Thomas Gray facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas Gray
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Portrait by John Giles Eccardt, 1747–1748
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| Born | 26 December 1716 Cornhill, London, England |
| Died | 30 July 1771 (aged 54) Cambridge, England |
| Occupation | Poet, historian |
| Alma mater | Peterhouse, Cambridge |
Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published in 1751.
Gray was a self-critical writer who published only 13 poems in his lifetime, despite being very popular. He was even offered the position of Poet Laureate in 1757, though he declined. His writing is conventionally considered to be pre-Romantic but recent critical developments deny such teleological classification.
Images for kids
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Monument, in Stoke Poges, inscribed with Gray's Elegy
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William Blake's illustration for Thomas Gray
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The Hours by Maria Cosway, an illustration to Gray's poem Ode on the Spring, referring to the lines "Lo! where the rosy-bosomed Hours, Fair Venus' train, appear"
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Plaque adjacent to the tomb of Thomas Gray in Stoke Poges Churchyard
