368. no hope my eyes to raise. No hope, which would make me raise my eyes.
369. their dreary mote. Their dulness. A mote is a particle of dust.
378. a hermitage. A hermit’s cave or cell; a retreat.
382. sullen. Gloomy.
390. communion. Association with our surroundings.
ELEGY, WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD.
First published in 1751.
An Elegy is a poem or song expressing the writer’s feelings of sorrow or mourning. The churchyard referred to in the poem is that of Stoke Pogis in Buckinghamshire, where Gray’s mother lived during the latter part of her life. Gray is buried in this churchyard.
9. yonder ivy-mantled tower. The tower of the village church at Stoke Poges.