Criticism

This criticism page provides a list of full-text research and teaching materials, currently with a focus on contemporary criticism and syllabi and course materials.

Research materials

Contemporary criticism

• "Critical Observations". The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London: J. Sharpe, 1826, vii-xxx.
• Johnson, Samuel: "The Life of Gray" (1781) [e-text], from The Lives of the Poets, ed. G.B. Hill, 3 vols., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905, e-text ed. by Jack Lynch, Rutgers University.
• Mason, William: "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Mr. Gray" (1775). The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings, ed. by William Mason. York: printed by A. Ward; and sold by J. Dodsley, London; and J. Todd, York, 1775, 1-404.
• Mathias, Thomas James: Observations on the writings and on the character of Mr. Gray (1815). London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1815.
• Mitford, John: "Essay on the Poetry of Gray". The Works of Thomas Gray, 2 volumes, ed. by John Mitford. London: J. Mawman, 1816, vol. i, xci-clxxvi.
• Murray, John: A Letter to W. Mason, A.M. precentor of York, concerning his edition of Mr. Gray's Poems. And the Practices of Booksellers (1777). London: J. Murray, 1777. See also John Murray's edition of Poems by Mr. Gray (1776).
• "A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. Gray". Poems by Mr. Gray. London: J. Murray, 1776, v-xviii.
• "Some Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. Thomas Gray". The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, LL.B., ed. by Stephen Jones. London: C. Whittingham, 1800, xvii-xlix.
• Wordsworth, William: "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" (1802) [e-text], e-text ed. by Michael Gamer, University of Pennsylvania.
• Young, John: A Criticism on the Elegy written in a Country Church Yard. Being a continuation of Dr. J[ohnso]n's Criticism On The Poems Of Gray (1783). London: G. Wilkie, 1783.

Teaching materials

Syllabi and course materials

• Droisen, Karen A.: Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard", part of Introduction to World Literature, II (English 232.7) at the Department of English, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA
• Halmi, Nicholas: Later Eighteenth Century (Sofa, Madhouse, and Graveyard) (English 328) at the Department of English, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
• Hunt, Russell A.: Thomas Gray Forum, part of Restoration and Eighteenth Century Poetry and Prose (English 3336) at the Department of English Language and Literature, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
• Koster, Josephine: Thomas Gray (1716-1771), part of Major British Writers Before 1800 (English 201) at the Department of English, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC, USA
• Lane, Steven M.: Poetry of Transition, part of A Survey of British Literature from the Restoration to the Twentieth Century (English 201) at the Department of English, Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
• Liu, Kate Chiwen: "Ode On The Death Of A Favourite Cat Drowned In A Tub Of Goldfishes" - Leading Questions, part of a Introduction to Literature course at the Department of English Language and Literature, Fu Jen Catholic University, Hsinchuang, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, Republic of China
• Lynch, Jack: English Pre-Romantics (English 317) at the Department of English, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
• McDaniel, Gerald: "The Claims of Melancholy: Gray's 'Elegy' and 18th Century Nostalgia", part of British Literature I (English 2322) at North Central Texas College, Gainesville, Texas, USA
• Runge, Laura L.: Reading Assignment: Thomas Gray, "An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard" (1751) and "The Progress of Poesy" (1768), part of British Literature 1616-1780 (English 3230) at the Department of English, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA