Important Questions and Answers in Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray
Q.1. What is an elegy? What kind of an elegy is Gray’s poem?
Ans. An elegy is a funeral song or a poem mourning over the death of a particular person or for the dead in general. It is also reflective in kind.
Gray’s poem is a general type of elegy lamenting the death of the ‘rude forefathers of the hamlet’ and reflecting on the sad condition and fate of the simple and poor villagers.
Q.2. What is a churchyard? To which churchyard does the poem refer?
Ans: A churchyard is a piece of ground around a church in which its dead members are buried.
The poem refers to the churchyard of Stoke Poges ( a village of England) in which the poet himself was buried.
Q.3. ‘The curfew tolls the knell of parting day’-What does ‘curfew’ mean here? What does the phrase ‘to toll the knell’ mean? With which is ‘parting day’ compared?
Ans: ‘Curfew’ was formerly a regulation requiring people to put out their lights and fires (introduced to protect their wooden houses) at evening (at 8 p.m.) with the ringing of a bell. Here it means a bell rung at evening.
The phrase ‘to toll the knell’ means to announce or make known the death of a man, usually by ringing a church-bell. Figuratively, it means the end of something.
The ‘parting day’ is here compared with a dying man.
Also Read:
Q.4. ‘The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea’-What does the expression ‘the lowing herd’ mean? What activity is described here?
Ans: The expression ‘the lowing herd’ means a group of cattle making their usual sounds.
The line describes three activities of the cattle-their making of sounds through the mouths, their following of a twisting course with many changes of direction (done in a slow manner) and their going over an area of open grassy land or pasture.
Q.5. The ploughman homeward plods his weary way’-What is the meaning of the word ‘ploughman’? What does the word ‘plods’ mean? What figure is used in the phrase ‘weary way’? Make a prose order of the above line.
Ans: ‘Ploughman’ means a cultivator or a peasant. The word ‘plod’ means to walk heavily or laboriously. ‘Weary way’ is a case of hypallage in which the epithet ‘weary’ is transferred from the ‘ploughman’ to his ‘way’ because of their connection with him in the speaker’s mind.
The prose order of the above line will be: The weary ploughman plods his way homeward (i.e. towards home).
Q.6. ‘And leaves the world to darkness and to me’-Who leaves the world to whom? Does it raise any facility?
Ans: As the ploughman goes back towards home, he leaves the world to darkness and to the poet.
The absence of sound and men facilitates the poet to think deeply about the world i.e. the fate and condition of the simple and poor villagers. Whose graves lie near him.
Q.7. ‘Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight’-What landscape is referred to here? What does the word ‘glimmering’ mean?
Ans: The landscape ( scenery) around the churchyard at evening is referred to here.
The word ‘glimmering’ means something shining faintly and unsteadily.
Q.8. How is the ‘solemn stillness’ of the landscape broken?
Ans: The ‘solemn (= grave) stillness’ (= silence) of the landscape is disturbed by the monotonous sound which the beetle produces while flying, the tinkling sound the bells tied round the necks of sheep make while attempting to put them to sleep and the hooting sound the owl creates when it complains against those who break the peace of her solitary living.
Q.9. ‘The moping owl does to the moon complain-What does the word ‘moping’ mean? Whom does the owl complain against? Why does she complain to the moon?
Ans: The word ‘moping’ means gloomy, dispirited or depressed.
The owl complains against those (1.e. birds, animals and human beings) who, by coming near her secret resting-place, disturb the quietness of her solitary existence.
The owl complains to the moon because her beams disturb the peace of her shelter.
Q.10. The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep-What do the words ‘rude’ and ‘hamlet’ mean? Where do the forefathers sleep?
Ans: The word ‘rude’ means rough, unpolished or uneducated while the word ‘hamlet’ means a small village.
The ‘forefathers’ of the simple and poor villagers sleep ( lie buried) in many narrow cells (i.e. graves) which are now in a decaying condition and covered with turf ( surface soil with short grass) and which are located under some rough elms or shades of yew trees.
Q.11. What roused the forefathers from their sleep while they were alive?
