (with the gods' help a fearless child); Catullus, lxi 213-5: matris e gremio suae / porrigens teneras manus / dulce rideat (stretching his baby hands from his mother's lap, smile a sweet smile); Dunciad iv 284: 'A dauntless infant' (imitating Horace above)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 172.

Add a note or query to this line

89 'This pencil take,' (she said) 'whose colours clear 4 Explanatory, 1 Textual

89.1 - 94.8 'This ... tears.'] "Preceded by double and single [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Preceded by double and single quotation marks respectively in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

89.2 pencil] "Paint brush." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Paint brush."

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, 153.

89.2 pencil] "Paint-brush; an old use of [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Paint-brush; an old use of the word, from Lat. pensillum, a brush; he has it again in the ''Stanzas to Mr. Bentley,'' 4."

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], 194.

89.2 pencil] "The pencil is properly the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The pencil is properly the painter's brush, and the sense of 'an instrument for writing without ink' is later. Cf. to Bentley, l. 4."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 197.

89.2 - 90.5 pencil ... year:] "See Stanzas to Bentley 4 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Stanzas to Bentley 4 (p. 154); and cp. Pervigilium Veneris 13: ipsa gemmis purpurantem pingit annum floridis (she herself paints the crimsoning year with flowery jewels), and G[ray].'s Latin Verses at Eton 9-10 (p. 290); Par. Lost v 24: 'How Nature paints her colours'; Dryden, Palamon and Arcite ii 56: 'And Nature's ready Pencil paints the Flow'rs'; Thomson, To the Memory of Lord Talbot 204: 'The silent treasures of the vernal year'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

90 Richly paint the vernal year: 2 Explanatory, 1 Textual

89.1 - 94.8 'This ... tears.'] "Preceded by double and single [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Preceded by double and single quotation marks respectively in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

89.2 - 90.5 pencil ... year:] "See Stanzas to Bentley 4 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See Stanzas to Bentley 4 (p. 154); and cp. Pervigilium Veneris 13: ipsa gemmis purpurantem pingit annum floridis (she herself paints the crimsoning year with flowery jewels), and G[ray].'s Latin Verses at Eton 9-10 (p. 290); Par. Lost v 24: 'How Nature paints her colours'; Dryden, Palamon and Arcite ii 56: 'And Nature's ready Pencil paints the Flow'rs'; Thomson, To the Memory of Lord Talbot 204: 'The silent treasures of the vernal year'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

90.1-5 Richly ... year:] "''How nature paints her colours.'' [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"''How nature paints her colours.'' Milton, Par. Lost V. 24.   Luke."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 197.

Add a note or query to this line

91 Thine too these golden keys, immortal boy! 4 Explanatory, 1 Textual

89.1 - 94.8 'This ... tears.'] "Preceded by double and single [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Preceded by double and single quotation marks respectively in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

91.1 - 94.8 Thine ... tears.'] "See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 Sept. 1757 (Corresp ii 526): 'Dr. Akenside criticises opening a source with a key.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

91.4-5 golden keys,] "Cf. Milton: - ''Yet some [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Cf. Milton: -

''Yet some there be, that by due steps aspire
To lay their just hands on that golden key
That opes the palace of eternity.'' - Comus, 12-14."

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], 194.

91.4-5 golden keys,] "Mitford compares from Young's Resignation:''Nature, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Mitford compares from Young's Resignation:

''Nature, which favours to the few
    All art beyond, imparts
To him presented at his birth
    The key of human hearts.''
Milton (Comus l. 13 cited by Mitford), has 'golden key' but with a quite different context. Gray writes to Wharton Sep. 7, 1757, 'Dr Akenside criticizes opening a source with a key.' Where Mitford notes 'But Akenside in his Ode on Lyric Poetry, ''While I so late unlock thy purer springs.'' In Pleasures of Imagination Book I., ''I unlock the springs of ancient wisdom.'' Akenside's objection is to the 'key.' But even on the terrain of the minute criticism of the time he is scarcely right. It is possible both to lock and unlock waters with a key."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 197.

91.4-5 golden keys,] "Milton, Comus 13-14: 'that Golden [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Milton, Comus 13-14: 'that Golden Key / That ope's the Palace of Eternity'. G[ray]. has 'ope' in l. 94."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

92 This can unlock the gates of joy; 1 Explanatory, 1 Textual

89.1 - 94.8 'This ... tears.'] "Preceded by double and single [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Preceded by double and single quotation marks respectively in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

91.1 - 94.8 Thine ... tears.'] "See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 Sept. 1757 (Corresp ii 526): 'Dr. Akenside criticises opening a source with a key.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

93 Of horror that, and thrilling fears, 2 Explanatory, 7 Textual

89.1 - 94.8 'This ... tears.'] "Preceded by double and single [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Preceded by double and single quotation marks respectively in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

91.1 - 94.8 Thine ... tears.'] "See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 Sept. 1757 (Corresp ii 526): 'Dr. Akenside criticises opening a source with a key.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

93.2 horror] "Terror. - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"Terror. - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 35.

93.2 horror] "Terror in the margin of [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Terror in the margin of the Pembroke MS."

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], 196.

93.2 horror] "Terror   MS." D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Terror   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 197.

93.2 horror] "Terror Wharton MS. and in [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Terror Wharton MS. and in the margin of 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], 171.

93.2 horror] "Terror [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Terror [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754] and, underlined, in margin of 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, 16.

93.2 horror] "Terror   margin of Commonplace [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Terror   margin of Commonplace Book, Wharton."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

93.5-6 thrilling fears,] "Cf. Romeo and Juliet IV [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cf. Romeo and Juliet IV iii 15: 'I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

94 Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.' 3 Explanatory, 1 Textual

89.1 - 94.8 'This ... tears.'] "Preceded by double and single [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Preceded by double and single quotation marks respectively in C[ommonplace] B[ook] and [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

91.1 - 94.8 Thine ... tears.'] "See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See G[ray]. to Wharton, 7 Sept. 1757 (Corresp ii 526): 'Dr. Akenside criticises opening a source with a key.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

94.1-8 Or ... tears.'] "[Greek words (omitted)] Soph. Ant. [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"[Greek words (omitted)] Soph. Ant. 803. 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], 197.

94.1-8 Or ... tears.'] "See G[ray].'s O lacrimarum fons [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See G[ray].'s O lacrimarum fons (p. 380)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line


III. 2.

95 Nor second he, that rode sublime 6 Explanatory

95.1-6 Nor ... sublime] "It is an interesting fact [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"It is an interesting fact that Gray puts Milton in the second place in English poetry, and that in this stanza he distinctly puts Dryden below the Puritan poet. In Gray's earlier years, Dryden was his idol and model; but at this time, in common with all the other Romanticists, he gave himself up to the worship of of Milton. It is interesting, however, to observe that Gray never forgot his debt to Dryden. In a letter to Beattie, 2 Oct. 1[7]65 (Works, III, 222) he said: ''Remember Dryden, and be blind to all his faults.'' Cf. Mason's note, from which it appears that Gray told Beattie ''that if there was any Excellence in his own numbers he had learned it wholly from that great poet. And pressed him with great earnestness to study him, as his choice of words and versification were singularly happy and harmonious.''"

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, 153.

95.1 - 97.7 Nor ... spy.] "This alludes to Milton's own [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This alludes to Milton's own picture of himself (Par. Lost VII. 12 sq.):

    ''Up led by thee
Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air.''
Earlier he had written Elegy 5. 15 sq. (anno aetatis 20):
''Iam mihi mens liquidi raptatur in ardua caeli
    Perque vagas nubes corpore liber eo;
Perque umbras, perque antra feror, penetralia vatum
    Et mihi fana patent inferiora Deum.
Intuiturque [sic] animus toto quid agatur Olympo
    Nec fugiunt oculos Tartara caeca meos;
Quid tam grande sonat distento spiritus ore?
    Quid parit haec rabies, quid sacer iste furor?''
[''I mount, and undepressed by cumbrous clay
Through cloudy regions win my easy way;
Rapt through poetic shadowy haunts I fly;
The shrines all open to my dauntless eye;
My spirit searches all the realms of light
And no Tartarean gulfs elude my sight
But this ecstatic trance - this glorious storm
Of inspiration - what will it perform?''
            Cowper.] From 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], 197/198.

95.1 - 100.6 Nor ... gaze,] "G[ray]. may be alluding to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. may be alluding to Milton's Invocation to Urania, Par. Lost vii 12-14: 'Up led by thee / Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presum'd, / An Earthlic Guest, and drawn Empyreal Aire.' See also his Lines at a Vacation Exercise 33 ff. But there are several characterizations of Milton in earlier poetry which resemble G.'s: e.g. Addison, An Account of the Greatest English Poets 56 ff.; Samuel Cobb, Of Poetry in Poems on Several Occasions (1707) 195; and Isaac Watts, The Adventurous Muse st. iv: 'There Milton dwells: the mortal sung / Themes not presumed by mortal tongue / ... / Behold his Muse sent out t'explore / The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, / And realms of night unknown before. / She traced a glorious path unknown'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

95.1-6 Nor ... sublime] "The lines refer to Milton." J. Reeves, 1973.

"The lines refer to Milton."

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, 114.

95.1 - 96.5 Nor ... Ecstasy,] "Milton." J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"Milton."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 78.

95.6 sublime] "G[ray]. combines with the eighteenth-century [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. combines with the eighteenth-century meaning of 'lofty' in style or theme, Milton's usual meaning 'aloft': cp. Par. Lost vi 771: 'Hee on the wings of Cherub rode sublime.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

96 Upon the seraph-wings of Ecstasy, 4 Explanatory

95.1 - 97.7 Nor ... spy.] "This alludes to Milton's own [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This alludes to Milton's own picture of himself (Par. Lost VII. 12 sq.):

    ''Up led by thee
Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air.''
Earlier he had written Elegy 5. 15 sq. (anno aetatis 20):
''Iam mihi mens liquidi raptatur in ardua caeli
    Perque vagas nubes corpore liber eo;
Perque umbras, perque antra feror, penetralia vatum
    Et mihi fana patent inferiora Deum.
Intuiturque [sic] animus toto quid agatur Olympo
    Nec fugiunt oculos Tartara caeca meos;
Quid tam grande sonat distento spiritus ore?
    Quid parit haec rabies, quid sacer iste furor?''
[''I mount, and undepressed by cumbrous clay
Through cloudy regions win my easy way;
Rapt through poetic shadowy haunts I fly;
The shrines all open to my dauntless eye;
My spirit searches all the realms of light
And no Tartarean gulfs elude my sight
But this ecstatic trance - this glorious storm
Of inspiration - what will it perform?''
            Cowper.] From 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], 197/198.

95.1 - 100.6 Nor ... gaze,] "G[ray]. may be alluding to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. may be alluding to Milton's Invocation to Urania, Par. Lost vii 12-14: 'Up led by thee / Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presum'd, / An Earthlic Guest, and drawn Empyreal Aire.' See also his Lines at a Vacation Exercise 33 ff. But there are several characterizations of Milton in earlier poetry which resemble G.'s: e.g. Addison, An Account of the Greatest English Poets 56 ff.; Samuel Cobb, Of Poetry in Poems on Several Occasions (1707) 195; and Isaac Watts, The Adventurous Muse st. iv: 'There Milton dwells: the mortal sung / Themes not presumed by mortal tongue / ... / Behold his Muse sent out t'explore / The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, / And realms of night unknown before. / She traced a glorious path unknown'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

95.1 - 96.5 Nor ... Ecstasy,] "Milton." J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"Milton."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 78.

96.5 Ecstasy,] "Cowley's The Ecstasy describes a [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cowley's The Ecstasy describes a flight of the Muse similar to that G[ray]. attributes to Milton."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

97 The secrets of the abyss to spy. 3 Explanatory

95.1 - 97.7 Nor ... spy.] "This alludes to Milton's own [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This alludes to Milton's own picture of himself (Par. Lost VII. 12 sq.):

    ''Up led by thee
Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air.''
Earlier he had written Elegy 5. 15 sq. (anno aetatis 20):
''Iam mihi mens liquidi raptatur in ardua caeli
    Perque vagas nubes corpore liber eo;
Perque umbras, perque antra feror, penetralia vatum
    Et mihi fana patent inferiora Deum.
Intuiturque [sic] animus toto quid agatur Olympo
    Nec fugiunt oculos Tartara caeca meos;
Quid tam grande sonat distento spiritus ore?
    Quid parit haec rabies, quid sacer iste furor?''
[''I mount, and undepressed by cumbrous clay
Through cloudy regions win my easy way;
Rapt through poetic shadowy haunts I fly;
The shrines all open to my dauntless eye;
My spirit searches all the realms of light
And no Tartarean gulfs elude my sight
But this ecstatic trance - this glorious storm
Of inspiration - what will it perform?''
            Cowper.] From 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], 197/198.

95.1 - 100.6 Nor ... gaze,] "G[ray]. may be alluding to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. may be alluding to Milton's Invocation to Urania, Par. Lost vii 12-14: 'Up led by thee / Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presum'd, / An Earthlic Guest, and drawn Empyreal Aire.' See also his Lines at a Vacation Exercise 33 ff. But there are several characterizations of Milton in earlier poetry which resemble G.'s: e.g. Addison, An Account of the Greatest English Poets 56 ff.; Samuel Cobb, Of Poetry in Poems on Several Occasions (1707) 195; and Isaac Watts, The Adventurous Muse st. iv: 'There Milton dwells: the mortal sung / Themes not presumed by mortal tongue / ... / Behold his Muse sent out t'explore / The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, / And realms of night unknown before. / She traced a glorious path unknown'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

97.1-7 The ... spy.] "'To wing the desolate Abyss, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'To wing the desolate Abyss, and spie / This new created World', Par. Lost iv 936; 'To trace the secrets of the dark abyss', Thomson, Autumn 778."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

Add a note or query to this line

98 He passed the flaming bounds of place and time: 4 Explanatory

95.1 - 100.6 Nor ... gaze,] "G[ray]. may be alluding to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. may be alluding to Milton's Invocation to Urania, Par. Lost vii 12-14: 'Up led by thee / Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presum'd, / An Earthlic Guest, and drawn Empyreal Aire.' See also his Lines at a Vacation Exercise 33 ff. But there are several characterizations of Milton in earlier poetry which resemble G.'s: e.g. Addison, An Account of the Greatest English Poets 56 ff.; Samuel Cobb, Of Poetry in Poems on Several Occasions (1707) 195; and Isaac Watts, The Adventurous Muse st. iv: 'There Milton dwells: the mortal sung / Themes not presumed by mortal tongue / ... / Behold his Muse sent out t'explore / The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, / And realms of night unknown before. / She traced a glorious path unknown'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

98.1-9 He ... time:] "Lucretius, i, 73, 74." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Lucretius, i, 73, 74."

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, 153.

98.1-9 He ... time:] "Lucret. [I. 74]. So notes [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Lucret. [I. 74]. So notes Gray, borrowing for the religious Milton the praise of the enemy of religion Epicurus, whom 'neither story of gods nor thunderbolts nor heaven with threatening roar could quell, but only stirred up the more the eager courage of his soul, filling him with desire to be the first to burst the fast bars of nature's portals. Therefore the living force of his soul gained the day; on he passed far beyond the flaming walls of the world and traversed throughout in mind and spirit the immeasurable universe; whence he returns a conqueror' &c. (Munro's version of Lucret. ad loc.) Munro explains the expression as 'the fiery orb of ether that forms the outer circuit of the world': and refers to Lucr. V. 457-470 for a description of it. He points out also that Milton has imitated Lucretius in his account of 'the etherial quintessence of heaven' (Par. Lost III. 716) as flying upward from earth, part turning to stars, while 'the rest in circuit walls this Universe' (l. 721)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 198.

98.1-9 He ... time:] "G[ray]. gave as his source [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. gave as his source Lucretius i 73. See also its context, esp. i 72-4: ergo vivida vis animi pervicit, et extra / processit longe flammantia moenia mundi / atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque (Therefore the lively power of his mind prevailed, and forth he marched far beyond the flaming walls of the heavens, as he traversed the immeasurable universe in thought and imagination)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 174.

