GRAY, THOMAS ( 1716-71 ) . An English poet, born in Cornhill, London, December 26, 1716. His father, Philip Gray, a money scrivener, was of a. disposition so violent that his wife was obliged for a time to separate from him, and it was mainly through her exertions that the boy was educated at school and college. In 1727 he was sent to Eton, where he formed a close friendship with Horace Walpole, son of the Prime Minister. In 1734 he entered Peterhouse, Cambridge. He disliked the mathematics and philosophy of the curriculum, and left without a degree. In 1739 be went abroad, in company with Horace Walpole. They spent more than two years in France and in Italy, visiting places of interest and exploring picture galleries. The two friends quarreled, and Gray returned alone (September, 1741). Three years later the breach was healed. In the meantime Gray's father had died (1741), and his mother had settled at Stoke Poges. To please her, Gray returned to Peter house, where he took the degree LL.B. in 1743. Little interested in law, he settled down for six years to a severe study of Greek literature. Henceforth Cambridge was his home, though he spent two years (1759-61) in London, reading in the British Museum. In 1756 he changed his residence from Peterhouse to Pembroke. His holidays he passed with his mother at Stoke Poges, with Walpole at Strawberry Hill, and with other friends. His mother, to whom he was tenderly attached, died in 1753, and was buried at Stoke Poges. In 1757 he received the offer of the laureateship, but declined. Feeling strongly the romantic impulse, he began about 1760 to be interested in early English poetry, and then in Celtic and Norse literature. In 1768 he was ap
pointed professor of history and 'modern lan guages at Cambridge, at a salary of £371; but he never lectured. During his later life he made several tours, the most notable being to Glamis Castle (1765) and to the English Lakes (1769). He died at Cambridge, July 30, 1771, and was buried at Stoke Poges.
Gray was a shy man, given to melancholy; he formed few but close friendships. Having in herited from his father a small fortune, he was able to devote his life to study. He has the reputation of being, after Milton, the most learned of English poets. He wrote but little; yet some of these few poems are of perfect finish. His first English poem to be published was the Ode to Eton College (1747), followed the next year by "Ode to Spring" and "On the Death of a Favourite Cat." "The Elegy Written in a. Coun try Churchyard," begun in 1742, finished at Stoke Poges in 1750, was published in 1751. This poem. which has touched the popular heart, is one of the most perfect in our literature. It was followed in 1757 by the great Pindaric odes, "The Progress of Poesy" and "The Bard." In 1768 he published the first collected edition of his poems, among which were the romantic pieces, "The Fatal Sisters" and "The Descent of Odin." He also wrote good Latin verse. Consult: Gosse, Thomas Gray, "English Men of Letters Series" (London, 1882) ; Arnold's essay on Gray in Ward, English Poets, vol. iii. (London, 1880-83) ; The Works of Thomas Gray in Prose and Verse, edited by Gosse (ib., 1884) ; Tovey, Letters of Gray, Bohn's Library (ib., 1900).