References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 138-140 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 306-308 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written at Cambridge when Gray was about to join Richard West (Favonius) at the Inner Temple, where they intended to study law together. First published, untitled but referred to in a footnote as a "Sapphic Ode", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), section I, letter no. XIV. Mason is the only source for this letter, dated June 1738, in which Gray originally sent the poem to West. MS translation into English by Thomas Wharton.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 1, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 21; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 136
Contents: Autograph fair copy, annotated "Cambridge. June, 1738" in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, split over two pages: p. 53 (ll. 1-40) and p. 90 (ll. 41-52).
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 144-145 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 310-312 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written at Rome in the Spring of 1740 while on the Grand Tour with Horace Walpole. First published, untitled but referred to in a footnote as "Ad C. Favonium Zephyrinum", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), section II, letter no. XXI. Mason is the only source for this letter, dated May 1740, in which Gray originally sent the poem to West (Favonius). MS translation into English by Thomas Wharton.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 2, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 138
Contents: Autograph fair copy, annotated "Wrote at Rome, the latter end of the Spring, 1740. after a journey to Frescati & the Cascades of Tivoli", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 128.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 3, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Alcaïca", endorsed in an unidentified hand "by T. Gray, from Tivoli".
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 140-141 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 308 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written at Cambridge when Gray was about to join Richard West at the Inner Temple, where they intended to study law together. First published, untitled, in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), section I, letter no. XIV. Mason is the only source for this letter, dated June 1738, in which Gray originally sent the poem to West.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 5, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 21; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 137
Contents: Autograph fair copy, untitled but identified in the index at the end as "Tears, (Latin Alcaïc) fragment on them", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 90.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 151-152 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 317-318 (with English prose translation)
Summary:Gray wrote this poem in the album of the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse on this second visit on 21 August 1741, during his journey from Turin to Lyon, when he was returning alone from the Grand Tour. First published, as "Ode", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 117-118. MS translation into English by Thomas Wharton.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 6, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22
Contents: Autograph fair copy, headed "In the Book at the Grande Chartreuse among the Mountains of Dauphiné", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 129.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
[The Alliance of Education and Government. A Fragment]
Summary: Written in 1748-49 and probably abandoned by March 1749. Gray sent ll. 1-57 of the fragment in a letter, dated 19 August 1748, to Thomas Wharton. First published, entitled "Essay I", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 193-200.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 9, 79; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 27; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 144
Contents: Autograph, headed "Essay 1st", with numbered lines (5, 10, etc.), followed by a quotation in Greek from Theocritus in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 619-620.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 14, 80; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 29; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 208
Contents: Autograph argument of the ode, here untitled, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 932v. First printed in Mason'sPoems (1775), 91.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
De Principiis Cogitandi. Liber Primus. Ad Favonium.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 23, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22, 23, 25, 26; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 128
Contents: Autograph, revised, with line numbers (10, 20, etc.) and marginal notes, unfinished, annotated "Begun at Florence in 1740", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, split over four pages: p. 129 (ll. 1-27), 138 (ll. 28-79), 289 (ll. 80-151), and p. 438 (ll. 152-207). In the index to the Commonplace Book, the poem is listed as "Thinking (the Principles of) a Latin Poem, unfinish'd".
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 25, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, here entitled "Liber Secundus. De Principiis Cogitandi", unfinished, annotated "Begun at Stoke, June, 1742", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol I, 286.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 26, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 131, vol. i, 264-268 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled and referred to as "the Beginning of the fourth Book" of "a large Design", in a letter to Horace Walpole, [8 February 1747].
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 27, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Autograph fair copy, untitled but headed "From Aneurin, Monarch of the Bards, extracted from the Gododin", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1070.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at London in 1761, the paraphrase of the original Icelandic is based largely on a Latin translation from Bartholinus. First published in Poems (1768).
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 30, 81; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 147
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here beginning "Up rose the King...", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1069-1070. The Latin text of Vegtams Kvitha from Bartholinus is on p. 1043.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one. Full facsimile published in A facsimile of the original autograph manuscript of Gray's Elegy. Photographed by Messrs. Cundall, Downes & Co. London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co. 1862, other facsimiles include Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. I, following p. [64], Poole (ed.), Poetical Works (1917), 90-91, and Folger Shakespeare Library, ART Vol. a9, follows p. 50.
