and we have practically all that is known of Gray even among the well educated.

Historical Importance. More should be known of him if we are to recognize his historical importance. Utterly out of sympathy with conventional verse, he sought and found inspiration in the literatures of the past. The Bard and The Progress of Poesy are said to be the best Pindaric odes ever written; and even a glance at one of these will show the author's metrical skill. The Progress of Poesy is in three stanzas, each containing forty-one lines; each stanza is in three parts strophe, antistrophe, and epode as in the odes of Pindar; and the three strophes are identical in construction, as are the three antistrophes, and the three

GRAY IN SILHOUETTE.

epodes. Such learning as Gray's had not expressed itself in verse since Milton. Later he became interested in old Scandinavian literature, under the influence of which he wrote The Fatal Sisters and The Descent of Odin. Study of early English poetry and of Celtic also influenced his writing.

Greatness of the "Elegy."- The Elegy calls for notice in valuing Gray both historically and intrinsically. It is the greatest of a number of poems of the time striking the note of melancholy, and its popularity is well attested by the number of phrases it has given to proverbial speech: "mute inglorious Milton," "village Hampden," "the short and simple annals of the poor,' ""the noiseless tenor of their way." Even whole stanzas are all but universally remembered, such as:

"Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

A Classic. Despite his small poetic output Gray's position as a classic is established. Arnold says he is the poetical classic of the eighteenth century; many regard him as the greatest English poet between Milton and Wordsworth; and virtually all allow him the preeminence between Pope and Wordsworth.

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WILLIAM COWPER, 1731-1800

Characteristics of Cowper's Verse. The last of the forerunners of Romanticism to be considered here is William Cowper. One critic says that he was "not romantic in any sense;" another, that "he stands, so to speak, at the parting of the ways: half a disciple of the old order, half, indeed more than half, a standard bearer of the new." The tendency of his longest poem, as stated by Cowper, " to discourage the modern enthusiasm after a London life and to recommend rural ease and leisure as friendly to the cause of piety and virtue," certainly marks a clear separation from the tradition of Pope. His love of nature, moreover, and his many descriptive passages; his almost uniform sincerity of expression; his humor; these characteristics seem to make clear that he was not only separated from the old, but closely allied with the new.

It would require little effort to make a lengthy chronicle of Cowper's life; but his poetry may be understood and enjoyed with few facts of his life as a background. Many events may be omitted as without significance, and many of slight significance may be passed briefly.

Letter-writer and Hymn-writer. A word should be said of Cowper as a letter-writer and a hymn-writer. In the first field he is unsurpassed, not a few saying that his letters entitle him to be ranked among great English prose writers. His hymns, although they can scarcely be called

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May 27-1777.

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LENOX COL-10

FACSIMILE OF A LETTER OF COWPER.

(New York Public Library.)

great poems, have an assured place with all sects, particularly "There is a fountain filled with blood," "Oh for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way." These served the useful purpose of showing Cowper that in poetic composition he could escape from his pursuing melancholy.

Lady Austen. Besides Mrs. Unwin, another woman is important in Cowper's life - Lady Austen, whom he met in 1781. From her he heard the story which he versified so delightfully as The Diverting History of John Gilpin