And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A Being breathing thoughtful breath,
A Traveller between life and death:
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright,
With something of angelic light.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD.
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (Gray, 1716-71). I once drove
from Windsor Castle through Eton, down the long hedge-bound road which
passes the estate of William Penn's descendants to Stoke Pogis, the
little churchyard where this poem was written. They were trimming a
great yew-tree under which Gray was said to have written this poem. The
scene is one of peace and quiet. The "elegy" was a favourite form of
poem with the ancients, but Gray is said to have reached the climax
among poets in this style of verse. The great line of the poem is:
"The path of glory leads but to the grave.
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