Gray's elegy: themes and literary significance

Gray's Elegy

Sound of Sense in Gray's Elegy

Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard" is a powerful poem that brings to light some very compelling ideas. One cannot read this poem but once and acquire a true understanding of its significance. Rather, one must read it twice, three times, even four times before grasping the various meanings hidden throughout the poem. To take this a step further, one should read the poem aloud, for Gray uses certain musical devices (i.e., tone and sound of sense) to further thrust his feelings upon his readers.

A poem written with tone and sound of sense is much more than mere words on paper; its meaning lies in how those words are spoken, and how the tone of one's voice implicates different emotions. Gray understood this idea. It was not only his brilliant words that conveyed his notion of death, but it was also how he wrote those words. A perfect example of this is demonstrated in Stanza 11:

Can storied urn or animated bust

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?

Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,

Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

At this point in the poem, Gray has introduced his reader to the idea that no matter how important or powerful one thinks one is in life, all are the same in death. He is passionate about this belief, and his words, and tone, prove so.

Before one can understand the sound of sense in this stanza, however, one must first grasp the meaning of Gray's words. He is questioning the power of "important" people: is a monument (i.e., urn or tombstone), "Honour," or "Flattery" strong enough to bring a dead person back to life? If one possesses the money to buy the largest tombstone, or knows how to flatter the "right" people, does this mean he or she will experience a different fate other than those who are less rich, less powerful, and less famous? Gray wants his reader to see the utter ridiculousness in that notion, because in Gray's mind, none of that will matter once you're dead.

Anyone who understands what Stanza 11 truly means will read it aloud in the same exact way: with a sense of urgency in his or her voice, with a questioning manner, and with an underlying tone that suggests how frustrating it can be when certain people think they are "better" than others, and thus will have a "better" death, or even no death at all! For in Gray's mind, the measure of "importance" in one's life is not about money or power; rather, it is about friendship, and whether or not there is someone, anyone, who will cry for you when you die. Being rich and powerful will enable you to buy many things, but it won't enable you to buy friends, and it won't pay for a tear in your name.