Bibliography
Brady, Frank. “Structure and Meaning in Gray’s Elegy.” In From Sensibility to Romanticism: Essays Presented to Frederick A. Pottle, edited by Frederick W. Hilles and Harold Bloom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965. In his lucid and careful reading of Gray’s elegy, Brady stresses the appropriateness of the closing “epitaph.” (The book contains two other essays on the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”)
Brooks, Cleanth. “Gray’s Storied Urn.” In The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947. In a celebrated and important close reading of the poem, Brooks argues that the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is rich in irony and implication. Essential reading for any interpreter of the work.
Lonsdale, Roger, ed. The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. London: Longman, 1969. Lonsdale’s introduction to Gray’s elegy and his notes to the text are invaluable, especially on the difficulties of lines 93 to 96.
Sells, A. L. Lytton, assisted by Iris Lytton Sells. Thomas Gray: His Life and Works. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1980. This biography includes frequent references to Gray’s elegy and includes a lengthy discussion of the work. Sells believes that the epitaph refers to Richard West.
Weinfield, Henry. The Poet Without a Name: Gray’s “Elegy” and the Problem of History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991. A scholarly book that employs a variety of critical methods to establish the poem’s significance. Weinfield, who gives his own intricate reading of the work in chapter 3, considers the “thee” in line 93 to refer to all of humanity.
Media Adaptations
J. Norton Publishers/Audio-Forum released an audiocassette titled How Shelley Died; Elegy in a Country Churchyard: Two Lectures (1979) featuring Gilbert Highet.
Caedmon produced a set of four audiocassettes called Eighteenth Century Poets and Drama (1970).
Spoken Arts Corporation created a collection of six audiocassettes named Great English Literature of the 18th Century (1971).
Perspective Films released a videocassette titled Elegy to Thomas Gray (1980).
Monterey Home Video produced a videocassette called The Poetry Hall of Fame: Volume IV (1994), part of the BBC series "Anyone for Tennyson?"
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Arnold, Matthew, "Thomas Gray," in his Essays in Criticism, 2nd series, The Macmillan Company, 1934, pp. 69-99.
Brady, Frank, "Structure and Meaning in Gray's Elegy," in Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, edited by Harold Bloom, Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Ellis, Frank Hale, "Gray's Elegy: The Biographical Problem in Literary Criticism," in Twentieth Century Interpretations of Gray's 'Elegy', edited by Herbert W. Starr, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
Empson, William, "Proletarian Literature," in English Pastoral Poetry, New York: New Directions, 1935, pp. 4-5.
Hutchings, W., "Syntax of Death: Instability in Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,'" in Studies in Philology, Vol. LXXXI, No. 4, Fall, 1984, pp. 496-514.
Johnson, Samuel, "Gray," in his Lives of the English Poets, Vol. II, 1781; reprinted by Oxford University Press, 1967, pp. 453-64.
Krutch, Joseph Wood, "Introduction," in The Selected Letters of Thomas Gray by Thomas Gray, edited by Joseph Wood Krutch, New York: Farrar, Strauss and Young, Inc., 1952, pp. ix-xxxii.
Weaver, Carl J., "The Bicentenary of Gray's 'Elegy,'" in Colby Library Quarterly, Series III, No. 1, February 1951, pp. 9-12.
Weinfield, Henry, The Poet Without a Name: Gray's 'Elegy' and the Problem of History, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991.
For Further Study
Brooks, Cleanth, "Gray's Storied Urn," in The Well-Wrought Urn, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1947, pp. 96-113.
Brooks, one of the 20th century's most respected literary critics, delves into the layers of complexity in this seemingly simple poem, describing it as "a tissue of allusion and half-allusion."
Glazier, Lyle, "Gray's Elegy: 'The Skull Beneath the Skin'," in University of Kansas Review, Vol. XIX, Spring 1953, pp. 174-180.
Glazier interprets the poem as emphasizing equality, without favoring any social class. He asserts that it is a declaration that all individuals, rich or poor, are mortal.
Golden, Morris, Thomas Gray, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, 1964.
This comprehensive overview of Gray's life and career provides students with a solid general background on the poet's significance.
Hutchings, W., "Syntax of Death: Instability in Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,'" in Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, edited by Harold Bloom, Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
This essay offers a focused, scholarly analysis of Gray's use of language and punctuation, with numerous references to other poems and critics' perspectives.
McCarthy, B. Eugene, Thomas Gray: The Progress of a Poet, Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997.
McCarthy explores the evolution of Gray's life and ideas, with particular attention to his translations and, of course, the "Elegy."
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