Contents: Autograph, revised, here entitled "Elegy, written in a Country-Church Yard. 1750" and reading "Curfeu", with numbered lines (10, 20, etc.), an additional quatrain, the "Redbreast stanza", annotated "Insert" after l. 116 and "Omitted in 1753", and an extensive prose note, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 617-618.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written between May and August 1761 at the request of one of the executors of Sir William Williams, a politician and soldier Gray briefly met early in October 1760, who died 27 April 1761 on an expedition against Belle Ile. First published, as "Epitaph II. On Sir William Williams", in Mason'sPoems (1775), 62.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 46, 83; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 105, for variants and rejected stanza
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, here entitled "Epitaph on Sr W J Williams" with two variants of l. 12 in "Variations" and a "Rejected Stanza", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1108.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 149-150 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 315 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written at Florence not later than 21 April 1741 and introduced "Eleven months, at different times, have I passed at Florence; and yet (God help me) know not either people or language. Yet the place and the charming prospects demand a poetical farewell, and here it is." Shortly before leaving Florence, Gray sent it in a letter of that date to Richard West. First published, untitled, in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 115.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 48, 83; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 23
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 139.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at London not later than the beginning of May 1761, based largely on a Latin translation of the original poem preserved in the late 13th-century Njáls Saga, ch. 157. This untitled Old Norse poem is a prophetic account of the Battle of Clontarf, fought on Good Friday 1014. First published in Poems (1768).
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 52, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 147
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, under the heading "Carmina", here entitled "The Song of the Valkyries" and headed "(see above P: Art: Gothi)", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1067-1068.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 53, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 147
Contents: Autograph draft of the "Preface", here untitled but under the heading "Gothi", beginning "About the year 1029 Sigurd, Earl of the Orkney-Islands...", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1041.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 54, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 28n; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 216
Contents: Autograph draft of the note on the Valkyries under the heading "Gothi" in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1044.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 141-142 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 308-309 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written probably in 1737 or 1738 when Gray was translating other Italian verse by Tasso and Dante. First published in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 93.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 56, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 23
Contents: Autograph fair copy, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 139.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 57, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 138
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, under the heading "Carmina" and annotated "Rome -- July, 1740 just return'd from Naples", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, split over two pages: p. 115 (ll. 1-52) and p. 128 (ll. 53-61).
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 58, 84; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, annotated in an unidentified hand "A Fragment in the Stile of Virgil, by T. Gray from Naples".
Summary: Written between March and October 1742 after Gray's arrival in England from the Grand Tour and before his return to Peterhouse, Cambridge. First published, untitled but referred to as a "Hymn or Address to Ignorance", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 176-177.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 61, 85; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, here entitled "Fragment of an address or Hymn to Ignorance", annotated "...about the year 1743", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1103-1105.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 62, 85; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 23
Contents: Autograph fair copy, headed "Imitated", together with a copy of the Italian original "Spesso Amor sotto la forma", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 139.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Probably written in April of 1742 and sent in a letter to Richard West, [23 April 1742]. First published, except ll. 1-30, in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 87-89, published in full in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. i, 153.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 64, 85; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24
Contents: Autograph fair copy, under the heading "Carmina", here entitled "From Propertius. Lib: 2: Eleg: 1. To Mecaenas", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 254-255.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at London in December 1738. First published, except ll. 1-4 and 57-58, as "Propertius. Lib.3.Eleg.4" in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 85-86, ll. 1-4 first published in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. i, 151.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 66, 85; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 137
Contents: Autograph fair copy, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 96-97.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 73, 86; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 32; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 72, 86; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 32; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 189 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 345 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written in May 1742. First published, untitled but introduced as "an inscription for a wood joining to a park of mine", in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), section III, letter X. Mason is the only source for this (probably conflated) letter, dated [27 May 1742], in which Gray originally sent the poem to Richard West.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 74, 86; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 278.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 117-121 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 290-293 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Composed as a school exercise at Eton between February 1733 and September 1734. First published, in part and untitled, in Gosse, Gray (1882), 6-7, published in full in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. i, 163 as "Play Exercise at Eton".
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 78, 86; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 21; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 136
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled but under the heading "Carmina", annotated by Gray "Play-Exercise at Eton" and listed in the index at the end as "Knowledge of Himself, Latin Verses at Eton", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 50-51.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 81, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 32; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 26, vol. i, 46-49 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, in a letter to Horace Walpole, [August 1736].