Ans: The forefathers of the small village were roused from sleep by the call (= invitation) of the fragrant morning breeze, the chirping sound of the swallow from its straw-built nest, the shrill cry of the cock, and the echoing sound of the hunter’s horn (= bugle).
Q.12. How were the forefathers received at home when they returned from work?
Ans: When they returned from their work each forefather was received warmly at home. The fireplace burned with blazing heat for him, his house wife worked busily to finish her usual work by evening, and his children ran to announce in a childish way the return of their father and competed with each other to get the first kiss from him by climbing up his knees.
Q.13. What were the usual activities of the forefathers while they were alive?
Ans: While alive, the forefathers used to cut with their sickle the standing ripe crops from their fields, break hard soil with their plough, drive their cattle joyfully to distant fields and fell trees with the powerful strokes of their axes.
Q.14. ‘Let not Ambition mock their useful toil’-What is meant by ‘Ambition’? Why is the poet against Ambition’s mocking? What is referred to as ‘useful toil’?
Ans: By ‘Ambition’ the poet means ambitious people who are wealthy and powerful.
The poet is against the ambitious people’s mocking of the poor men’s work involving much physical labour because their non-involvement in such work will not spare them from meeting the same end as the poor men’s – i.e. death.
The phrase ‘useful toil’ refers to the agricultural activities of the villagers which require much physical labour and are very useful for without food the ambitious cannot live even for a single day.
Q.15. ‘Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile’- What is meant by ‘Grandeur”? What does the phrase ‘disdainful smile’ mean? What shouldn’t Grandeur hear and why?
Ans: By Grandeur’ the poet means rich people who lead a life of pomp and splendour.
The phrase ‘disdainful smile’ means smile full of scorn or contempt.
Rich people should not hear ‘the short and simple annals’ (= a record of the events of life) of the poor villagers with contemptuous smile because their attainment of fame and honour cannot make them avoid the same fate as that of the poor, i.e. death.
Q.16. ‘The short and simple annals of the poor’-What do ‘annals’ mean? Why are they described ‘short and simple”?
Ans: The word ‘annals’ means an account or record of the events of the life of the poor villagers.
The life-history of the poor has been described as ‘short’ because of the fewness of their attainments and as ‘simple’ because of the uneventful nature of their life.
Q.17. ‘Awaits alike th’ inevitable hour-What ‘awaits’ like whom? What does the ‘inevitable hour’ signify?
Ans: The boast of the high-born, the splendid display of powerful men, the advantages that beauty bestows on one and the benefit that wealth offers on one wait equally like the fate of the simple and poor villagers (as death will spare none of them.)
The ‘inevitable hour’ signifies death.
Q.18. What does the phrase ‘the paths of glory’ mean? Where do such paths lead?
Ans: The phrase ‘paths of glory’ means careers of glory (= high fame and honour) as achieved by the high-ranked or powerful persons, life being compared to a long way or path here.
Such paths lead inevitably to the grave for at the end of life’s way stands death which cannot be bypassed.
Q.19. What advise does the poet leave for the ambitious and the influential men of the society?
Ans: The poet advises the ambitious and influential not to look down upon the humble life of the villagers because neither their rank nor power nor beauty nor wealth will allow them to avoid death which waits equally for the rich and the poor.
Q.20. What personifications or abstractions has Gray made use of in this poem?
In this poem Gray has made use of certain personifications or abstractions which are mentioned below: ‘Ambition’ stands for ambitious men just as ‘Grandeur’ represents men of greatness and influence. In the same way ‘heraldry’, ‘power’, ‘beauty’ and ‘wealth’ stand respectively for men of noble families, men of power, women of beauty and men of wealth.
Q.21. How does the poet contrast the graves of the poor with the tombs of the rich?
Ans: The poor have no memorials or at best only frail memorials with names wrongly spelt and shapeless sculpture erected over their graves dug outside the church (i.e. in the churchyard) whereas the rich have magnificent marble monuments over their tombs placed just in the underground rooms (i.e. crypts) of the church with hymns sung in their praise along with the musical sounds of bells which loudly reverberate through the extensive corridor and patterned arched roof (of the main assembly hall) of the church.