Add a note or query to this line

99 The living throne, the sapphire-blaze, 4 Explanatory

95.1 - 100.6 Nor ... gaze,] "G[ray]. may be alluding to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. may be alluding to Milton's Invocation to Urania, Par. Lost vii 12-14: 'Up led by thee / Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presum'd, / An Earthlic Guest, and drawn Empyreal Aire.' See also his Lines at a Vacation Exercise 33 ff. But there are several characterizations of Milton in earlier poetry which resemble G.'s: e.g. Addison, An Account of the Greatest English Poets 56 ff.; Samuel Cobb, Of Poetry in Poems on Several Occasions (1707) 195; and Isaac Watts, The Adventurous Muse st. iv: 'There Milton dwells: the mortal sung / Themes not presumed by mortal tongue / ... / Behold his Muse sent out t'explore / The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, / And realms of night unknown before. / She traced a glorious path unknown'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

99.1-5 The ... sapphire-blaze,] "The sentence from Ezekiel, i, [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The sentence from Ezekiel, i, 28, reads more exactly: ''This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.''"

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, 153.

99.1-5 The ... sapphire-blaze,] "Cf. ''[That undisturbed song of [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Cf.

''[That undisturbed song of pure concent]
Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne.''
            Milton, At a Solemn Music, l. 7.
and Par. Lost VI. 738;
''Over their heads a crystal firmament,
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure
Amber, and colours of the showery arch.''
            Cf. Ib. 772. 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], 198.

99.1-5 The ... sapphire-blaze,] "G[ray].'s note quotes Ezekiel i [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray].'s note quotes Ezekiel i 20, 26, 28: 'For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels - And above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a saphire-stone. - This was the appearance of the glory of the Lord.' Milton himself imitated this passage in Par. Lost vi 750-9. For the sapphire throne see also At a Solemn Music 7; Par. Lost vi 772; and the 'fiery-wheeled throne', Il Penseroso 53."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 174.

Add a note or query to this line

100 Where angels tremble while they gaze, 2 Explanatory

95.1 - 100.6 Nor ... gaze,] "G[ray]. may be alluding to [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. may be alluding to Milton's Invocation to Urania, Par. Lost vii 12-14: 'Up led by thee / Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presum'd, / An Earthlic Guest, and drawn Empyreal Aire.' See also his Lines at a Vacation Exercise 33 ff. But there are several characterizations of Milton in earlier poetry which resemble G.'s: e.g. Addison, An Account of the Greatest English Poets 56 ff.; Samuel Cobb, Of Poetry in Poems on Several Occasions (1707) 195; and Isaac Watts, The Adventurous Muse st. iv: 'There Milton dwells: the mortal sung / Themes not presumed by mortal tongue / ... / Behold his Muse sent out t'explore / The unapparent deep where waves of chaos roar, / And realms of night unknown before. / She traced a glorious path unknown'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 173.

100.1 - 101.8 Where ... light,] " ''Dark with excessive bright [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" ''Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear,
Yet dazzle Heaven, that brightest Seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.''
    Par. Lost, III. 380 sq."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 198.

Add a note or query to this line

101 He saw; but blasted with excess of light, 2 Explanatory

100.1 - 101.8 Where ... light,] " ''Dark with excessive bright [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

" ''Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear,
Yet dazzle Heaven, that brightest Seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.''
    Par. Lost, III. 380 sq."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 198.

101.6-8 excess ... light,] "Cp. Par. Lost iii 380: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Par. Lost iii 380: 'Dark with excessive bright'; and Pope, Odyssey xix 52: 'Celestials, mantled in excess of light'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 174.

Add a note or query to this line

102 Closed his eyes in endless night. 6 Explanatory

102.1-6 Closed ... night.] "Homer, Odyssey, O, 64." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Homer, Odyssey, O, 64."

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, 153.

102.1-3 Closed ... eyes] "Referring to Milton's blindness. If [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Referring to Milton's blindness. If Gray's explanation is not scientific, it is certainly poetical. But Dr. Johnson has succeeded in accounting prosaically for this figure. ''His account of Milton's blindness, if we suppose it caused by study in the formation of his poem, a supposition surely allowable, is poetically true, and happily imagined.'' (Life of Gray.) Unhappily for this suggestion, Milton's blindness had no such cause."

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, 153.

102.1-6 Closed ... night.] "''in aeternam clauduntur lumina noctem'' [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"''in aeternam clauduntur lumina noctem'' (of Orodes). Verg. Aen. X. 746.   Wakefield. ''And closed her lids, at last in endless night.'' Dryden, as quoted by Mitford [footnote: With no further reference.]."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 199.

102.1-6 Closed ... night.] "This is said of Demodocus, [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This is said of Demodocus, the minstrel in the halls of Alcinous:

        ''Him the Muse
Loved greatly, but to him both good and ill
Had granted: for of sight she robbed his eyes
But with sweet song she blessed him.''
            (Lord Carnarvon.)
There was great variety of choice in classic legend or literature for a comparison with Milton: he associates himself (Par. Lost III. 35, 36) with
''Blind Thamyris, and blind Maeonides,
And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old.''
Johnson says ''Gray's account of Milton's blindness, if we suppose it caused by study in the formation of his poem, a supposition surely allowable, is poetically true, and happily imagined.'' Mason, on the other hand, tells us that ''this has been condemned as a false thought; and more worthy of an Italian poet than Mr Gray.'' Count Algarotti, he says, admired it; but Algarotti was an Italian. He would admire it himself, he adds, ''had it not the peculiar misfortune to encounter a fact too well known. Milton himself has told us... in his sonnet to Cyriack Skinner, that he lost his eye-sight
        'overply'd
In Liberty's Defence, his noble task
Whereof all Europe rings from side to side.' ''
He subsequently added a communication from Mr Brand of East Dereham, containing 'a very similar hyperbole' in a commentary on Plato's Phaedo, written by Hermias (a Christian philosopher of the 2nd century), and quoted by Bayle - the legend that ''Homer keeping some sheep near the tomb of Achilles, obtained, by his offerings and supplications, a sight of that Hero; who appeared to him surrounded by so much glory that Homer could not bear the splendour of it, and was blinded by the sight.'' Mason rejoices that this disproves the notion that Gray's was a modern concetto in the Italian manner, but is convinced that 'he had never seen, or at least attended to this Greek fragment.' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 199.

102.1-6 Closed ... night.] "'Nothing was ever more violently [...]" J. Crofts, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].

"'Nothing was ever more violently distorted than this material fact of Milton's blindness having been occasioned by his intemperate studies and late hours during his prosecution of the defence against Salmasius - applied to the dazzling effects of too much mental vision. His corporal sight was blasted with corporal occupation; his inward sight was not impaired but rather strengthened by his task. If his course of studies had turned his brain, there would have been some fitness in the expression.' (Charles Lamb in The London Magazine, December 1822.) A prosaic criticism, unworthy of Lamb. Compare Alaric Watts on Wordsworth's 'The Daffodils': 'the single idea is that of a bed of daffodils ''dancing'' in the breeze. As however the root of the flower remains without motion, it cannot be said to ''dance''. The image is a false one.'"

Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926], 161.

102.1-6 Closed ... night.] "In 1768 G[ray]. gives as [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In 1768 G[ray]. gives as his source Homer, Odyssey viii 64 (of Demodocus, a ministrel of Alcinous): [Greek line omitted] ([the Muse] took away his sight, but she gave him [the power of] sweet song). Cp. also Virgil, Aeneid x 746: in aeternam clauduntur lumina noctem (his eyes closed in everlasting night); and Dryden, Aeneid iv 992: 'And clos'd her Lids at last, in endless Night'. Several writers have compared the account of Homer's blindness in Hermias: having decided to write about Achilles, Homer prayed that he might be allowed to see him. His request was granted but the poet was blinded by the splendour of the hero's armour. Mason denied that G. would have known such an obscure story; but, as a writer in the Monthly Mag. ix (1800) 258, pointed out, it is quoted by Pope, in the 'Essay on Homer' prefixed to his translation of the Iliad. Walpole, in his notes on the Odes, also cites Warburton, Critical and Philosophical Enquiry into the Causes of Prodigies and Miracles (1727) p. 61 n, where Hobbes is said to have 'broke thro' the entangling Darkness, but dazled with the sudden Effusion of too much Light, in a little Time became stark blind'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 174.

Add a note or query to this line

103 Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car, 1 Explanatory

103.3 Dryden's] "See James Beattie, On Poetry [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"See James Beattie, On Poetry and Music, in Essays (Edinburgh, 1776) p. 360 n: 'One of the greatest poets of this century, the late and much-lamented Mr Gray of Cambridge, modestly declared to me, that if there was in his own numbers any thing that deserved approbation, he had learned it all from Dryden.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 174.

