3. Line-by-Line Explanation
3.1 Stanza 1 (Lines 1–4)
Line 1: “The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,”
Literal Meaning: The evening bell rings, marking the end of the day.
Symbolic Meaning: The bell is like a funeral knell — symbolising both the death of the day and the inevitability of human death.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Metaphor, Alliteration (“curfew… knell”).
Line 2: “The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,”
Literal Meaning: Cows return slowly across the meadow.
Symbolic Meaning: The peaceful return of creatures reflects the natural cycle of life.
Figures of Speech: Pastoral imagery, Onomatopoeia (“lowing”).
Line 3: “The plowman homeward plods his weary way,”
Literal Meaning: A farmer trudges home after his day’s work.
Symbolic Meaning: Represents the common man’s labor and eventual rest in death.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration (“plowman… plods”), Symbolism.
Line 4: “And leaves the world to darkness and to me.”
Literal Meaning: Night falls, leaving the poet alone.
Symbolic Meaning: The solitude of evening mirrors the solitude of mortality and meditation.
Figures of Speech: Personification (darkness as an active presence).
3.2 Stanza 2 (Lines 5–8)
Line 5: “Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,”
Literal Meaning: The view of the land dims as daylight fades.
Symbolic Meaning: The fading light represents the fading of life.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Imagery.
Line 6: “And all the air a solemn stillness holds,”
Literal Meaning: The air becomes quiet and calm.
Symbolic Meaning: Stillness = atmosphere of reverence, like a church or grave.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“stillness holds”).
Line 7: “Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,”
Literal Meaning:Only the sound of a beetle’s droning flight breaks the silence.
Symbolic Meaning: Small, insignificant life continues even in stillness, reflecting life’s continuity amidst death.
Figures of Speech: Onomatopoeia (“droning”), Imagery.
Line 8: “And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.”
Literal Meaning:The faint bells of sheep echo from the distant hills.
Symbolic Meaning: Suggests peace and eternal rest, preparing the mind for reflections on the dead.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“tinklings lull”), Euphony.
3.3 Stanza 3 (Lines 9–12)
Line 9: “Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower”
Literal Meaning:Except for the sound from an old ivy-covered church tower.
Symbolic Meaning: The tower symbolizes tradition, continuity, and the presence of death (linked to the churchyard).
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Symbolism.
Line 10: “The moping owl does to the moon complain”
Literal Meaning:An owl hoots mournfully at the moon.
Symbolic Meaning: Owl = bird of death and solitude; voice of mourning in the graveyard.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“complain”), Symbolism.
Line 11: “Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,”
Literal Meaning:The owl complains of people intruding near her nesting place.
Symbolic Meaning: Represents the poet intruding into the realm of the dead with his meditation.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Personification.
Line 12: “Molest her ancient solitary reign.”
Literal Meaning:The owl resents disturbance in her lonely domain.
Symbolic Meaning: The solitary reign = death’s dominion; poet is reflecting on mortality.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Personification, Alliteration (“solitary… reign”).
3.4 Stanza 4 (Lines 13–16)
Line 13: “Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,”
Literal Meaning:Under the elm and yew trees in the churchyard.
Symbolic Meaning: Yew = traditional tree of death and mourning, marking graves.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Symbolism, Imagery.
Line 14: “Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,”
Literal Meaning:The grass rises over graves.
Symbolic Meaning: Reminder of bodily decay and the inevitability of death.
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Metaphor.
Line 15: “Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,”
Literal Meaning:Each villager lies buried in a grave.
Symbolic Meaning: “Narrow cell” = coffin, but also prison of mortality.
Figures of Speech: Euphemism, Metaphor.
Line 16: “The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.”
Literal Meaning:The simple ancestors of the village rest here.
Symbolic Meaning: Emphasizes dignity of humble lives, not just kings and nobles.
Figures of Speech: Euphemism (“sleep” for death), Alliteration.
3.5 Stanza 5 (Lines 17–20)
Line 17: “The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,”
Literal Meaning:Morning air, fresh and fragrant, calls.
Symbolic Meaning: Represents life and renewal, which no longer rouses the dead.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Imagery.
Line 18: “The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,”
Literal Meaning:Swallows sing from barns.
Symbolic Meaning: Daily rhythms of life that pass the dead by.
Figures of Speech: Onomatopoeia (“twittering”), Pastoral Imagery.
Line 19: “The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,”
Literal Meaning:Rooster’s call or hunting horn.
Symbolic Meaning: Calls to work or sport, no longer heard by the dead.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (clarion = trumpet), Onomatopoeia.
Line 20: “No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.”
Literal Meaning:The dead will never rise to daily life again.
Symbolic Meaning: Death is eternal rest; the “lowly bed” is both grave and humble status.
Figures of Speech: Euphemism, Irony.
3.6 Stanza 6 (Lines 21–24)
Line 21: “For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,”
Literal Meaning:They will no longer gather at a warm fire.
Symbolic Meaning: The warmth of family life is lost forever.
Figures of Speech: Symbolism, Imagery.
Line 22: “Or busy housewife ply her evening care;”
Literal Meaning:No wife will care for them at night.
Symbolic Meaning: Domestic bonds and love end with death.
Figures of Speech: Synecdoche (housewife = family life).
Line 23: “No children run to lisp their sire’s return,”
Literal Meaning:Children won’t greet their father.
Symbolic Meaning: Loss of affection and generational continuity.
Figures of Speech: Pathos, Symbolism.
Line 24: “Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.”
Literal Meaning:Children won’t climb on his lap for a kiss.
Symbolic Meaning: Evokes tenderness of family bonds, now cut off.
Figures of Speech: Sentimental imagery, Personification.
3.7 Stanza 7 (Lines 25–28)
Line 25: “Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,”
Literal Meaning:Often they reaped the fields at harvest with their sickles.
Symbolic Meaning: Their lives were rooted in honest, simple labor.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Personification (harvest “yields”), Synecdoche (sickle for work).
Line 26: “Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;”
Literal Meaning:They plowed the stubborn soil many times.
Symbolic Meaning: Represents toil, perseverance, and connection to the earth.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“stubborn glebe” = hard land resisting).
Line 27: “How jocund did they drive their team afield!”
Literal Meaning:They cheerfully drove oxen to plow.
Symbolic Meaning: Simple joys in hard but fruitful rural life.
Figures of Speech: Exclamation (tone of admiration), Pastoral imagery.
Line 28: “How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!”
Literal Meaning:Trees bent under their axe strokes.
Symbolic Meaning: Their strength and labor shaped nature itself.
Figures of Speech: Hyperbole, Personification.
3.8 Stanza 8 (Lines 29–32)
Line 29: “Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,”
Literal Meaning:Do not let ambitious people scorn their work.
Symbolic Meaning: Rebuke to aristocrats who despise rural labor.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Ambition), Apostrophe.
Line 30: “Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;”
Literal Meaning:Their simple joys and humble fate.
Symbolic Meaning: Value in obscurity and simplicity.
Figures of Speech: Contrast, Antithesis.
Line 31: “Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile”
Literal Meaning:Nor let great people sneer at them.
Symbolic Meaning: Criticism of pride and aristocratic arrogance.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Grandeur).
Line 32: “The short and simple annals of the poor.”
Literal Meaning:Their humble stories are brief and plain.
Symbolic Meaning: Dignity lies in simplicity, not grandeur.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration (“short… simple”), Irony.
3.9 Stanza 9 (Lines 33–36)
Line 33: “The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,”
Literal Meaning:Nobility and power may boast.
Symbolic Meaning: Wealth and aristocracy are ultimately vain.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration, Symbolism.
Line 34: “And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,”
Literal Meaning:Beauty and wealth bring privileges.
Symbolic Meaning: These cannot escape death.
Figures of Speech: Parallelism, Irony.
Line 35: “Awaits alike th’ inevitable hour:”
Literal Meaning:All await death.
Symbolic Meaning: Death equalizes all — peasants and kings.
Figures of Speech: Euphemism (“inevitable hour”), Universal truth (aphorism).
Line 36: “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
Literal Meaning:Even glorious lives end in death.
Symbolic Meaning: Famous line — ultimate vanity of ambition.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Paradox, Antithesis.
3.10 Stanza 10 (Lines 37–40)
Line 37: “Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault,”
Literal Meaning:Proud people should not blame the poor for lacking monuments.
Symbolic Meaning: Dignity of common lives should not be judged by the absence of worldly honor.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Apostrophe (address to the Proud), Personification.
Line 38: “If Memory o’er their tomb no trophies raise,”
Literal Meaning:No grand tombs or monuments stand over their graves.