Q.22. ‘Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath’-What is ‘mansion”? What is ‘fleeting breath”? By what is an attempt to call the ‘breath’ back made and what is its result?
Ans: ‘Mansion’ means a large grand house, usually belonging to a wealthy person. Metaphorically it means a comfortable and luxurious body (especially that of a rich man).
‘Breath’ metaphorically stands for soul or life. ‘Fleeting breath’ means soul (or life) quickly flying away from the body (while it prepares to meet death).
The descendants of the dead rich persons try to revive them by making beautiful urns with scenes of their life inscribed on them and life-like marble busts placed as memorials on their tombs. They also employ singers to sing loudly in their praise in churches as well as persons (especially poets in need of patrons) who repeat the honourable achievements of the dead and recite poems that are full of insincere praise for them.
But neither the um nor the bust nor ceremonial songs of praise nor compositions paying respect or flattery to them can create any reaction in the dumb men or make any appeal to the unresponsive and insensitive ears of the dead.
Q.23. What do ‘silent dust’ and ‘dull cold ear of Death’ mean?
Ans: ‘Silent dust’ means a dumb dead man, dust being considered as a material required for the construction of the body (remember also the line: ‘Dust thou wert, to dust returnest’).
The ‘dull cold ear of Death’ means the insensitive and unresponsive car of the dead man, ‘Death’ being an example of synecdoche, the variety used. being ‘abstract (‘death’) for the concrete’ (a dead man). The expression also becomes interesting as ‘Death’ also means the destroyer of life represented either as a skeleton or an old man wearing a black cloak and holding a scythe in the hand.
Q.24. ‘Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire-What does ‘heart’ mean here? What does the phrase ‘pregnant with celestial fire’ mean?
Ans: The word ‘heart’ here means a villager (now lying buried in the churchyard). It is an example of synecdoche, its species being ‘part (“heart”) for the whole’ (man).
The phrase ‘pregnant with celestial fire’ means ‘filled with genius’, genius (= great and exceptional capacity of the mind or imagination) having been described as a ‘celestial (= heavenly or divine) spark’; it also means ‘filled with divine inspiration or creative energy’.
Q.25. What is meant by ‘hands’? What possibilities does the poet speak of them?
Ans: The word ‘hands’ means villagers (who are now lying buried in the churchyard), it being a case of synecdoche where part (‘hands’) stands for the whole (men).
The poet has spoken of certain potentials (= possibilities) of the forefathers which could not come to fruition because of their poverty. He has stated that some of them might have controlled the administration of a big region (’empire’) quite efficiently while some might have been great poets or singers who with their lively creations would have raised the listeners to a state of ecstasy (“great joy and happiness).
Q.26. How does the poet describe ‘Knowledge’? What does the phrase ‘ample page’ mean? How did ‘Knowledge’ treat with the villagers?
Ans: The poet has described ‘Knowledge’ as a big scroll (= an ancient form of book written on a roll of paper or parchment). It is rich with treasures that has accumulated through the ages.
‘Ample page’ means a page having plenty of space in it.
Knowledge did not unroll its ‘ample page’ to the eyes of the villagers (now lying buried in the churchyard) for which they remained uneducated.
Q.27. What is the meaning of ‘penury’? How does the poet describe it? what was its effect on the dead villagers?
Ans: The word ‘penury’ means poverty.
Gray has described ‘penury’ as ‘chill’ meaning discouraging, depressing, inhospitable or unfriendly.
The effect of poverty on the dead villagers (now lying buried in the churchyard) was extremely harmful. It checked their enthusiasm for doing some noble deeds and turned the sympathy of their heart to be quite ineffective just as extreme cold turns a merry flowing stream to ice.
Q.28. How does the poet express the condition of the forefathers who remained unknown and unadmired?
Ans: The poet expresses the condition of the forefathers with the help of two fine and memorable images.
The dark and immeasurably deep floors of the ocean bear many gems of the brightest ray or colour but because of their position they remain unknown and unappreciated.