Add a note or query to this line

104 Wide o'er the fields of glory bear 1 Explanatory

104.1-7 Wide ... bear] "Juvenal, i. 19-20; ... decurrere [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Juvenal, i. 19-20; ... decurrere campo, / per quem magnus equos Auruncae flexit alumnus [to traverse the field through which the great son of Arunca drove his horses]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

Add a note or query to this line

105 Two coursers of ethereal race, 6 Explanatory

105.1-5 Two ... race,] "(By 'rhimes' [in his note] [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"(By 'rhimes' [in his note] G[ray]. means Dryden's couplets.)"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

105.1-5 Two ... race,] "Virgil, Aeneid vii 280-1: currum, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Virgil, Aeneid vii 280-1: currum, geminosque iugales / semine ab aetherio, spirantes naribus ignem (a car and two coursers of etherial seed, with nostrils breathing flame). Cp. also Dryden, Aeneid viii 51: 'Undoubted Off-spring of Etherial Race'; xii 175: 'Th'Etherial Coursers bounding from the Sea'; Pope, Iliad xvii 80: 'Achilles' coursers of etherial race'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

105.1-5 Two ... race,] "The two coursers are, I [...]" J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"The two coursers are, I think, Dryden's two major odes, the 'Ode for St. Cecilia's Day' ('Alexander's Feast') and the 'Ode on the Death of Mrs. Anne Killigrew'. Of this line and the lines following, Gray wrote that they were meant 'to express the stately march and sounding energy of Dryden's rhimes'."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 78.

105.2 coursers] "horses; literally, runners. There is [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"horses; literally, runners. There is an allusion to the fabulous winged horse Pegasus, associated with poetic inspiration."

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], 194.

105.4 ethereal] "belonging to the upper air, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"belonging to the upper air, of pure ether. Wakefield quotes from the ''Aeneid,'' vii. 280: - ''Currum, geminosque jugales / Semine ab aethereo, spirantes naribus ignem.''"

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], 194/195.

105.4-5 ethereal race,] "The exact expression is Pope's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The exact expression is Pope's (Il. XI. 80), as Mitford points out, but Gray's original is, perhaps as Wakefield notes,

    ''currum, geminosque jugales
Semine ab aetherio, spirantes naribus ignem.''
Verg. Aen. VII. 280 [a car and two coursers of etherial seed, with nostrils breathing flame]."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 199/200.

Add a note or query to this line

106 With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace. 6 Explanatory

106.1-8 With ... pace.] "Job, xxxix, 19." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Job, xxxix, 19."

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, 153.

106.1-8 With ... pace.] "Cf. Pope, ''Epistles,'' I. ii. [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Cf. Pope, ''Epistles,'' I. ii. 267: -

''Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join
The varying verse, the full resounding line,
The long majestic march, and energy divine.''"

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], 195.

106.1-8 With ... pace.] "This answers by anticipation, Johnson's [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"This answers by anticipation, Johnson's criticism ''the car of Dryden, with his two coursers, has nothing in it peculiar; it is a car in which any other rider may be placed.'' Gray expresses himself concisely; by rhymes he means rhyming lines, and refers principally to the heroic couplet (hence 'two coursers') in the management of which Dryden excelled. Johnson himself quotes, as final, the lines of Pope, which Gray had in mind here:

''Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join
The varying verse, the full resounding line,
The long majestic march, and energy divine.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 200.

106.1-8 With ... pace.] "G[ray]. cites Job xxxix 19: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. cites Job xxxix 19: 'Hast thou cloathed his neck with thunder?' Cp. Pope, Imitations of Horace, Ep. II i 267-9: 'Dryden taught to join / The varying verse, the full resounding line, / The long majestic march, and energy divine.' Cp. also 'long-resounding course', Thomson, Winter 775, and 'long-resounding voice', Hymn on the Seasons 77. G. had facetiously quoted the sentence from Job in a letter to West in July 1740: 'Have you learned to say Ha! ha! and is your neck clothed with thunder?' (Corresp i 173)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

106.7-8 long-resounding pace.] "The comparison in Pope's famous [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The comparison in Pope's famous lines (suggested by Mitford) must occur to every one:

''Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join
The varying verse, the full-resounding line,
The long majestic March, and Energy divine.''
    Im. of Horace, Book ii, Ep. i, vv. 267-69."

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, 153.

106.7-8 long-resounding pace.] "         [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"         ''Eager, on rapid sleds,
Their vigorous youth in bold contention wheel
The long-resounding course.''
            Thomson, Winter 775 [ed. 1742].
And Hymn 77
        ''to the deep organ join
The long-resounding voice.'' (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], 200.

Add a note or query to this line


III. 3.

107 Hark, his hands the lyre explore! 2 Explanatory

107.1-6 Hark, ... explore!] "From Gray's note, infra, we [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"From Gray's note, infra, we may conjecture that he passes here to Dryden in the special character of a lyric poet, after describing him as a master of the heroic couplet."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 200.

107.1-6 Hark, ... explore!] "G[ray]. now turns to Dryden's [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. now turns to Dryden's lyric poetry from his heroic couplets (ll. 105-6). Dryden's irregular odes were particularly admired in the eighteenth century."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

Add a note or query to this line

108 Bright-eyed Fancy hovering o'er 2 Explanatory, 6 Textual

108.1 Bright-eyed] "Full-plumed. - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"Full-plumed. - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 36.

108.1 Bright-eyed] "Full-plumed. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]." J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Full-plumed. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 196.

108.1 Bright-eyed] "Full-plumed   MS." D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Full-plumed   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 200.

108.1 Bright-eyed] "Full-plumed Pembroke and Wharton MSS." A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Full-plumed Pembroke and Wharton MSS."

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], 171.

108.1 Bright-eyed] "Full-plumed C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Full-plumed C[ommonplace] B[ook], [Letter to] Wh[arton, 26 Dec. 1754]."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 16.

108.1 Bright-eyed] "Full-plumed   Commonplace Book, Wharton." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Full-plumed   Commonplace Book, Wharton."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

108.1-4 Bright-eyed ... o'er] "Comus 213-4: 'pure-ey'd Faith, white-handed [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Comus 213-4: 'pure-ey'd Faith, white-handed Hope, / Thou hovering angel'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

108.2 Fancy] "Imagination. The distinction between fancy [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Imagination. The distinction between fancy and imagination drawn by Wordsworth in the Preface to his Lyrical Ballads, ed. 1815, and now usually observed in criticism was not much heeded in the language of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries."

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, 153.

Add a note or query to this line

109 Scatters from her pictured urn 1 Explanatory

109.4-5 pictured urn] "with pictures on it. Cf. [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"with pictures on it. Cf. ''storied urn,'' ''Elegy,'' 41, and Milton's ''Penseroso,'' ''storied windows richly dight.'' The idea is probably borrowed from a picture of a female figure scattering gifts from a jar."

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], 195.

Add a note or query to this line

110 Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. 5 Explanatory

110.1-7 Thoughts ... burn.] "Gray here quotes incorrectly from [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"Gray here quotes incorrectly from memory. The line is the twentieth in ''The Prophet,'' in The Mistresse, 1647, and runs thus: - ''Tears which shall understand and speak.'' - [Ed.]"

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 36.

110.1-7 Thoughts ... burn.] "Cowley, The Prophet (v. 20) [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Cowley, The Prophet (v. 20) in The Mistress. Incorrectly quoted by Gray: ''Tears, which shall understand, and speak.''"

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, 153.

110.1-7 Thoughts ... burn.] "So Gray notes [a line [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"So Gray notes [a line by Cowley], but Mr Gosse says ''the line is the twentieth in 'The Prophet' in The Mistresse, 1647, and runs thus:

'Tears which shall understand, and speak.' ''
Dugald Stewart, quoted by Mitford, suggests that in Gray's line two different effects of words are indicated: ''the effect of some, in awakening the powers of conception and imagination; and that of others in exciting associated emotions.'' (Elem. of the Human Mind, vol. I. p. 507)."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 200.

