Gray's elegy

Printed at the Essex House Press under the direction of C.R. Ashbee. Frontispiece illustrated by George Thompson. Hand colored initials and frontispiece. This is copy number 29.LL PY I. HE curfew tolls the knell of parting day; Whe lowing herd — windsslowly o’er thelea; ithe ploughman homeward plods his weary way, fond darkness and to me. leaves the world to II. OW fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds; $ave where the beetle wheels his droning flight,And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds; pra aT ayh @ III. AVE that, from yonder ivy- mantled tower, fhe moping owl does to the moon com- ; plain 4pf such as, wand’ring near her secret: bower, Molest her ancient solitary reign. IV. " ye) (o| VI. ENEATHthose rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, ach in his narrow ¢ ral for ever laid, Whe fathers of the hamlet sleep. rude fore- | | ~ \sickle yield; Wheir furrow oft .#) the stub glebe born has broke: ye ehighe rast Wow jocund did they drive a-field! Klow bow’d the woods VIII. breezy call of incense- built shed, ‘Whe cock’s shrill clarion ,ortheechoing horn, Nomoreshall rouse them from their lowly bed. ET not Ambition mock their useful toil, /Fheir homely joys and destiny obscure; Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile [Phe short and simple annals of the Poor. VI. IX. breathing morn, fhe swallow twitt’ring from LTE FT did the harvest to their beneath their sturdy stroke! V. 1 HE | the straw- OR them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, dr busy housewife ply her evening care; No children run to lisp their es s return, @r climb his knees the envied kiss to share’ 4 HE boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er a@ gave, Await alike th’ inevitable soul —he paths of glory lead but to the grave. sae Pie . 3 _ @ _ ERHAPS with dauntless breast [he lit- spot is laid $ome heart once tle tyrant of his fields with- pregnant with celestial fire; Wands, thattherod of empire might have sway’d, #>r wak’d to ecstasy the living lyre. 6 OME village-Hampden,that in this neglected - @ ’ stood; $ome mute inglorious Milton here may rest, fome guiltless of his country’s blood. Cromwell, XVI. XIX. H’ applause of list’ning senates tocommand, Ihe threats | of pain and ruin to despise,'o i © scatter plenty o’era smiling land, And read their hist’ry in a nation’s eyes, AR FROM the madding crowd’s ignoble strife, Wheir sober wishes never learn’d to 2 Y stray; Along the cool seques- ter’d vale of life [hey kept the noiseless tenour of their way. XVII. | Ny XX. HEIR lot forbade: nor circumscribedalone Their growing virtues, but their crimes ET ev’n these bones from insult to protect $ome frail memorial still erected nigh, through slaughter to a throne, And shut shapeless sculpture deck’d, [mplores the passing tribute of a sigh. XVIII. XXI. a = © Jet @ confined; )Forbade to wade the gates of mercy on mankind; iy With uncouth rhymes and Le] \| HE struggling pangs of conihe y scious ~~ truth to hide; kindled at the Muse’s flame. | 8 Wo quench the blushes of ingenuous shame; @r heap the shrine of luxury and pride With Wj HEIRname,theiryears,spelt incense C \ by th’ unletter’d Muse, [fhe place of fame and elegy sup@ ply: And. many a holy text around she strews, hat moralist to die. teach the rustic XXII. XXV. OR who, to dumb forgetful- ness a prey, anxious being Mhis APLY pleasing e’er resign’d, SW heft the warm precincts of the cheerful day, Hor cast one longing ling’ring look behind? swain may say— Opft have the sun upsteps the dews away, fo meet on the upland lawn. XXVI. E at the foot of yonoe beech, What pong roots wreathes its old fantastic at so high, Hflis listless length N some fond breast the part- ing soul relies, $ome pious 50W hoary-headed we seen him at the peep of dawn Iprushing with hasty ' a XXIII. drops the closing eye requires; itv’n from the tomb the voice some of Nature cries, Ev’n in our ashes live thei r wonted fires, And pore upnoontide would he stretch, XXIV. XXxVII. . on the brook that babbles by INDIA OR thee, who, mindful of th’ unhonour’d Dead, Post in these lines their artless tale relate; MF chance, by lonely contemplation led, ome kindred spir it shall inquire thy fate 3 Io : ow smilARDby you wood,n 2. ing ee ing asin scorn, Mutt’r = 1% wayward fancies he A rove; Now drooping, = crazed wit car ; wan. likeone forlorn, r > e. or cross’d in hopeless lov biel Sle ue, wood was he; on the rite yet the Se ss a ERE rests his head upon the lap of Earth, A Youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown: Hair Science frown’d not on hisinfais birth, And Melancholy mark’d him for her own. XXIX. HE next, with dirges due in sad array flow through the church-yard path wesaw him ccd eo THE EPITAPH. XXVIII. NE morn I miss’d him the custom’d hill, Along heath, and near his fay tree; Adother came; nor aide he rill, Hor up the lawn, nor at edi borne. Approach & read (for ew canst read) the lay, (raved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.” : at © ARGE was his bounty, and his soul sincere; Mleav’n did arecompense as largely send: iad Hie gave to Mis’ry (all he had) a tear; We gain’d on he wished) a friend. Heaven, (‘twas all ’ O farther seek his merits to disclose, r draw his frailties fromtheir dread abode(fhere they alike in trembling hope repose) the God. bosom of his Father and his -@& THUS ENDS GRAY’S ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD. THE FRONTISPIECE SHOWING. THE TOMB OF THE POET AT STOKE POGIS CHURCH IS BY GEORGE THOMSON, & THE WHOLE IS PRINTED AMONG THE GREAT POEMS. OF THE LANGUAGE AT THE ESSEX HOUSE PRESS,UNDER THECARE OF C. R. ASHBEE, AN. DOM. MD CCCC, AQILNW INDIA Published by Epwarp ArRNnoLp, 37 Bedford Street, Strand. 125 copiesonly, & allon vellum. This copy is No, -7 "be rein vat zeus Pt Ma aais, A yci