"[Lines Spoken by the Ghost of John Dennis at the Devil Tavern]"
Summary: Written at Cambridge by [8 December 1734] and sent in a letter of that date to Horace Walpole. First published, untitled, in Toynbee (ed.), Correspondence (1915), vol. i, 13-15, referred to as "A Journey in Hades" in Northup, Bibliography (1917), item 1221a.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 80, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 32; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 4, vol. i, 9-11 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph, here untitled, in a letter to Horace Walpole, [8 December 1734].
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 83, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 28; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 144
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here beginning "In Britain's Isle (no matter where)", with marginal side notes, dated "Aug: 1750" and annotated "Printed in 1753 with Mr Bentley's Designs, & repeated in a 2d Edition", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 651-652.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at Stoke Pogesc. August 1742 during one of Gray's most productive periods. First published, anonymously, as a folio pamphlet by Dodsley, 30 May 1747.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 89, 87; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24-25; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, here entitled "Ode. on a distant Prospect of Windsor, & the adjacent Country" and dated "at Stoke Aug: 1742", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol I, 278-279 and continued on p. 284.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
"Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes"
Summary: Written at Cambridgebetween 22 February and 1 March 1747 and sent in a letter of that date to Horace Walpole. Mason is the only source for this letter, the poem sent in it has not survived. First published in Dodsley'sCollection of Poems by Several Hands, 3 vols, vol. II. (London, 1748), 267-269, reprinted in 6 vols, vol. II. (London, 1758 and later edns.), 328-330.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 92, 88; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 26; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 142
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "On the Death of Selima, a Favourite Cat, who fell into a China-Tub with Gold-fishes in it, & was drown'd", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 381.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written probably in 1754 or 1755. First printed privately in 1774. First published, in two versions, among the notes to the poems, entitled "Ode, On the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude", and as "Ode" in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 78-81 (with Mason's additions) and 236-237 (ll. 1-48 only) respectively.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 95, 88; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Clark (ed.), Ode on Vicissitude (1933), discussion of Mason's transcript and facsimile of 1774 pamphlet
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, headed "Fragment of an Ode found amongst Mr. Grays papers after his decease and here transcribed from the corrected Copy", wanting ll. 17-20 and accompanied by a list of "Variations in the first copy", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1097-1100. Ll. 21-24 and 69-96 were composed by Mason.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 96, 88; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 247, notes; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 201, notes
Contents: Transcript of ll. 17-20 in the hand of William Mason, within the "Extract from Mr Gray's Pocket Books... 1754", which also contains notes arguably related to the poem, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1110.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written at Stoke Pogesearly in June 1742 and sent in a letter, [c. 3 June 1742], to Richard West who was then dead. The letter was returned unopened and does not survive. First published, anonymously, in Dodsley'sCollection of Poems by Several Hands, 3 vols, vol. II. (London, 1748), 265-267, reprinted in 6 vols, vol. II. (London, 1758 and later edns.), 325-327.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 99, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 24
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Noon-Tide, An Ode", and beginning "Lo, where the rosie-bosom'd Hours", annotated "at Stoke, the beginning of June, 1742. sent to Fav: not knowing he was then Dead", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 275 and continued on p. 278.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 100, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 125, vol. i, 249-252 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here untitled, in a letter to Horace Walpole, 20 October [1746].
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 103, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 414
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, here entitled "Ode. To Adversity" and annotated "at Stoke, Aug. 1742", including two mottoes in Greek from Aeschylus, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 284-285.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 104, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Toynbee/Whibley (eds.), Correspondence (1971), letter no. 161, vol. i, 346-350 (subscription required); Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Hymn to Adversity" (crossed out), in a letter to Horace Walpole, 8 September [1751].
