The St. Joseph observer., 1917-02-17

eral learning and culture-a student
all his life, in the shadow of the uni
verslty, he could hardly escape becom-
ing a great scholar He was skilled
in architecture, botany, zoology and
in music, He vas p great lover of
Nature and had a keen eye for pic
turesq0e landscapes his letters
abound with delightful descriptions
OF scenes in rural England, especially
of the Lake Country. Sir james
Macintosh observed, of Gray, that 1t
was q fact not generally known that
Gray was really the first dlscoverer Of
the beauties of Nature in England,
and he has mapped out the course of
every picturesque Journey that can
be made in it," And with all his
scholastic exclusiveness, he had a
good heart in him-he was q man not
only of sense, but Of sensibility, ac-
cording to the tributes Of his friends
the few friends whose privilege it
was to know him Intimately. They
record as one of his notable traits of
character, "his sympathy for the suf-
| ferings of others-his sensbility, as
he calls it himself, to know and to
feel anothers woe" If we forget his
poems, let us remember this He died
| in 1771 and lies buried in the Church
yard at Sto<e-Poges near Slouth in
Buckinghamshire, by the side Of his
mother" in accordance with his own
' request, made in his last will. This
| is the churchyard of the Elegy. Here
| rests his head upon the lap of Earth
Maybe you have not read the Elegy
since you saw 1t in your old reader at
school. Then read it now:
The curiew. tolls the knel OF parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly DER the
| lea;
The plowman homeward plods his weary
And leaves the world to darkness and
to me.
Now fades the glimmering landscape on the
And ali the air a solemn stiffness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning
And drowsy tinkinss lull the distant folds; ;
Save that from yonder ivy mantled tower,
The moping owl does TO the moon com
OF such as, wandering near her secret bower
Molest her ancient solitary reign.
Beneath those rugged elms, that yewtrees
Where he3ves, the turf in many molder-
Each in Els narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers OF the hamlet sleep
The breezy call of incense breathing morn,
The ii swallow twittering from the straw
The cocks shril clarion, or the echoing
No more shall rouse them from their
lowly bed.
For them no more the blazing hearth shall
Or busy housewife ply her evening care;
Nor children run to lisp their sires return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to
share.
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield.
Their, furrow oft the stubborn glebe has
How jocund did they drive their team a
field!
How bowed the, woods beneath their
Let not ambition. mock their useful toll
:. Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
The short and simple annals OF the poor.
The boast of heraldry. the pomp OF power,
And all that beauty all tha' wealth eer
Await alike the inevitable hour
The paths OF glory lead but to the grave.
Nor YOU, ,ye proud. impute to these the
II memory DER their tomb no trophies
Where thru the long drawn aisle and iretted
vault,
The pealing anthem swclls the note OF
praise
Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to is mansion call the heetins
Can honors voice provoke the silent dust,
Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear OF
death!
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial
Hands that the rod OF empire might have
| swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living Tyre.
But knowledge to their eyes her ample
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er
Chill penury repressed their noble rage,
And froze the genial current OF the soul.
Full many gem Of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean
bearj
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.
And waste Its sweetness on the desert
air.
Some village Hampden, that with dauntless
The little tyrant OF his fields withstood
Some mute, inglorious Milton here may
Some Cromwell, gultlcss of his countrys
blood.
The applause Of listening senates to COM
The threats of pain and ruin to descise.
To scatter plenty DER a smiling land,
And read their history in a nations eyes.
Their lot forbade; nor cireum scribed alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes
confned;
Forbade to wade thru slaughter 20 a throne,
And shut the gates OF mercy on mankind.
The struggling pangs of conscious truth to
hide
To quench the bushes of ingenious
. shame,
Or heap the shrine of luxury and pride
With incense kindled at the Muses. flame.
Far from the madding crowds ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learned TO stray;
Along tho cool, sequestered vale OF life
They kept the nolseless tenor OF their
way.
! Yet even these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected high
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless scuip-
ture deoked.
Implores the passing tribute OF sigh.
Their names. their years, spelt by the un.
iettered Muse.
The place OF fame and elegy supply;
And many holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.
For who, to dumb forgetiulness a prey,
} This pleasing, anxious being Ger resigned
Left the warm precincts Of the cheerful day
/ NJ L., H., 1T -.