Elegy written in a country church-yard

Title

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 7 (Issue No. 10) October 1927

Year

1927

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

October, 1927 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 15 ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD By Thomas Gray FAITHFULLY REPRODUCED FROM A “HARPER’S” OF 1853 Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield; Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; How jocund did they drive their team a-fleld! How bow’d the woods beneath their sturdy stroke! Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; <T^HE Curfew tolls the knell of parting day; "*■ The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea; The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Nor Grandeur hear, with a disdainful smile. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds: The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth, e’er gat Await, alike, th’ inevitable hour;— The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, The paths of glory lead but to the grave. No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tower. The moping Owl does to the Moon complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, Molest her ancient solitary reign. For them, no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Or busy housewife ply her evening care; No children run to lisp their sire’s return, Or climb his knees, the envied kiss to share. Nor you, ye proud! impute to these the fault, If Memory o’er their tomb no trophies raise; Where, through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. 16 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL October, 192: Can storied urn, or animated bust, Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can Honor’s voice provoke the silent dust? Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death? Some village Hampden, that, with dauntless breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstood; Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country’s blood. Their sober wishes never leam’d to stray; Along the cool, sequestered vale of life, They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. Perhaps, in this neglected spot, is laid Yet e’en these bones from insult to protect, Some heart, once pregnant with celestial fire; Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway’d, Or wak’d to ecstasy the living lyre. Th’.applause of listening senates to command; The threats of pain’and ruin to despise; To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land. And read their history in agnation’s eyes, Some frail memorial still, erected nigh. With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck’d, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. But Knowledge, to their eyes, her ample page, Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll; Chill Penury repressed their noble rage, And froze the genial current of the saul. Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd; Forbad to wade through slaughter to a throne, And shut the gates of mercy on mankind. Full many a gem of purest ray serene The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide; The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame; Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride, For who, to dumb Forgetfulness a prey, This pleasing, anxious being e’er resign’d; Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind? October, 1927 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 17 mindful of th’ unhonor’d dead, Dost in these lines their artless talc relate; “There, at the foot of yonder nodding beech, That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high His listless length, at noontide, would he stretch, And pore upon the brook that babbles by. “One morn, I miss’d him on the ’custom’d hill, Along the heath, and near his favorite If ’chance, by lonely Contemplation led, Another came,—nor yet beside the rill, Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate; Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood, was he; The Complete Line of Office Equipment THE effect of good equipment and pleasant surroundings on the morale of a business organization can not be denied. The business planned with an eye to efficiency and harmony usually has an advantage in loyalty of employees and good will of customers not shared by others. 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