110.1-7 Thoughts ... burn.] "Gray is quoting 'The Prophet', [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Gray is quoting 'The Prophet', l. 20, as it appears in the 1656 edition of The Mistress. See T & W no. 222, n. 15."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

110.1-7 Thoughts ... burn.] "G[ray]. gave as his source [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. gave as his source (in a letter to Bedingfield in Aug. 1756, Corresp ii 477, and in 1768) Cowley's The Prophet 20: 'Words, that weep, and tears, that speak'. Gosse and Tovey believed that G. had misquoted 'Tears which shall understand and speak', which is how the line first appeared in The Mistress in 1647. But G. was in fact quoting the 2nd edn of 1656, in which Cowley revised the poem. Cp. also David Mallet, 'With words that weep, and strains that agonise', Amyntor and Theodora (1747) ii 320."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175.

Add a note or query to this line

111 But ah! 'tis heard no more— 3 Explanatory

111.1-6 But ... more—] "Gray's note on this line [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Gray's note on this line is interesting, as showing how seriously he took Mason and Caractacus. The poet William Mason (1725-1797) was an intimate friend of Gray's, a servile imitator of Milton's and Gray's poetry, and the executor of Gray's literary remains. By far his most enduring contribution to literature is his Memoirs of Gray (1775). Mason wrote two tragedies, Elfrida (1751) and Caractacus (1759). These are on the model of the ancient Greek drama, and though they contain some fine passages, they lack vitality. He stoutly upheld the Unities and insisted on the retention of the Chorus. Caractacus is a story of Druid times, in which Druids play an important part; the scene is laid in Mona. Gray criticised Mason's poems in MS. with great care, and often with merciless severity; but in this instance he seems to have seriously believed that Mason had produced something good. Mason and Gray were often coupled together by contemporary critics, and the alleged obscurity of their odes was freely parodied (see pp. 87 and 89). For Gray's remarks on Mason's Choruses in Caractacus, see his Works, II, 317, 332 ff., 350 ff. Perhaps the best account of Mason's life and works is given in Hartley Coleridge's Northern Worthies."

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, 154.

111.1-6 But ... more—] "Gray notes: ''We have had [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Gray notes: ''We have had in our language no other odes of the sublime kind, than that of Dryden on St Cecilia's Day; for Cowley, who had his merit, yet wanted judgment, style, and harmony, for such a task. That of Pope is not worthy of so great a man. Mr Mason, indeed, of late days, has touched the true chords, and with a masterly hand, in some of his choruses; above all in the last of Caractacus:

'Hark! heard ye not yon footstep dread,
[That shook the earth with thundering tread?
    'Twas Death; in haste
    The warrior pass'd:
High tower'd his helmed head,
I mark'd his mail, I mark'd his shield:
I spy'd the sparkling of his spear,
I saw his giant arm the falchion wield;
Wide wav'd the bick'ring blade and fir'd the angry air1.' '']
Gray makes no mention of Milton's Nativity Ode, as it is commonly called; was it because he did not consider it an ode, or because it did not seem to him sublime? Again, Dryden's Verses on the Death of Anne Killigrew are in the form of an ode, - and the opening stanza, though the rest are a lamentable descent, is perhaps the one piece of Dryden's writing which our own generation would call sublime. 'Alexander's Feast,' the second Ode on S. Cecilia's Day, to which of course Gray refers, is structurally a fine poem, but if it ever had the power to kindle emotion it has lost it for ever; the words 'burn' no longer.
From the Odes to Obscurity and Oblivion which attacked Gray and Mason, Gray himself has given a quotation (to Wharton, June 1760) which parodies this stanza:
''It tells me, what I never heard before, for (speaking of himself) the Author says, tho' he has
'Nor the Pride, nor Self-opinion
That possess the happy Pair,
Each of Taste the fav'rite Minion,
Prancing thro' the desert Air;
Yet shall he mount, with classick housings grac'd,
By help mechanic of equestrian block;
And all unheedful of the Critick's mock
Spur his light Courser o'er the bounds of Taste.' ''
The writers were Lloyd and Colman, who were soon ashamed of their impertinence. Nevertheless, as Prof. Dowden tells me, in Dublin, 1768, was published an edition of Gray's Poems (probably unauthorized), which contained the Long Story, and this burlesque of The Bard, the last page representing the rider of Pegasus tumbling from the cliffs and following his wig into mid-air.
1 But Mason first wrote:
''Courage was in his van, and Conquest in his rear,''
cf. ll. 61, 62 of The Bard."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 201/202.

111.1-6 But ... more—] "Mason's Caractacus, which G[ray]. had [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Mason's Caractacus, which G[ray]. had criticized in MS, had been published in May 1759. G. wrote to James Brown at the time (Corresp ii 622): 'the last Chorus, & the lines that introduce it, are to me one of the best things I ever read, & surely superior to any thing he ever wrote.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 175/176.

Add a note or query to this line

112 Oh! lyre divine, what daring spirit 3 Explanatory

112.1 - 113.6 Oh! ... inherit] "Probably as true a rhyme [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Probably as true a rhyme to Gray, as it was when the version of 'Veni Creator' was written:

''Praise to thine Eternal Merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.''
           Book of Common Prayer (Ordination Service).
The pronunciation 'sperrit' still survives, and within living memory was not vulgar."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202.

112.1 - 113.6 Oh! ... inherit] "Cp. Collins's Ode on the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins's Ode on the Poetical Character 51-4 (p. 433 below), and Elegy 48 n (p. 126)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

112.4-6 what ... spirit] "Gray himself." H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Gray himself."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

Add a note or query to this line

113 Wakes thee now? Though he inherit 4 Explanatory

112.1 - 113.6 Oh! ... inherit] "Probably as true a rhyme [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Probably as true a rhyme to Gray, as it was when the version of 'Veni Creator' was written:

''Praise to thine Eternal Merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.''
           Book of Common Prayer (Ordination Service).
The pronunciation 'sperrit' still survives, and within living memory was not vulgar."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202.

112.1 - 113.6 Oh! ... inherit] "Cp. Collins's Ode on the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Collins's Ode on the Poetical Character 51-4 (p. 433 below), and Elegy 48 n (p. 126)."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

113.1 - 117.6 Wakes ... air:] "Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum / tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos / nubium tractus. ego apis Matinae / more modoque // grata carpentis thyma per laborem / plurimum circa nemus uvidique / Tiburis ripas operosa parvus / carmina fingo (A mighty breeze uplifts the Dircaean swan, Antonius, as oft as he essays a flight to the lofty regions of the clouds. I, after the way and manner of the Matinian bee, that gathers the pleasant thyme laboriously around full many a grove and the banks of well-watered Tibur, I, a humble bard, fashion my verses with incessant toil). Hurd, Select Works of Cowley (1772) i 161 n, notes the resemblance between Cowley's imitation of these lines, The Praise of Pindar st. iv, and G[ray].'s lines. Cowley calls Pindar 'The Theban Swan'. Cp. also Faerie Queene V iv 42, 1-3: 'Like to an Eagle in his Kingly pride, / Soring through his wide Empire of the aire, / To weather his brode sailes...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

113.5 he] "G[ray]. himself." R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"G[ray]. himself."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

Add a note or query to this line

114 Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, 2 Explanatory

113.1 - 117.6 Wakes ... air:] "Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum / tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos / nubium tractus. ego apis Matinae / more modoque // grata carpentis thyma per laborem / plurimum circa nemus uvidique / Tiburis ripas operosa parvus / carmina fingo (A mighty breeze uplifts the Dircaean swan, Antonius, as oft as he essays a flight to the lofty regions of the clouds. I, after the way and manner of the Matinian bee, that gathers the pleasant thyme laboriously around full many a grove and the banks of well-watered Tibur, I, a humble bard, fashion my verses with incessant toil). Hurd, Select Works of Cowley (1772) i 161 n, notes the resemblance between Cowley's imitation of these lines, The Praise of Pindar st. iv, and G[ray].'s lines. Cowley calls Pindar 'The Theban Swan'. Cp. also Faerie Queene V iv 42, 1-3: 'Like to an Eagle in his Kingly pride, / Soring through his wide Empire of the aire, / To weather his brode sailes...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

114.5-6 ample pinion,] "'His ample pinions', Young, Night [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"'His ample pinions', Young, Night Thoughts ii 223."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

Add a note or query to this line

115 That the Theban eagle bear 5 Explanatory

113.1 - 117.6 Wakes ... air:] "Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum / tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos / nubium tractus. ego apis Matinae / more modoque // grata carpentis thyma per laborem / plurimum circa nemus uvidique / Tiburis ripas operosa parvus / carmina fingo (A mighty breeze uplifts the Dircaean swan, Antonius, as oft as he essays a flight to the lofty regions of the clouds. I, after the way and manner of the Matinian bee, that gathers the pleasant thyme laboriously around full many a grove and the banks of well-watered Tibur, I, a humble bard, fashion my verses with incessant toil). Hurd, Select Works of Cowley (1772) i 161 n, notes the resemblance between Cowley's imitation of these lines, The Praise of Pindar st. iv, and G[ray].'s lines. Cowley calls Pindar 'The Theban Swan'. Cp. also Faerie Queene V iv 42, 1-3: 'Like to an Eagle in his Kingly pride, / Soring through his wide Empire of the aire, / To weather his brode sailes...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

115.1-5 That ... bear] "Pindar, Olymp., ii, 159." W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Pindar, Olymp., ii, 159."

