Thomas Gray
English poet whose Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is one of the most quoted poems in English. He is a transitional figure between Augustan and Romantic sensibilities.
Works
- Elegy Written in a Country ChurchyardMeditative elegy on mortality and human achievement set in a rural country churchyard
- Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton CollegeNostalgic ode reflecting on the speaker's childhood at Eton College with melancholy beauty
- The Progress of PoesyOde tracing poetry's progress from ancient Greece to modern times in grand style