Many flowers bloom with delicate signs of redness on them but they remain unseen by human beings and they shed their sweet fragrance uselessly in the air of a desert or abandoned place, there having none to acknowledge and savour their smell.
Like these gems and flowers the forefathers, despite their qualities, also remained unknown by the larger society and unapprised by them.
Q.29. With what historic personages have the forefathers been compared? In which respects do the latter have similarities and differences with the former?
Ans: The forefathers lying buried in the country churchyard have been. compared with three historic personages-Hampden (a patriot). Milton (a poet) and Cromwell (a general).
[The forefathers have both similarities and differences with the three. While Hampden opposed the imposition of a tax (‘ship money’) by Charles- I without the approval of the parliament, village Hampden bravely opposed such a move on his fields by a local tyrant, though much less in power than the king. Milton lost no less than twenty of his best years in assisting the parliamentary cause and finally won fame and recognition for his poetic powers. The village Milton, too, had poetic powers but these could not be expressed because of poverty as a consequence of which he failed to win any renown. Cromwell was a military genius and caused the victory of the parliamentary forces against the royalist ones ending ultimately in the execution of Charles-I. The village Cromwell also had great military knowledge which, however, he could not apply on account of poverty. This surprisingly saved him from staining his hands in his countrymen’s blood which the actual Cromwell could not escape.
The country-Hampden opposed the tyrant of his fields though the latter was of much less stature or power than the king. The country-Milton composed poems verbally but as they did not come to light, he remained silent and without fame and honour.
The country-Cromwell knew the tactics of fighting well, but as he was given no chance to be absorbed in the army, he remained innocent of shedding the blood of his own countrymen.
Q.30. Their lot forbade lot forbid? Who are referred to here? What did their lot forbid?
Ans: The forefathers of the small village who lie buried in the churchyard are referred to here..
Their lot forbade them to claim praise from senators through their oratory, to spurn with hate the threats of suffering and destruction made by enemies, to distribute abundant wealth over an already prosperous land, to read their achievements as matters of historic importance in the eyes of the whole nation, to walk through blood in order to ascend the throne or to shut the gates of mercy on the needy people.
Q.31. What circumscription ( limitation; restriction) ultimately proved to be also advantageous to the villagers?
Ans: It is true that the unhappy state of their lot (i.e. poverty) did not let their virtues (i.e. merits) to develop properly. At the same time it is also true that their state of lot was responsible for the limitation of their crimes (i.e. sins). So they did not commit murders to gain a throne nor did they become. unkind to others to fulfil their ambition.
Q.32. What literary vices were the forefathers free from?
Ans: [In the eighteenth century a majority of poets were required to write flattering verses or to dedicate their works to a wealthy person who, in return for their labour, usually rewarded them with some gift of money. This system was known as patronage and it involved a number of literary vices. Such a poet, for example, knew certain unpleasant events of the patron’s life to be true and was asked to suppress them. It resulted in the appearance of sudden and acute pain in the poet’s heart together with struggles to conceal the signs of pain. Naturally a greater clumsy situation could never be thought of for him. Again, he knew another affair of the patron which was frankly shameful so that it raised red signs of shame on his cheek. This also was asked to be suppressed which again, needed for him to extinguish the signs of shame. This was another clumsy and trying situation for the poet. Finally, he was asked to treat the house of his luxury-loving and proud patron as a magnificent temple of worship and the patron himself as his Muse (i.e. inspiring force). All he had to do now was to fill the building with plenty of incense-smoke and to worship the deity by burning candles. In other words he was required to write lots of flattering poems to pay homage to his patron with insincere praise. The forefathers of the hamlet, however, did not have to face such ignoble and awkward situations as they were free from these kind of literary vices.]
Those who committed literary vices of the time had to experience struggles and sudden sharp pain arising out of hiding a truth deliberately. Besides they had to make attempts to extinguish signs of redness from checks for suppressing what was frankly shameful and to write plentiful flattering verses in order to place them at the feet of their luxury-loving and proud patrons. Since the forefathers had no such ambition they were spared such ignoble and humiliating experiences.
Q.33. How did the forefathers pass their time normally?