Symbolic Meaning: Humility is not disgrace; true virtue needs no marble trophy.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Memory “raises” trophies).
Line 39: “Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault”
Literal Meaning:Unlike nobles buried in grand cathedrals.
Symbolic Meaning: Contrast between aristocratic splendor and rural simplicity.
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Architectural metaphor.
Line 40: “The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.”
Literal Meaning:Nobles are praised with church music at funerals.
Symbolic Meaning: Empty grandeur versus silent dignity of the poor.
Figures of Speech: Personification (anthem “swells”), Contrast.
3.11 Stanza 11 (Lines 41–44)
Line 41: “Can storied urn or animated bust”
Literal Meaning:Can carved urns or busts revive the dead?
Symbolic Meaning: Artistic monuments cannot conquer death.
Figures of Speech: Rhetorical Question, Personification.
Line 42: “Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?”
Literal Meaning:Can they call back the soul to the body?
Symbolic Meaning: Mortality cannot be reversed by human pride.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“mansion” = body), Rhetorical Question.
Line 43: “Can Honour’s voice provoke the silent dust,”
Literal Meaning:Can honor make the dead respond?
Symbolic Meaning: Fame is powerless before death.
Figures of Speech: Personification (dust = dead), Rhetorical Question.
Line 44: “Or Flatt’ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?”
Literal Meaning:Can flattery move Death?
Symbolic Meaning: Death is deaf to all pride, praise, or persuasion.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Irony, Rhetorical Question.
3.12 Stanza 12 (Lines 45–48)
Line 45: “Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid”
Literal Meaning:Maybe in this graveyard lies someone great.
Symbolic Meaning: Unknown talents and virtues may lie buried in obscurity.
Figures of Speech: Suggestive tone (“perhaps”), Irony.
Line 46: “Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;”
Literal Meaning:A heart full of divine passion and talent.
Symbolic Meaning: Genius and creativity wasted by obscurity.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Symbolism.
Line 47: “Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,”
Literal Meaning:Someone who could have ruled an empire.
Symbolic Meaning: Potential leaders may have lived unnoticed among the poor.
Figures of Speech: Metonymy (“rod of empire” = royal power).
Line 48: “Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.”
Literal Meaning:Someone who might have created great poetry.
Symbolic Meaning: A “mute Milton” could be lying in this graveyard.
Figures of Speech: Personification (lyre), Allusion to poetic genius.
3.13 Stanza 13 (Lines 49–52)
Line 49: “But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page”
Literal Meaning:Knowledge never opened her great book to them.
Symbolic Meaning: Education and learning were denied to the rural poor.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Personification (Knowledge as a teacher), Metaphor (“ample page”).
Line 50: “Rich with the spoils of time did ne’er unroll;”
Literal Meaning:They never accessed history’s wisdom.
Symbolic Meaning: Poverty barred them from intellectual and cultural inheritance.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“spoils of time” = accumulated wisdom).
Line 51: “Chill Penury repressed their noble rage,”
Literal Meaning:Severe poverty stifled their passion.
Symbolic Meaning: Economic hardship crushed potential genius.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Penury), Metaphor.
Line 52: “And froze the genial current of the soul.”
Literal Meaning:Poverty froze their natural talent and feelings.
Symbolic Meaning: Harsh life suppresses creativity and growth.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Personification.
3.14 Stanza 14 (Lines 53–56)
Line 53: “Full many a gem of purest ray serene”
Literal Meaning:Many pure gems lie hidden in the sea.
Symbolic Meaning: Unseen talent or virtue lies buried in obscurity.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (gem = human potential).
Line 54: “The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear:”
Literal Meaning:Gems remain hidden deep in the sea.
Symbolic Meaning: Human brilliance can remain undiscovered.
Figures of Speech: Symbolism, Imagery.
Line 55: “Full many a flow’r is born to blush unseen,”
Literal Meaning:Flowers bloom where no one sees them.
Symbolic Meaning: Beauty and talent wasted in obscurity.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Personification.
Line 56: “And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”
Literal Meaning:Flowers give fragrance where no one is present.
Symbolic Meaning: Suggests unrecognized genius or virtue.
Figures of Speech: Symbolism, Irony.
3.15 Stanza 15 (Lines 57–60)
Line 57: “Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast”
Literal Meaning:Some local man may have had the courage of Hampden (English patriot).