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, 154.

115.1-5 That ... bear] "The words Gray quotes follow [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"The words Gray quotes follow close on those he has chosen for the motto of the two Odes. Though Pindar does not name his enemies he indicates that they were two; (commonly explained to be Simonides and Bacchylides); Gray who in penning this note, could scarcely have been oblivious of his own two assailants, abstains from pointing the allusion. Mitford compares Spenser, F. Q. V. 4. 42:

''Like to an Eagle, in his kingly pride
Soring through his wide empire of the aire
To weather his brode sailes.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202.

115.1-5 That ... bear] "In 1768 G[ray]. cites Pindar, [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"In 1768 G[ray]. cites Pindar, Olympian Odes ii 88, [Greek line (omitted)] (against the godlike bird of Zeus); and adds: 'Pindar compares himself to that bird, and his enemies to ravens that croak and clamour in vain below, while it pursues its flight, regardless of their noise.' G.'s epigraph to the poem comes from the same passage: cp. ll. 81-8: 'Full many a swift arrow have I beneath mine arm, within my quiver, many an arrow that is vocal to the wise; but for the crowd they need interpreters. The true poet is he who knoweth much by gift of nature, but they that have only learnt the lore of song, and are turbulent and intemperate of tongue, like a pair of crows, chatter in vain against the godlike bird of Zeus.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

115.1-5 That ... bear] "Pindar, who was a native [...]" J. Heath-Stubbs, 1981.

"Pindar, who was a native of Thebes."

Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981, 78.

Add a note or query to this line

116 Sailing with supreme dominion 1 Explanatory

113.1 - 117.6 Wakes ... air:] "Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum / tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos / nubium tractus. ego apis Matinae / more modoque // grata carpentis thyma per laborem / plurimum circa nemus uvidique / Tiburis ripas operosa parvus / carmina fingo (A mighty breeze uplifts the Dircaean swan, Antonius, as oft as he essays a flight to the lofty regions of the clouds. I, after the way and manner of the Matinian bee, that gathers the pleasant thyme laboriously around full many a grove and the banks of well-watered Tibur, I, a humble bard, fashion my verses with incessant toil). Hurd, Select Works of Cowley (1772) i 161 n, notes the resemblance between Cowley's imitation of these lines, The Praise of Pindar st. iv, and G[ray].'s lines. Cowley calls Pindar 'The Theban Swan'. Cp. also Faerie Queene V iv 42, 1-3: 'Like to an Eagle in his Kingly pride, / Soring through his wide Empire of the aire, / To weather his brode sailes...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

Add a note or query to this line

117 Through the azure deep of air: 3 Explanatory

113.1 - 117.6 Wakes ... air:] "Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes IV ii 25-32: multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum / tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos / nubium tractus. ego apis Matinae / more modoque // grata carpentis thyma per laborem / plurimum circa nemus uvidique / Tiburis ripas operosa parvus / carmina fingo (A mighty breeze uplifts the Dircaean swan, Antonius, as oft as he essays a flight to the lofty regions of the clouds. I, after the way and manner of the Matinian bee, that gathers the pleasant thyme laboriously around full many a grove and the banks of well-watered Tibur, I, a humble bard, fashion my verses with incessant toil). Hurd, Select Works of Cowley (1772) i 161 n, notes the resemblance between Cowley's imitation of these lines, The Praise of Pindar st. iv, and G[ray].'s lines. Cowley calls Pindar 'The Theban Swan'. Cp. also Faerie Queene V iv 42, 1-3: 'Like to an Eagle in his Kingly pride, / Soring through his wide Empire of the aire, / To weather his brode sailes...'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

117.4 deep] "With some comparison of the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"With some comparison of the air to a sea; but also some notion of immeasurable height as Euripides, Medea 1297 [Greek line (omitted)], (into the deep of air wing her flight upward), and cf. Shelley 'Skylark' l. 9

''The blue deep thou wingest.'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202.

117.4-6 deep ... air:] "Cp. Lucretius v 276: aeris [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Lucretius v 276: aeris in magnum ... mare (into the great sea of air); and Euripides, Medea 1297: 'Or lift on wings her frames to heaven's far depths'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176.

Add a note or query to this line

118 Yet oft before his infant eyes would run 2 Explanatory, 6 Textual

118.1-8 Yet ... run] "''Yet when they first were [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Yet when they first were open'd on the day / Before his visionary eyes would run.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 37.

118.1-8 Yet ... run] "Yet when they first were [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Yet when they first were opened on the day
Before his visionary eyes would run. [ - Pembroke] Manuscript readings."

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], 196.

118.1-8 Yet ... run] "''Yet when they first were [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"''Yet when they first were opened on the day / Before his visionary eyes would run''   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202.

118.1-8 Yet ... run] "Dugald Stewart (Philosophy of the [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Dugald Stewart (Philosophy of the Human Mind p. 486) says that ''Gray in describing the infant reveries of poetical genius, has fixed with exquisite judgment on that class of our conceptions which are derived from visible objects.'' 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], 202.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.
    Pembroke MS. (followed by the later reading)."

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], 171.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
C[ommonplace] B[ook] with the present version written below. Shapes, underlined, is written in margin beside l. 119 to replace Forms, underlined."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 17.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Commonplace Book has: Yet, when [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
In the third of these lines Shapes is written in the margin to replace forms. The final version of this passage is written below."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176/177.

118.1 - 120.7 Yet ... sun:] "A writer in the Gentleman's [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A writer in the Gentleman's Mag. lxi (1791) 981, suggests that G[ray]. had in mind a passage in Sir William Temple's essay, Of Poetry (Critical Essays of the 17th Century, ed. Spingarn, iii 81): 'There must be a spritely Imagination or Fancy, fertile in a thousand Productions, ranging over infinite Ground, piercing into every Corner, and by the Light of that true Poetical Fire discovering a thousand little Bodies or Images in the World, and Similitudes among them, unseen to common Eyes, and which could not be discovered without the Rays of that Sun.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

Add a note or query to this line

119 Such forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray 1 Explanatory, 7 Textual

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.
    Pembroke MS. (followed by the later reading)."

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], 171.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
C[ommonplace] B[ook] with the present version written below. Shapes, underlined, is written in margin beside l. 119 to replace Forms, underlined."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 17.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Commonplace Book has: Yet, when [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
In the third of these lines Shapes is written in the margin to replace forms. The final version of this passage is written below."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176/177.

118.1 - 120.7 Yet ... sun:] "A writer in the Gentleman's [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A writer in the Gentleman's Mag. lxi (1791) 981, suggests that G[ray]. had in mind a passage in Sir William Temple's essay, Of Poetry (Critical Essays of the 17th Century, ed. Spingarn, iii 81): 'There must be a spritely Imagination or Fancy, fertile in a thousand Productions, ranging over infinite Ground, piercing into every Corner, and by the Light of that true Poetical Fire discovering a thousand little Bodies or Images in the World, and Similitudes among them, unseen to common Eyes, and which could not be discovered without the Rays of that Sun.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

119.2 forms,] "''Shapes.'' - MS." E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Shapes.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 37.

119.2 forms,] "Shapes. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]." J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Shapes. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 196.

119.2 forms,] "shapes   MS." D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"shapes   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202.

119.2 forms,] "shapes inserted in margin of [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"shapes inserted in margin of 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], 171.

Add a note or query to this line

120 With orient hues, unborrowed of the sun: 5 Explanatory, 3 Textual

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.
    Pembroke MS. (followed by the later reading)."

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], 171.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
C[ommonplace] B[ook] with the present version written below. Shapes, underlined, is written in margin beside l. 119 to replace Forms, underlined."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 17.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Commonplace Book has: Yet, when [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
In the third of these lines Shapes is written in the margin to replace forms. The final version of this passage is written below."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176/177.

