time, sadness was a popular theme.2 People were facing difficulties such as war and disease. Thomas Gray captured the emotions of people perfectly with his poems. When he was younger, Thomas Gray lived his mother and aunt in the village of Stoke Poges. Stoke Poges was the place where he decided to write poetry.3 He would take long walks through fields and other places. He would remember everything he saw.4 The church and the graveyard were two places that stood out to him.5 This inspired him to
disruptive writer, and novelist. However to this day, his life and works are an interesting and remarkable topic for the curious to delve into. Defoe's upbringing can be described as none other than humble. He was born to a butcher named James Foe in Stoke Newington, London, England. His family was that of Dissenters. Dissenters could be described as Protestants that did not adhere to the doctrine of the Church of England. Because of his family's refusal to pledge an oath of allegiance to the Church
Although believed to be started in 1742 the exact date of composition of the Elegy, apart from the concluding stanzas, cannot be exactly determined. The Elegy was concluded at Stoke Poges in June, 1750, where Gray was buried. The churchyard as described by Gray is typical rather than particular; of the five disputed "originals" Stoke Poges bears the least resemblance to the graveyard in the Elegy. The poem starts off dark and dreary often rousing images of death. The first four stanzas establish the