Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Essay -- Literary Analysis, Gray

The Declaration of Independence contains a snipping about the equality of men a topic interesting to eighteenth century authors. The vocalizers in Grays Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard and in gold-workers The abandon Village utilize the themes of death and isolation in order to gift the different social classes. Goldsmiths talker idealizes and mourns the decay of country life, while Grays speaker equalizes the different classes. . This essay examines the contrariety between these two depictions and shows how Grays subprogram of stylistic features creates a more convincing argument. Goldsmiths speaker begins nostalgic totallyy for the loveliest closure of the plain, (1) by listing the towns virtues which include The never-failing brook, the busy mill, The decent church . (11-12) Goldsmith uses this imagery to contrast the current state of the village, he goes on to say that These were thy charmsBut all these charms are fled. (34) Here, the speaker urges readers to rede the impairment of the villages charms by destroying the imagery created by the runner 33 lines. He continues the description of the land as forlorn (76), precisely while the villagers were forced to abandon the area, the speakers nostalgia implies that he chose to leave. This nostalgia implies that the speakers depiction of the village could be highly romanticized. The speaker likens the loss of the village with a much greater problem, The country bloomsa garden, and a grave. (302) He suggests that this is non an isolated problem, but an epidemic that is happening all over the country. The village is lost to make room for a garden and a grave the first belongs to the nobility and the later to the peasant. His portrayal of the in the raw World supports th... ...dsmith seems to associate with the nobility. He goes on to speak of wealthiness formula This wealth is but a name That leaves our useful products still the same. (273-274) The use of enjambment forces the re ader to quickly read over wealth, the effect makes wealth seem less important which mimics the actual words themselves, thus Goldsmith suggests that wealth is of very little importance in life. Both speakers counsellor a respect for the sylvan class, while Grays speaker does it by likening the greats to the common men Goldsmith uses hyperbole to decrease the appeal of the upper class. Grays work is succinct and contains numerous stylistic elements that encourage readers to see social classes as transparent and not as limiting. Goldsmith portrays the upper class as the death of rural life, whereas Grays speaker portrays the classes as not being reciprocally exclusive.