118.1 - 120.7 Yet ... sun:] "A writer in the Gentleman's [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"A writer in the Gentleman's Mag. lxi (1791) 981, suggests that G[ray]. had in mind a passage in Sir William Temple's essay, Of Poetry (Critical Essays of the 17th Century, ed. Spingarn, iii 81): 'There must be a spritely Imagination or Fancy, fertile in a thousand Productions, ranging over infinite Ground, piercing into every Corner, and by the Light of that true Poetical Fire discovering a thousand little Bodies or Images in the World, and Similitudes among them, unseen to common Eyes, and which could not be discovered without the Rays of that Sun.'"

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

120.2-3 orient hues,] "Mitford compares Spenser: ''With much [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"Mitford compares Spenser: ''With much more orient hue.'' An Hymn in Honour of Beauty, v. 79, also Milton: ''With orient colours waving.'' Par. Lost, i, 546. We might add also, ''His orient liquor in a crystal glass.'' Comus, v. 65.
''Orient'' in these passages of course means ''bright,'' ''lustrous,'' - perhaps because the most beautiful jewels came from the East. Milton uses ''orient'' in this sense at least nine times in Paradise Lost alone."

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, 154.

120.2-3 orient hues,] "i.e. brilliant and lustrous, as [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"i.e. brilliant and lustrous, as with the rays of the rising sun; Dr Phelps suggests, less probably I think, ''because the most beautiful jewels came from the east.'' The word does indeed, as might be expected, occur in connection with jewels, e.g.

''For of o [one] perle, fine orientall,
Her white crowne was imaked all.''
           Chaucer, Leg. of Good Women, Prol.
''Sette with signes called cifers of fine gold, the which were set with great and oriental perles.'' Hall, Henry VIII, an. 12.
''He chose as many as made a faire chaine, which for their... orientness, were very faire and rare.'' Hakluyt, Voyages, vol. III. p. 269.
This third passage (they are all from Richardson) seems to fix the meaning of the other two to 'bright and shining,' even for gems. Cf. Spenser, Hymne in Honour of Beautie, l. 79:
  &    nbsp; ''the blossomes of the field
Which are arayd with much more orient hew.''
It is a favourite word with Milton; e.g.
''Ten thousand banners rise into the air
With orient colours waving.'' P. L., I. 546.
Dr Phelps quotes also,
''His orient liquor in a crystal glass.'' Comus, l. 65."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 202/203.

120.2-3 orient hues,] "Bright, shining. Cp. 'Which are [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Bright, shining. Cp. 'Which are arayd with much more orient hew', Spenser, Hymne in Honour of Beautie 79, and 'With Orient Colours', Par. Lost i 545. Cp. also Virgil, Georgics i 396: nec fratris radiis obnoxia surgere Luna (and the moon rises under no debt to her brother's rays). Dryden translates, i 542, 'As with unborrow'd Beams'. Cp. also Dryden, Eclogues iv 53: 'With native Purple, or unborrow'd Gold'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

120.4-7 unborrowed ... sun:] "though 'orient'. Bradshaw well compares [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"though 'orient'. Bradshaw well compares Wordsworth (Stanzas on the Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm):

''The light that never was on sea or land,
The consecration and the poet's dream..'' "

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 203.

Add a note or query to this line

121 Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant way 5 Explanatory, 3 Textual

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.
    Pembroke MS. (followed by the later reading)."

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], 171.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
C[ommonplace] B[ook] with the present version written below. Shapes, underlined, is written in margin beside l. 119 to replace Forms, underlined."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 17.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Commonplace Book has: Yet, when [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
In the third of these lines Shapes is written in the margin to replace forms. The final version of this passage is written below."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176/177.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "The last three lines are [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The last three lines are interesting as a description of Gray's own character and poetical aims. Did he himself feel that he was the only poet since Dryden?"

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, 154.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "In the last three lines, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"In the last three lines, Gray expresses his own feelings and character, his pride, and, at the same time, his retiring disposition."

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], 195.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "Compare what has been said [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Compare what has been said on the concluding lines of the Ode on Spring, Hymn [Ode] to Adversity and Elegy; and the Alcaic Ode quoted on the last place."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 203.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "See the last four lines [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"See the last four lines of the Alcaic Ode."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "Horace, Odes III ii 21-4: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes III ii 21-4: Virtus, recludens immeritis mori / caelum, negata temptat iter via, / coetusque vulgares et udam / spernit humum fugiente pinna (True worth, opening Heaven wide for those deserving not to die, essays its course by a path denied to others, and spurns the vulgar crowd and damp earth on fleeting pinion). Cp. also Pope, Epitaph On Mr Fenton 3-4: 'A Poet blest beyond the Poet's fate, / Whom Heav'n kept sacred from the Proud and Great'; and Imitations of Horace, Odes IV ix 3-4: 'Taught on the Wings of Truth, to fly / Above the reach of vulgar Song'; Jean Baptiste Louis de Gresset, La Mediocrite (Oeuvres, 1748, i 361-2): Sourd aux censures populaires, / Il ne craint point les yeux vulgaires, / Son oeil perce au-dela de leur foible horison; / Quelques bruits que la foule en seme, / Il est satisfait de lui-meme, / S'il a su meriter l'aveu de sa raison."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

Add a note or query to this line

122 Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate, 6 Explanatory, 6 Textual

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" A.L. Poole/L. Whibley, 1950 [1st ed. 1919].

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.
    Pembroke MS. (followed by the later reading)."

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], 171.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Yet, when they first were [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
C[ommonplace] B[ook] with the present version written below. Shapes, underlined, is written in margin beside l. 119 to replace Forms, underlined."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 17.

118.1 - 122.7 Yet ... fate,] "Commonplace Book has: Yet, when [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Commonplace Book has:

Yet, when they first were open'd on the day,
Before his visionary eyes would run
Such Forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray
With orient hues unborrow'd of the Sun:
Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate
In the third of these lines Shapes is written in the margin to replace forms. The final version of this passage is written below."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 176/177.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "The last three lines are [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The last three lines are interesting as a description of Gray's own character and poetical aims. Did he himself feel that he was the only poet since Dryden?"

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, 154.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "In the last three lines, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"In the last three lines, Gray expresses his own feelings and character, his pride, and, at the same time, his retiring disposition."

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], 195.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "Compare what has been said [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Compare what has been said on the concluding lines of the Ode on Spring, Hymn [Ode] to Adversity and Elegy; and the Alcaic Ode quoted on the last place."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 203.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "See the last four lines [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"See the last four lines of the Alcaic Ode."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "Horace, Odes III ii 21-4: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes III ii 21-4: Virtus, recludens immeritis mori / caelum, negata temptat iter via, / coetusque vulgares et udam / spernit humum fugiente pinna (True worth, opening Heaven wide for those deserving not to die, essays its course by a path denied to others, and spurns the vulgar crowd and damp earth on fleeting pinion). Cp. also Pope, Epitaph On Mr Fenton 3-4: 'A Poet blest beyond the Poet's fate, / Whom Heav'n kept sacred from the Proud and Great'; and Imitations of Horace, Odes IV ix 3-4: 'Taught on the Wings of Truth, to fly / Above the reach of vulgar Song'; Jean Baptiste Louis de Gresset, La Mediocrite (Oeuvres, 1748, i 361-2): Sourd aux censures populaires, / Il ne craint point les yeux vulgaires, / Son oeil perce au-dela de leur foible horison; / Quelques bruits que la foule en seme, / Il est satisfait de lui-meme, / S'il a su meriter l'aveu de sa raison."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

122.1-7 Beyond ... fate,] "''Yet never can he fear [...]" E. Gosse, 1884.

"''Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.'' - MS."

The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i, 37.

122.1-7 Beyond ... fate,] "Yet never can he fear [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate. [Pembroke] Manuscript reading[]."

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], 196.

122.1-7 Beyond ... fate,] "Yet never can he fear [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Yet never can he fear a vulgar fate.   MS."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 203.

122.6 vulgar] "ordinary, common. Cf. the last [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"ordinary, common. Cf. the last stanza of the Ode Gray wrote in the album at the Grande Chartreuse, p. 156."

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], 195.

Add a note or query to this line

123 Beneath the Good how far— but far above the Great. 7 Explanatory, 1 Textual

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "The last three lines are [...]" W. Lyon Phelps, 1894.

