The gothic novel- Thomas Gray, Elegy written in a country churchyard, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica The gothic novel- Thomas Gray, Elegy written in a country churchyard e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The gothic novel: Thomas Gray, Elegy written in a country churchyard Key points - Information about Thomas Gray - The Elegy - Elegy written in a country churchyard as genre: the elegy - Elegy written in a country churchyard: text and translation - Elegy written in a country churchyard: analysis - Critic’s corner: Elegy unto epitaph: print culture and commemorative practice in Gray’s Elegy Information about Thomas Gray - Life and works Thomas Gray (1716-1771) was born in Cornhill, London. His father was a scrivener and his mother kept a milliner's shop. He was educated at Eton where he met Horace Walpole, son of the great Prime Minister Robert Walpole. Together they toured France and Italy for about three years. When Gray returned to England, he settled down in Cambridge, where he lived the rest of his life except for occasional trips to the Lake District and Scotland in search for 'the Sublime' and 'the Beautiful': In 1751 his friend Walpole helped him to publish Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, which soon became very popular. Gray published other poems in Odes in 1757. The Bard and The Progress of Poesy reflect Gray's interest in Celtic and Icelandic mythology and English literary history. In the same year he was offered the Poet Laureateship but turned it down. In 1768 he became Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, where he died in 1771. - A transitional poet During his time Gray was considered one of the greatest scholars in Europe. His interest in simple, primitive culture, as well as in country life and humble people, and his use of the first person singular to express emotions, foreshadowed some of the trends of the Romantic movement. Generally speaking, Gray is regarded as a transitional poet because, even though in choice of subject-matter he rejected neoclassic tradition, he was still linked to it in style as testified by his use of poetic diction and his conviction that everyday language cannot be the language of poetry. The Elegy What is an elegy? Elegy is a kind of poem lamenting someone's death or meditating on death in general In contrast to most of the neo-classical writers only interested in Man as a social being rather than an individual with his own soul, they escaped in nature or in the humble life of the country people, rediscovering the pleasure of meditation. Elegy written in a country churchyard as genre: the elegy The poem is not a conventional part of the Classical genre of Theocritan elegy, because it does not mourn an individual. The use of "elegy" is related to the poem relying on the concept of lacrimae rerum, or disquiet regarding the human condition. The poem lacks many standard features of the elegy: an invocation, mourners, flowers, and shepherds. The theme does not emphasise loss as do other elegies, and its natural setting is not a primary component of its theme. Through the "Epitaph" at the end, it can be included in the tradition as a memorial poem, and it contains thematic elements of the elegiac genre, especially mourning. The poem lacks many of the ornamental aspects found in that poem. Gray's is natural, whereas Milton's is more artificially designed. Much of the poem deals with questions that were linked to Gray's own life; during the poem's composition, he was confronted with the death of others and questioned his own mortality. Although universal in its statements on life and death, the poem was grounded in Gray's feelings about his own life, and served as an epitaph for himself. As such, it falls within an old poetic tradition of poets contemplating their legacy. The poem, as an elegy, also serves to lament the death of others, including West, though at a remove. This is not to say that Gray's poem was like others of the graveyard school of poetry; instead, Gray tried to avoid a description that would evoke the horror common to other poems in the elegiac tradition. This is compounded further by the narrator trying to avoid an emotional response to death, by relying on rhetorical questions and discussing what his surroundings lack. The performance is connected with the several odes that Gray also wrote and those of Joseph Warton and William Collins. Elegy written in a country churchyard: text and translation The Elegy, probably composed to commemorate the death of his friend Richard West in 1742, opens on the contemplation of a small country cemetery at dusk - probably that of Stoke Poges, in Buckinghamshire - which leads Gray to reflect on the dead who are buried there. The poem begins in a churchyard with a speaker who is describing his surroundings in vivid detail. The speaker emphasises both aural and visual sensations as he examines the area in relation to himself: Now, since the text is very long, we are going to read just the translation provided by Marco Michelini. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. pointless for Gray to flaunt his wealth (e.g. with lavish funeral monuments) or - even worse - to make fun of the simpler, more modest people. As stated in vv. 33-36: The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault, If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise. Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust. Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death? Quel che per sangue o per poter s'onora, quanto ricchezza oppur beltà dar possa, tutto egualmente attende l'ultim'ora: della gloria '1 sentier guida alla fossa. Né voi, o Alteri, a lor colpa imputate, se non orna un trofeo l'ossa sepolte, se non risuonan d'inni le navate. se gonfie lodi non riempion le volte. Può un 'urna incisa o un busto al ver conforme richiamar l'alma a la sua spoglia ignuda? Può Onore rianimar cener che dorme, o l'orecchio blandir di Morte cruda? Elegy written in a country churchyard: text and translation Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire: Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre. But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page Rich with the spoils of time did ne 'er unroll; Chill Penury repressed their noble rage, And froze the genial current of the soul. As the poem continues, the speaker begins to focus less on the countryside and more on his immediate surroundings. His descriptions move from sensations to his own thoughts as he begins to emphasise what is not present in the scene; he contrasts an obscure country life with a life that is remembered. This contemplation provokes the speaker's thoughts on the natural process of wastage and unfulfilled potential. Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear: Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Giaccion forse in quest'angolo negletto spirti da ardor divino riscaldati: Mani che ben lo scettro avrieno retto, o destato la cetra a carmi alati. Ma la Dottrina non apri '1 volume che '1 tempo di sue spoglie orno e distinse, tarpò al bell'estro povertà le piume, del genio '1 fonte con il gelo strinse. Molte gemme purissime e lucenti entro ai suoi cupi abissi '1 mare asconde: nascon non visti molti fiori e ai venti spargono '1 lor profumo in erme sponde. Elegy written in a country churchyard: text and translation All earthly possessions (nobility, power, outward beauty, accumulated goods) are therefore useless and illusory. The theme of the substantial equality of men is also reaffirmed a little further on (vv. 45-76), where Gray develops the argument that many of the unknowns buried in the country cemetery before his eyes could have become famous, for better or worse, if they had not been limited by the circumstances of being born in a poor, underdeveloped environment (vv. 59-60: 'Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest | Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood'). Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast The little tvrant of his fields withstood: Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. The applause of listening senates to command. The threats of pain and ruin to despise, To scatter plenty o ‘er a smiling land, And read their history in a nation's eyes, Their lot forbade: nor circumscribed alone Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined; Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne, And shut the gates of mercy on mankind. Un Hampden contadino qui, che insorse e al piccolo tiranno oppose '1 petto, o un Milton ignorato, o un Cromwell forse. giace, del sangue dei fratelli netto. Destare '1 plauso in un Senato attento, d'onta e di duolo non temer minaccia, sparger dovizie, e a un popolo contento legger la storia di lor vita in faccia, vietò loro la sorte, che represse tanto lor colpe che virtu; ad un trono di giunger tra i massacri non concesse: e sbarrò 'l passo alla pietà e al perdono; Elegy written in a country churchyard: text and translation The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide, To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame, Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learned to stray; Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. In the second part of the Elegy, Gray particularly develops the sentimental and pathetic aspects of the tomb: the contemplation of the humble and crude tombs of the village peasants (vv. 77-92) suggests to the poet the image that the dead man asks those passing by for at least a tear or a sigh for his fate. Affection for the deceased finds an ideal reference point in the grave, while the voice of Nature rises from it. Yet even these bones from insult to protect Some frail memorial still erected nigh. With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. di celare 'l rimorso al proprio core: di smorzare 'l pudor nel volto asceso; Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn. Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love. "One morn I missed him on the customed hill. Along the heath and near his favourite tree; Another came; nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he: "The next with dirges due in sad array Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne. Approach and read (for thou can'st read) the lay. Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn." Fra sé parlando, o con amaro riso, movea verso quel bosco '1 passo errante, or pallido per duolo, o mesto in Viso, o pien di cure, o disperato amante Ma un di nol vidi in su l'usato clivo. né lungo l'erta, o al caro albero appresso; venne poi l'altro di, ma accanto al rivo non lo vid io, né al prato, o al bosco stesso E 'l terzo di, con lenta fila e tetra. portar lo vidi al tempio: or t'avvicina e leggi, tu che 'l sai, scolpito in pietra, lo scritto, sotto quell'antica spina.» Elegy written in a country churchyard: text and translation - The Epitaph The Elegy closes with a three-stanza Epitaph (vv. 117-128) describing the poet's grave, over which the narrator is meditating. Here it is explained that the poet was young and unknown (v. 118: 'a youth to fortune and to fame unknown'), afflicted by melancholy but with a good and sincere soul, who found in death a friend. The epitaph reveals that the poet whose grave is the focus of the poem was unknown and obscure. Circumstance kept the poet from becoming something greater, and he was separated from others because he was unable to join in the common affairs of their life: Here rests his head upon the lap of earth A youth to fortune and to fame unknown. Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth, And Melancholy marked him for her own. Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, Heaven did a recompense as largely send: He gave to Misery all he had, a tear He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend. No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repose) The bosom of his Father and his God - L'epitaffio Oui dorme, in seno della terra, 'I frale d'un giovane a fortuna e a fama ignoto. Non ne sprezzò I Saper l'umil natale, Melanconia ne fece un suo devoto. Fu generoso e franco, e 'I ciel di ciò ampia mercede gliene diè: al mendico quanto poté, una lacrima, donò: ebbe dal ciel (ciò che bramò) un amico. Or non si cerchi d'evocar quell'opre onde fu buono, o colpe onde fu rio. Trepide in speme un denso vel le copre nel seno del suo Padre, del suo Dio. Elegy written in a country churchyard: analysis Gray's Elegy written in a country churchyard echoes many other English poems of the time that explore the theme of death in order to make it more familiar to their audience; despite the existence of this tradition, Gray does not linger on the classical symbolic images of death. His description of places, the moon, birds and nature lacks the gloomy connotation that characterises other contemporary poems, so much so that Gray even avoids using the term 'grave', replacing it with euphemisms. Rather, the fundamental trait of the Elegy is that of melancholy, which brings this poem closer to the European pre-Romantic climate and to Rousseau's thought, with its appeal to the importance of feelings and passions. - Themes So, has we have seen, in 1742 one of Gray's best friends, Richard West, died. The poet was deeply affected by this event and in the same year he started to write the Elegy. The traditional form of the elegy, which usually laments someone's death, is used by Gray as a vehicle for meditation on universal themes such as man's destiny, equality, worldly ambition and humility. - Meditative mood The poem opens with the contemplation of a country churchyard at twilight, when the setting sun gives way to darkness. The scene, described through the poet's eyes, is vividly conveyed thanks to the interplay of assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and carefully chosen images; the feeling of melancholy created by the atmosphere leads the poet to a meditation on the 'rude forefathers’, the village dead. This thought gives him the chance to describe the life of rural people and, at the same time, to reflect on the circumstances that prevented these people from becoming famous but also from doing great evil or falling prey to ambition. Finally, the poet meditates on the value of the tomb as a link, the expression of affection and friendship between the living and the dead. In the final stanzas the poet's thought turns to his own death; in the epitaph he decides to leave for people to read after his death, he says that he had a melancholy nature and a sincere soul and that he is now resting with God. - A new sensibility The Elegy remains one of the most important poems in English literature. On the one hand it marks the beginning of a new sensibility and introduces a new figure of the poet, who is the speaking voice in the poem, no longer the spokesman of fashionable city tastes like Pope but someone turning to country life and solitude for inspiration. The poem became very popular throughout Europe; in Italy it was translated by Melchiorre Cesarotti (1730-1808), and the poet Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827) may have drawn inspiration from it when writing Dei Sepolcri (1807). - Style Despite the pre-romantic themes, Gray's style is certainly very classical and takes many cues from tradition, in accordance with the poet's own conviction that 'the language of the age is never the language of poetry'. Despite the title, the form is not really that of the, but rather that of the ode. From the model of the elegy, then, the concept of reflection on death and the meaning of the human condition is taken up more than the structure. The Elegy written in a country cemetery is composed in heroic quatrains, i.e. quatrains in iambic pentameter with alternating ABAB rhyme, infact the poem actively relied on "English" techniques and language, and the ABAB rhyme scheme was common to English poetry and used throughout the 16th century. Almost each stanza is complete in itself; it is a whole statement standing on its own and at the same time it is part of the general development of the poem. Any foreign diction that Gray relied on was merged with English words and phrases to give them an "English" feel. Many of the foreign words Gray adapted were previously used by Shakespeare or Milton, securing an "English" tone, and he emphasised monosyllabic words throughout his elegy to add a rustic English tone. Critic’s corner: Elegy unto epitaph: print culture and commemorative practice in Gray’s Elegy Now, let us look together at Michele Turner Sharp's analysis, published in Papers on Language and Literature, 2002.