Thomas Gray, the poet and author of the "Elegy written in a
Country Churchyard," was born on December 26, 1716, in London,
and was the only survivor of twelve children. At Eton he
formed friendships with Horace Walpole, Thomas Ashton, and
Richard West, who were later his chief correspondents. At
Cambridge, where Gray took no degree, he began to make
experiments in poetry. In 1739 and 1740 he travelled in
Europe, and in 1742 he had established himself at Peterhouse,
Cambridge, without University position or recognition of any
kind. Here he plunged into the study of classical literature,
and began to work on the "Elegy," which was published in 1751.
He was a shy, sensitive man of very wide learning. Couched in
graceful language, the letters are typical of the best in the
best age of letter-writing, and not only are they fascinating
for the tender and affectionate nature they reveal, but also
for the gleam of real humour which Walpole declared was the
poet's most natural vein. He died on July 30, 1771.
_I.--The Student's Freedom_