Symbolic Meaning: Heroism may exist even in humble villages.
Figures of Speech: Allusion (John Hampden, Parliamentary leader), Symbolism.
Line 58: “The little tyrant of his fields withstood;”
Literal Meaning:He resisted petty local oppressors.
Symbolic Meaning: Even at small scale, courage and justice flourish.
Figures of Speech: Irony, Contrast.
Line 59: “Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,”
Literal Meaning:A great poet like Milton might lie here, unknown.
Symbolic Meaning: Talent and genius often lie hidden in obscurity.
Figures of Speech: Allusion (Milton), Oxymoron (“mute inglorious”).
Line 60: “Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s blood.”
Literal Meaning:A man with Cromwell’s leadership skills may rest here, but without his violence.
Symbolic Meaning: Leadership potential wasted — but spared from corruption and cruelty.
Figures of Speech: Allusion (Oliver Cromwell), Irony, Contrast.
3.16 Stanza 16 (Lines 61–64)
Line 61: “Th’ applause of list’ning senates to command,”
Literal Meaning:They never commanded the praise of Parliament.
Symbolic Meaning: They were excluded from political power and public fame.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Metonymy (“senates” = government), Irony.
Line 62: “The threats of pain and ruin to despise,”
Literal Meaning:They never had to face the dangers of power.
Symbolic Meaning: Their obscurity spared them political trials.
Figures of Speech: Antithesis (applause vs. ruin), Contrast.
Line 63: “To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land,”
Literal Meaning:They never enriched their nation.
Symbolic Meaning: Obscurity denied them both noble deeds and destructive acts.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“smiling land”), Irony.
Line 64: “And read their history in a nation’s eyes,”
Literal Meaning:They never became national Figures of Speech: of Speech:.
Symbolic Meaning: Their lives were unknown to history, but also free of corruption.
Figures of Speech: Hyperbole, Personification.
1.17 Stanza 17 (Lines 65–68)
Line 65: “Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib’d alone”
Literal Meaning:Their fate prevented greatness.
Symbolic Meaning: Obscurity was both a limit and a protection.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“lot”), Irony.
Line 66: “Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin’d;”
Literal Meaning:Fate limited not only virtues but also vices.
Symbolic Meaning: Obscurity preserved them from corruption.
Figures of Speech: Antithesis (virtues vs. crimes).
Line 67: “Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,”
Literal Meaning:They never seized power through bloodshed.
Symbolic Meaning: A hidden life spared them from tyranny.
Figures of Speech: Hyperbole, Metaphor.
Line 68: “And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,”
Literal Meaning:They never closed off compassion in pursuit of power.
Symbolic Meaning: Obscurity prevented them from cruelty like despots.
Figures of Speech: Personification (gates of mercy).
3.18 Stanza 18 (Lines 69–72)
Line 69: “The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,”
Literal Meaning:They never betrayed their conscience.
Symbolic Meaning: Poverty kept them morally simple and honest.
Figures of Speech: Personification (truth), Irony.
Line 70: “To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,”
Literal Meaning:They did not suppress natural shame.
Symbolic Meaning: Their humility preserved innocence.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Metaphor.
Line 71: “Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride”
Literal Meaning:They never served the gods of luxury and pride.
Symbolic Meaning: They were spared the corruption of wealth.
Figures of Speech: Religious metaphor (“shrine”), Personification.
Line 72: “With incense kindled at the Muse’s flame.”
Literal Meaning:They did not misuse poetry or art for vanity.
Symbolic Meaning: Their obscurity spared them from prostituting art for pride.
Figures of Speech: Extended Metaphor, Irony.
3.19 Stanza 19 (Lines 73–76)
Line 73: “Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,”
Literal Meaning:They lived away from the noisy, corrupt struggles of the crowd.
Symbolic Meaning: The humble villagers avoided the chaos of ambition and greed.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Metaphor (“madding crowd”), Antithesis (peaceful life vs. strife).
Line 74: “Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;”
Literal Meaning:Their modest desires remained simple.
Symbolic Meaning: Contentment is nobler than ambition.
Figures of Speech: Personification (wishes “stray”), Contrast.
Line 75: “Along the cool sequester’d vale of life”
Literal Meaning:They walked quietly in life’s secluded valley.
Symbolic Meaning: A metaphor for peaceful obscurity and humility.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Imagery.
Line 76: “They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.”
Literal Meaning:They lived quietly and steadily.