Ans: The forefathers lived far away from towns or cities where wildly excited crowds were frequently engaged in mean clashes or conflicts. Since their desires were modest, they never went off the right path. They continued the peaceful course (= onward movement) of their journey along the quiet and solitary valley of life. So the forefathers normally led a peaceful and unhurried life at a place far away from noisy and wild distractions.
Q.34. Why do the descendants build memorials over the tombs of their forefathers? With which are they decked? What do the memorials still implore?
Ans: The descendants of the forefathers build some frail memorials over their tombs in order that their bones may be saved from insult on being exposed to sun and rain or trampled by careless passersby.
The memorials of the villagers are decorated with some ‘uncouth’ (= rough; imperfect) rhymes and shapeless sculptures
The memorials still earnestly beg for some sigh from a passer-by which will be a sort of tribute to them.
Q.35. What is a Muse? What does the phrase ‘th’ unletter’d Muse’ mean here? What does she supply? Why does she strew ‘many a holy text?’
Ans: A Muse is any one of the nine goddesses (daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne) who protected and encouraged poetry, music, dancing, history, comedy, tragedy, epic, eloquence and astronomy.
‘The Muse’ Also means the poet’s (source of inspiration or the (female) spirit that inspires a poet. As the village poet himself is an illiterate person, so his Muse (i.e. inspiring spirit) is also ‘uneducated’. It may also mean the Muse of the uneducated country poet.
In a rich man’s memorial spaces are kept apart for ‘the place of fame and the ‘elegy’ ( song or verse of lamentation). The ‘unletter’d Muse’ provides in these places the names of the forefathers and the dates of their birth and death, but they are spelt incorrectly.
The Muse causes many passages from the Holy Book (i.e. the Bible) to be inscribed over the surface of the memorial in order that villagers who are righteous in their conduct may enable them to die without fear or fuss or regret.
Q.36. How does Gray describe the general condition of man?
Ans: Gray has described the general condition of man in a memorable way. According to him man is a prey (- victim) to silent forgetfulness after death (i.e. nobody remembers him after death). He is also a being whose life is full of pleasure as well as anxiety.
Q.37. What is the reaction of one. at the time of resigning (=surrendering) oneself to fate?
Ans: There was none, according to the poet, who ready to hand himself over to fate without hesitating to leave ‘the warm (= comfortable) precints’ (surroundings) of his cheerful life, and without casting a look (at the life and world he is leaving behind) that is not indicative of his earnest desire of staying here for some time more and delaying his departure for a little bit of time.
Q.38. What does a man require while dying? What does he long for even after death?
Ans: According to Gray the parting soul (i.e. the dying man) is in need of love and sympathy (‘fond breast’ and ‘pious drops’) from a dear and near one as well as from some devout person.
Even after death a man longs for living .When someone is interred in some tomb his inner ‘nature’ calls out loudly from there expressing his earnest desire to live.
In the same way when a person is cremated there exists in his ‘ashes’ (” the remains of a dead person after burning) their usual ‘fires’ (i.e. passions or deep desires), the most prominent of which is his yearning for living (once again).
Q.39. What was the nature of the poet? What did he do in the lines of the present poem? Who would enquire about his fate?
Ans: The poet gave thought and attention to the villagers who died unsung and unhonoured.
The poet wrote in these lines of the present poem about the simple life of the villagers.
Some ‘kindred spirit’ (i.e. a man having the same temperament as the poet’s) might enquire about the poet’s fate. When he would be lonely and under the control of contemplation (i.e. deep thought) he might make such an enquiry.
Q.40. What does the phrase ‘hoary-headed swain’ mean? What does he say about the doing of the poet in the morning and at noon?
Ans: The phrase the ‘hoary-headed swain’ means a grey-haired (i.e.old) rustic ( villager).
The poet was often seen early in the morning. He used to sweep away the dewdrops with his hasty steps because he wanted to reach the ‘upland lawn’ (i.e. the grassy plot of land situated at a hilly place) in time so that he could see the sun-rise.
At noon the poet used to stretch his tired body at full length at the foot of the drooping beech tree and look intently at the small stream that passed by with a murmurous sound.