"The last three lines are interesting as a description of Gray's own character and poetical aims. Did he himself feel that he was the only poet since Dryden?"

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, 154.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "In the last three lines, [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"In the last three lines, Gray expresses his own feelings and character, his pride, and, at the same time, his retiring disposition."

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], 195.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "Compare what has been said [...]" D.C. Tovey, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].

"Compare what has been said on the concluding lines of the Ode on Spring, Hymn [Ode] to Adversity and Elegy; and the Alcaic Ode quoted on the last place."

Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898], 203.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "See the last four lines [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"See the last four lines of the Alcaic Ode."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 207.

121.1 - 123.10 Yet ... Great.] "Horace, Odes III ii 21-4: [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Horace, Odes III ii 21-4: Virtus, recludens immeritis mori / caelum, negata temptat iter via, / coetusque vulgares et udam / spernit humum fugiente pinna (True worth, opening Heaven wide for those deserving not to die, essays its course by a path denied to others, and spurns the vulgar crowd and damp earth on fleeting pinion). Cp. also Pope, Epitaph On Mr Fenton 3-4: 'A Poet blest beyond the Poet's fate, / Whom Heav'n kept sacred from the Proud and Great'; and Imitations of Horace, Odes IV ix 3-4: 'Taught on the Wings of Truth, to fly / Above the reach of vulgar Song'; Jean Baptiste Louis de Gresset, La Mediocrite (Oeuvres, 1748, i 361-2): Sourd aux censures populaires, / Il ne craint point les yeux vulgaires, / Son oeil perce au-dela de leur foible horison; / Quelques bruits que la foule en seme, / Il est satisfait de lui-meme, / S'il a su meriter l'aveu de sa raison."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

123.1-10 Beneath ... Great.] "''Still show how much the [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1903 [1st ed. 1891].

"''Still show how much the good outshone the great.'' - Katharine Philips."

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], 195.

123.1-10 Beneath ... Great.] "At the end of the [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"At the end of the poem in C[ommonplace] B[ook] appears Finish'd in 1754. printed together with the Bard, an Ode. Aug: 8. 1757."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 17.

123.1-10 Beneath ... Great.] "Cp. Katherine Philips, To the [...]" R. Lonsdale, 1969.

"Cp. Katherine Philips, To the Countess of Thanet 33, in Poems (1667) p. 133: 'Still shew how much the Good outshine the Great'."

The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969, 177.

Add a note or query to this line

Gray's annotations

1
Awake [up], my glory: awake, lute and harp.
    David's Psalms. [Prayer Book version, lvii. 9]
Pindar styles his own poetry with its musical accompanyments, [Greek sentence (omitted), translation:], Aeolian song, Aeolian strings, the breath of the Aeolian flute.
3
The subject and simile, as usual with Pindar, are united. The various sources of poetry, which gives life and lustre to all it touches, are here described; its quiet majestic progress enriching every subject (otherwise dry and barren) with a pomp of diction and luxuriant harmony of numbers; and its more rapid and irresistible course, when swoln and hurried away by the conflict of tumultuous passions.
13
Power of harmony to calm the turbulent sallies of the soul. The thoughts are borrowed from the first Pythian of Pindar. [See note to l. 20.]
20
This is a weak imitation of some incomparable lines in the same Ode. [Pindar, Pythian Ode I, 1-12.]
25
Power of harmony to produce all the graces of motion in the body.
35
[Greek line (omitted)] [He (Odysseus) gazed at the quick twinkling of (the dancers') feet; and he wondered in his heart.]
    Homer. Od[yssey]. O. [viii. 265]
41
[Greek line (omitted)] [And on his rose-red cheeks there gleams the light of love.]
    Phrynichus, apud Athenaeum. [Deipnosophistae, xiii. 604a]
[Modern texts give the line as follows: Greek line (omitted).]
42
To compensate the real and imaginary ills of life, the Muse was given to Mankind by the same Providence that sends the Day by its chearful presence to dispel the gloom and terrors of the Night.
52
Or seen the Morning's well-appointed Star
Come marching up the eastern hills afar.
    Cowley. [Brutus, an Ode, st. 4]
54
Extensive influence of poetic Genius over the remotest and most uncivilized nations: its connection with liberty, and the virtues that naturally attend on it. [See the Erse, Norwegian, and Welch Fragments, the Lapland and American songs.]
    [solar road]
''Extra anni solisque vias—'' [Beyond the paths of the year and the sun—]
Virgil. [Aeneid, vi. 796]
''Tutta lontana dal camin del sole.'' [Quite far from the road of the sun.]
Petrarch, Canzon 2. [Canzoniere, 'Canzone II', l. 48]
66
Progress of Poetry from Greece to Italy, and from Italy to England. Chaucer was not unacquainted with the writings of Dante or of Petrarch. The Earl of Surrey and Sir Tho. Wyatt had travelled in Italy, and formed their taste there; Spenser imitated the Italian writers; Milton improved on them: but this School expired soon after the Restoration, and a new one arose on the French model, which has subsisted ever since.
84
[Nature's Darling] Shakespear.
95
[He] Milton.
98
''—flammantia moenia mundi.'' [—the flaming ramparts of the world].
    Lucretius. [De Rerum Natura, i. 74]
99
For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels - And above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a saphire-stone. - This was the appearance [of the likeness] of the glory of the Lord.
    Ezekiel i. 20, 26, 28.
102
[Greek line (omitted)] [(the Muse) took away (his) eyes, but she gave (him the gift of) sweet song].
    Homer. Od[yssey, viii. 64].
105
Meant to express the stately march and sounding energy of Dryden's rhimes.
106
Hast thou cloathed his neck with thunder?
    Job. [xxxix. 19]
110
Words, that weep, and tears, that speak.
    Cowley. ["The Prophet" in The Mistress, line 20]
111
We have had in our language no other odes of the sublime kind, than that of Dryden on St. Cecilia's day: for Cowley (who had his merit) yet wanted judgment, style, and harmony, for such a task. That of Pope is not worthy of so great a man. Mr. Mason indeed of late days has touched the true chords, and with a masterly hand, in some of his Choruses, - above all in the last of Caractacus,
    Hark! heard ye not yon footstep dread? &c.
115
[Greek line (omitted)] [against the god-like bird of Zeus].
    [Pindar] Olymp. 2. [88]
Pindar compares himself to that bird, and his enemies to ravens that croak and clamour in vain below, while it pursues its flight, regardless of their noise.

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].
  • Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].
  • Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited by W. C. Eppstein. London and Glasgow: Blackie & Son Ltd., 1959.
  • Eighteenth-Century Poetry. An Annotated Anthology. Edited by David Fairer and Christine Gerrard. Blackwell annotated anthologies. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
  • The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i.
  • Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981.
  • 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.

About this text

  • Composition: c. 1751-1754
  • Publication: 1757
  • Base text: 1768
  • Metre: mixed metres
  • Rhyme scheme: abbaccddeeff abbaccddeeff aabbaccdedefgfghh
  • Stanza: strophe, antistrophe, epode
  • Genre: Pindaric ode
  • Finding Aid: MS witnesses
  • Notes/Queries: 440
  • Source: TEI/XML
  • Visualization: Poem Viewer

Editions in the Digital Library

  • 1757: Odes by Mr. Gray. London, 1757.
  • 1765 vol. vi: A Collection of Poems in six volumes. By several hands. Vol. vi. London, 1765 [1st ed. 1758, two vols. 1748].
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. Gray. London, 1768.
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. Gray. A new edition. London, 1768 [1st ed. 1768].
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. Gray. Glasgow, 1768.
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. Gray. Dublin, 1768.
  • 1768: Poems by Mr. T. Gray. Cork, 1768.
  • 1771: Poems by Mr. Gray. A new edition. London, 1771.
  • 1771: Poems by Thomas Gray. Dublin, 1771.
  • 1773: Poems by Mr. Gray. Glasgow, 1773.
  • 1773: Poems by Mr. Gray. Edinburgh, 1773.
  • 1775: The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. York, 1775.
  • 1775: The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. Dublin, 1775.
  • 1775: Poems by Mr. Gray. A new edition. Edinburgh, 1775.
  • 1775: Poems by Mr. Gray. Dublin, 1775.
  • 1776: Poems by Mr. Gray. A new edition. London, 1776.
  • 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.