Symbolic Meaning: Dignity lies in steady, unnoticed virtue.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“tenor” as path of life), Euphemism.
3.20 Stanza 20 (Lines 77–80)
Line 77: “Yet ev’n these bones from insult to protect,”
Literal Meaning:Even their bones need some protection.
Symbolic Meaning: The poor deserve dignity in death.
Figures of Speech: Synecdoche (bones = bodies), Irony.
Line 78: “Some frail memorial still erected nigh,”
Literal Meaning:A small memorial is built for them.
Symbolic Meaning: Even simple monuments show respect and memory.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“frail memorial”), Symbolism.
Line 79: “With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck’d,”
Literal Meaning:Their graves bear rough rhymes and crude carvings.
Symbolic Meaning: Simplicity of their art = sincerity of feeling.
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Irony.
Line 80: “Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.”
Literal Meaning:The gravestone asks for a sigh from passersby.
Symbolic Meaning: Memory and sympathy are universal needs.
Figures of Speech: Personification (stone “implores”), Pathos.
3.21 Stanza 21 (Lines 81–84)
Line 81: “Their name, their years, spelt by th’ unletter’d muse,”
Literal Meaning:Their names and dates are carved by uneducated hands.
Symbolic Meaning: Truth and feeling matter more than polished art.
Figures of Speech: Irony, Personification (“unletter’d muse”).
Line 82: “The place of fame and elegy supply:”
Literal Meaning:These rough words replace fame and elaborate elegies.
Symbolic Meaning: Humble memory can replace worldly glory.
Figures of Speech: Contrast, Irony.
Line 83: “And many a holy text around she strews,”
Literal Meaning:Religious verses decorate the graves.
Symbolic Meaning: Christian comfort consoles the poor in death.
Figures of Speech: Personification (she = muse), Allusion (Bible).
Line 84: “That teach the rustic moralist to die.”
Literal Meaning:These texts teach villagers lessons about death.
Symbolic Meaning: Religion gives dignity to all, regardless of learning.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Irony.
3.22 Stanza 22 (Lines 85–88)
Line 85: “For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,”
Literal Meaning:Who, when facing oblivion,
Symbolic Meaning: No one willingly fades into total obscurity.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Personification (“Forgetfulness”), Rhetorical Question.
Line 86: “This pleasing anxious being e’er resign’d,”
Literal Meaning:Has ever gladly given up this life of mixed joys and cares?
Symbolic Meaning: Human beings cling to life despite its struggles.
Figures of Speech: Oxymoron (“pleasing anxious”), Irony.
Line 87: “Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,”
Literal Meaning:Who leaves the bright world of life,
Symbolic Meaning: Life is warmth and light compared to death’s coldness.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“precincts”), Symbolism (light = life).
Line 88: “Nor cast one longing, ling’ring look behind?”
Literal Meaning:Without a last look back?
Symbolic Meaning: Human longing for remembrance after death.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration (“longing, ling’ring look”), Rhetorical Question.
3.23 Stanza 23 (Lines 89–92)
Line 89: “On some fond breast the parting soul relies,”
Literal Meaning:The dying soul leans on the love of someone dear.
Symbolic Meaning: Affection survives even in the moment of death.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“soul relies”), Pathos.
Line 90: “Some pious drops the closing eye requires;”
Literal Meaning:The dying wish for tears of love at their passing.
Symbolic Meaning: Grief and memory are sacred duties of the living.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Symbolism (tears = devotion).
Line 91: “Ev’n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,”
Literal Meaning:Even from the grave, a natural cry remains.
Symbolic Meaning: Human longing for love and remembrance is eternal.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Nature cries), Irony.
Line 92: “Ev’n in our ashes live their wonted fires.”
Literal Meaning:Even in ashes, passions linger.
Symbolic Meaning: Love, hope, and memory persist beyond death.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Paradox.
3.24 Stanza 24 (Lines 93–96)
Line 93: “For thee, who, mindful of th’ unhonour’d dead,”
Literal Meaning:For you, the poet, who remembers the humble dead,
Symbolic Meaning: Gray reflects on his own role as mourner and elegist.
Figures of Speech: Apostrophe, Self-reference.
Line 94: “Dost in these lines their artless tale relate,”
Literal Meaning:Who tells their simple story in this poem.
Symbolic Meaning: Poetry preserves memory of the obscure.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“artless tale”), Irony.