Q.41. How did the poet present himself ‘hard by yon wood’?
Ans: The poet presented a sorrowful figure when he walked aimlessly close by that wood ( an area full of growing trees but not so extensive as a forest) in order to mutter his capricious thoughts. Now smiling as in scorn, now drooping, he would look miserable and pale like one who had been forlorn (abandoned) or distracted with anxiety or frustrated in a kind of love bound to end in disappointment.
Q.42. How was the poet brought towards the church after death?
Ans: When the poet died, his body was covered in black. Funeral songs (‘dirges’) were sung as his coffin was being slowly brought towards the church.
Q.43. What does the hoary-headed swain ask the kindred spirit to do? What do the poet and the kindred spirit stand for?
Ans: The grey haired rustic asks the person with the same temperament as the poet’s to come near and read what has been inscribed on the gravestone lying ‘beneath the aged (- old) thorn’ (= a kind of tree).
the poet stands for Richard West, Gray’s bosom friend, in whose memory the present elegy has been written. Alternatively, the poet stands for Gray himself.
The ‘kindred spirit’ is Gray himself, West’s alter ego (= the second self). Ultimately, however, West merges in Gray who, in turn, merges in the general fate of the simple and poor villagers. Alternatively, ‘the kindred spirit’ stands for one who has the same poetic temperament and gloomy ( melancholy) disposition as Gray’s and it is he who acquires about Gray’s fate.
Q.44. What is an epitaph? How does it describe the poet?
Ans: An epitaph is words inscribed on one’s tombstone.
The epitaph describes the poet as a youth who was neither fortunate (ie. rich) nor famous. Impartial knowledge did not disapprove of his “humble birth’ (i.e. birth in an ordinary family) and melancholy claimed him to be one close to her (i.e. he was melancholic by nature.)
Q.45. What is ‘bounty’? What was the nature of the poet’s bounty? What did he get from Heaven for it? What did he give to ‘misery”? What did he wish and going from Heaven?
Ans: ‘Bounty’ means large heartedness. But here the word is used in its etymological sense, meaning goodness or virtue.
The poet’s bounty (- goodness) was really very large.
He got from Heaven (i.e. God) a ‘recompense’ ( gift) that was in right proportion to his goodness (i.e. the gift he got from God was as large as his goodness.)
He gave to misery (i.e. a man suffering from misery) all he had with him. which was no more than a tear (i.e. sympathy). (In short, this means that he could offer only sympathy to a miserable man but no material things).
All he wished (= wanted) from Heaven was a genuine friend and that he got in the personality of Richard West, a class-mate.
Q.46. Why is a warning made not to reveal his merits or to draw out his faults further? What does the ‘dread abode’ mean?
Ans: A warning is made not to seek the poet’s merits or to draw out his faults further as it is pointless to do so since the situation cannot be altered any longer after death and since it is a part of nature that someone’s merits and defects should remain as they are (i.e. outside the view of human beings) so that they can alone be taken care of by God. Hence some warning is made not to interfere with what has been destined to man.
The word ‘dread abode’ means a fearful dwelling-place (i.e. the grave).
Q.47. ‘There they alike in trembling hope repose- What do “repose’ and ‘alike’ mean? Which do repose and where? What does the phrase. ‘trembling hope’ signify?
Ans: The word ‘repose’ means to rest or to sleep. The word “alike’ means equally, in the same manner.
Both merits ( qualities; virtues) and defects (= faults; sins) repose in the bosom (breast) of their Father who is none other than God Himself. The phrase ‘trembling hope’ means hope that is not steady but that which is associated with some sort of apprehension. While there is the hope covered in black cloth, being carried towards the church with funeral songs (‘dirges’) sung in his memory.
The person who had the same temperament as the poet’s enquired about his fate when he was led by ‘lonely contemplation’ (i.e. when he felt lonely and full of deep thought).
Hello, Viewers! Besides being the Founder and Owner of this website, I am a Government Officer. As a hardcore literary lover, I am pursuing my dream by writing notes and articles related to Literature. Drop me a line anytime, whether it’s about any queries or demands or just to share your well-being. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by!