Line 95: “If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,”
Literal Meaning:If by chance some reflective soul comes here,
Symbolic Meaning: Future readers may meditate on both villagers and the poet himself.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Contemplation), Symbolism.
Line 96: “Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,—”
Literal Meaning:A sympathetic soul may ask about the poet’s own fate.
Symbolic Meaning: Gray anticipates being remembered just as he remembers the villagers.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor, Foreshadowing.
3.25 Stanza 25 (Lines 97–100)
Line 97: “Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,”
Literal Meaning:Perhaps an old village farmer might say.
Symbolic Meaning: A humble villager becomes the storyteller of Gray’s own life.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Personification (swain = voice of memory), Symbolism.
Line 98: “Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn”
Literal Meaning:Often they saw the poet at sunrise.
Symbolic Meaning: Gray is linked with solitude, reflection, and nature.
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Personification (“peep of dawn”).
Line 99: “Brushing with hasty steps the dews away,”
Literal Meaning:He walked quickly through the dewy grass.
Symbolic Meaning: Suggests restlessness, search for meaning.
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Symbolism (dew = freshness of life).
Line 100: “To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.”
Literal Meaning:He went to greet the rising sun in the fields.
Symbolic Meaning: Seeker of light, knowledge, and renewal.
Figures of Speech: Personification (sun “met”), Symbolism (sun = truth, hope).
3.26 Stanza 26 (Lines 101–104)
Line 101: “There at the foot of yonder nodding beech”
Literal Meaning:He sat beneath a large leaning beech tree.
Symbolic Meaning: Nature is his place of solitude and meditation.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“nodding beech”), Imagery.
Line 102: “That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,”
Literal Meaning:Its roots twisted and rose above the ground.
Symbolic Meaning: Roots = tangled life, ancient continuity.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Symbolism.
Line 103: “His listless length at noontide would he stretch,”
Literal Meaning:He lay idly at midday.
Symbolic Meaning: Suggests weariness, melancholy, or philosophical retreat.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration (“listless length”), Imagery.
Line 104: “And pore upon the brook that babbles by.”
Literal Meaning:He gazed at the flowing brook.
Symbolic Meaning: The brook = flow of time and thought, source of meditation.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“babbles”), Symbolism.
3.27 Stanza 27 (Lines 105–108)
Line 105: “Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,”
Literal Meaning: Near the woods, which seemed to smile mockingly.
Symbolic Meaning: Nature reflects his inner moods of doubt or irony.
Figures of Speech: Personification (wood “smiling in scorn”), Pathetic fallacy.
Line 106: “Mutt’ring his wayward fancies he would rove;”
Literal Meaning: He wandered muttering his odd thoughts.
Symbolic Meaning: Represents the poet’s melancholic, contemplative imagination.
Figures of Speech: Personification (fancies), Symbolism.
Line 107: “Now drooping, woeful-wan, like one forlorn,”
Literal Meaning: Sometimes he appeared pale and sad, like a forsaken man.
Symbolic Meaning: Reveals Gray’s melancholy nature.
Figures of Speech: Simile (“like one forlorn”), Imagery.
Line 108: “Or crazed with care, or cross’d in hopeless love.”
Literal Meaning: Or troubled by worries or unfulfilled love.
Symbolic Meaning: Suggests emotional wounds and human fragility.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration (“crazed… care, cross’d”), Symbolism.
3.28 Stanza 28 (Lines 109–112)
Line 109: “One morn I miss’d him on the custom’d hill,”
Literal Meaning:One morning, he was not seen at his usual hill.
Symbolic Meaning: His absence signals death — the end of his daily routines.
Figures of Speech: Symbolism (hill = place of reflection), Irony (absence becomes presence of death).
Line 110: “Along the heath, and near his fav’rite tree;”
Literal Meaning:He was not walking near his favorite tree.
Symbolic Meaning: Separation from nature = separation from life itself.
Figures of Speech: Symbolism (tree = attachment to nature), Imagery.
Line 111: “Another came; nor yet beside the rill,”
Literal Meaning:Next day too, he was not by the brook.
Symbolic Meaning: Reinforces finality of death — routines broken forever.
Figures of Speech: Repetition (absence emphasized), Personification (brook = silent witness).
Line 112: “Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;”
Literal Meaning:Neither in the fields nor the woods.
Symbolic Meaning: Death removes man from all familiar places.
Figures of Speech: Anaphora (“nor… nor”), Symbolism.
2.29 Stanza 29 (Lines 113–116)
Line 113: “The next, with dirges due in sad array”
Literal Meaning:On the next day, he was carried in a funeral procession.
Symbolic Meaning: Death brings solemn ritual and final honor.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration (“dirges due”), Symbolism (dirge = lament of mortality).
Line 114: “Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne,—”
Literal Meaning:Slowly, they carried his body to the churchyard.
Symbolic Meaning: The poet joins those he mourned; cycle completed.
Figures of Speech: Imagery, Irony.
Line 115: “Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,”
Literal Meaning:The reader is invited to read his epitaph.
Symbolic Meaning: Directly turns the meditation to us, making the message universal.
Figures of Speech: Apostrophe (to reader), Parenthesis.
Line 116: “Grav’d on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.”
Literal Meaning:His epitaph is carved on a stone under an old tree.
Symbolic Meaning: Simplicity of rural burial; nature and memory unite.
Figures of Speech: Symbolism (thorn = sorrow), Imagery.
3.30 Stanza 30 (Lines 117–120 — beginning of the Epitaph)
Line 117: “Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth,”
Literal Meaning:The poet rests buried in the ground.
Symbolic Meaning: Death as a return to mother Earth — unity with nature.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Earth as mother), Symbolism.
Line 118: “A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown;”
Literal Meaning:He was unknown to wealth and fame.
Symbolic Meaning: Embraces obscurity as dignity.
Figures of Speech: Antithesis (Fortune vs. obscurity), Irony.
Line 119: “Fair Science frown’d not on his humble birth,”
Literal Meaning:Science did not reject him for his low birth.
Symbolic Meaning: Knowledge belongs even to the humble.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Science “frowned”), Irony.
Line 120: “And Melancholy mark’d him for her own.”
Literal Meaning:Melancholy claimed him as her companion.
Symbolic Meaning: Poet’s life characterized by reflection and sadness.
Figures of Speech: Personification, Symbolism.
3.31 Stanza 31 (Lines 121–124)
Line 121: “Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,”
Literal Meaning:He was generous and had a sincere soul.
Symbolic Meaning: His worth lay in virtue, not fame or wealth.
Figures of Speech: of Speech: of Speech: Parallelism, Epithets (“bounty,” “sincere”).
Line 122: “Heav’n did a recompense as largely send:”
Literal Meaning:Heaven rewarded him greatly in return.
Symbolic Meaning: Divine justice balances human humility with eternal reward.
Figures of Speech: Personification (Heaven), Antithesis.
Line 123: “He gave to Mis’ry all he had, a tear,”
Literal Meaning:He offered only his compassion to suffering.
Symbolic Meaning: His greatest gift was empathy and shared sorrow.
Figures of Speech: Personification (“Mis’ry”), Pathos.
Line 124: “He gain’d from Heav’n (‘twas all he wish’d) a friend.”
Literal Meaning:In return, he found friendship in God.
Symbolic Meaning: His only true reward was divine companionship.
Figures of Speech: Antithesis (misery vs. Heaven), Religious symbolism.
3.32 Stanza 32 (Lines 125–128)
Line 125: “No farther seek his merits to disclose,”
Literal Meaning:Do not inquire further into his qualities.
Symbolic Meaning: Humility — let him rest, not glorified.
Figures of Speech: Apostrophe (to reader), Irony.
Line 126: “Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,”
Literal Meaning:Do not bring up his faults from the grave.
Symbolic Meaning: Death equalizes all; judgment belongs only to God.
Figures of Speech: Euphemism (“dread abode” = grave), Antithesis.
Line 127: “(There they alike in trembling hope repose)”
Literal Meaning:Both virtues and faults lie in the grave with hope of salvation.
Symbolic Meaning: Human imperfection rests under God’s mercy.
Figures of Speech: Parenthesis, Irony, Symbolism.
Line 128: “The bosom of his Father and his God.”
Literal Meaning:He rests in God’s embrace.
Symbolic Meaning: Final reconciliation of man with divine mercy.
Figures of Speech: Metaphor (“bosom”), Religious imagery.
With these final lines, Gray closes the poem by presenting humility, compassion, and faith as greater than worldly fame. His epitaph emphasizes the equalizing power of death and the hope of divine rest.