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 152 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 318 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Written probably at London soon after returning from the Grand Tour, in [September] 1741. First published, untitled, in Tovey (ed.), Gray and his Friends (1890), 296.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 107, 89; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 26
Contents: Autograph, revised, here untitled, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 381.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Begun not earlier than September 1751 and completed by December 1754 when Gray sent the poem in a letter to Thomas Wharton, dated 26 December 1754. First published, as "Ode." in Odes by Mr. Gray (1757), 5.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 114, 90; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 28; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 145
Contents: Autograph, revised, here entitled "Ode, in the Greek manner", the first line altered from "Awake my Lyre, my Glory, wake" to the first line as published, including an alternative version of five of the last six lines, and annotated "Finish'd in 1754. printed together with the Bard, an Ode. Aug: 8. 1757", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. II, 727-728.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 122, 91; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 31
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, here untitled, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1111.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written before October 1761 at the request of Gray's friend Henrietta Speed. Walpole transcribed and sent it in a letter to Caroline Campbell, Countess of Ailesbury, 28 November 1761. First published, beginning "With beauty, with pleasure surrounded, to languish", in Pope's Works (1797), ed. Joseph Warton, vol. II, 285n. Entitled "Amatory Lines" by Mitford and Northup, Bibliography (1917), 61.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 123, 91; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, here entitled "Song" and annotated "From an interlind & corrected Copy", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1105.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 128, 91; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, here entitled "Song", together with a list of variants entitled "First Expressions", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1106.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Composed at Stoke Poges shortly after the death of Richard West, Gray's closest friend, on 1 June 1742. First published, entitled "Sonnet On the Death of Mr. Richard West", in Mason'sPoems (1775), 60.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one, facsimile in Gosse (ed.), Works (1884), vol. iv, frontispiece
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 133, 92; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy, here entitled "Sonnet" and annotated "at Stoke, Aug: 1742", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol I, 284. It is listed as "West (Richard) Sonnet, on him" in Gray's index to vol II.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 134, 92; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, wanting the ends of ll. 26-28, in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1107.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written c. 1749 under a sketch of the Rev. Henry Etough drawn by William Mason. First published, ll. 1-2, 5-8, as On Mr. E---'s being ordained and beginning "Such Tophet was--so grum'd the bawling Fiend", in The London Magazine 52 (June 1783), 296. The text, ll. 1-2, 5-8, was also issued on an etching by Michael Tyson of the drawing of Tophet by Mason, 1769.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 136, 92; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Transcript of ll. 1-2, 5-8, 3-4 in the hand of William Mason, here entitled "Inscription on a portrait", with ll. 3-4 annotated "addition in the first Copy", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1106.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 137, 92; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 31; Sutton (ed.), Location Register (1995), 415
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Cole, ll. 1-2, 5-8 beginning "Such Tophet was--so grinn'd the bawling Fiend", on an early state of Tyson's etching (before the text had been added), annotated by Cole on the recto "Mr. Etough, Rector of Therfeild in Hartfordshire, who had been a dissenting Teacher in a Barn at Debden at Essex, died in August 1757" and on the verso "Donum Mich Tyson Arm: & Collegii Corporis Chri Cantabr Socij Nov: 26.1769, Gulielmo Cole A: Mro".
Summary: Written probably as a school exercise at Eton between 1725 and 1734, possibly Gray's earliest composition in English. First published in Toynbee (ed.), Correspondence (1915), vol. ii, 299-300 with a facsimile.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two. Facsimile in Toynbee (ed.), Correspondence (1915), vol. ii, following p. 298
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 141, 93; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33; Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 57n
Contents: Autograph draft of ll. 1-13, here untitled, together with MS 0170.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel two
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 142, 93; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 33
Contents: Autograph (ll. 1-13 fair copy, ll. 14-16 revised), here untitled, including a transcript of the Latin original between ll. 13 and 14, annotated in the hand of Horace Walpole "This written when he was very young", together with MS 0169.
"[Translation] From Tasso [Gerusalemme Liberata] Canto 14, Stanza 32-9."
Summary: Written in 1737 when Gray was translating other Italian verse by Dante and Petrarch and sent in a letter to Richard West, [22 May 1737]. First published in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 90-92.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 143, 93; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 22; Martin, Chronologie (1931), 137
Contents: Autograph fair copy, revised, translation from Gerusalemme Liberata, headed "From Tasso. Canto, 14, Stanza, 32" in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 95-96.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 170-178 (with English prose translation); Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 332-337 (with English prose translation)
Summary: Thirteen small pieces, subsumed under the work title [Translations from the Greek Anthology], presumably written late in Gray's Latin period, after his return from the Continent in 1742. First published in Mathias (ed.), Works (1814), vol. II, 94-97, except nos. [I] and [XII], first published in Tovey (ed.), Gray and his Friends (1890), 295. No. [VI] was first published as "Nymph offering a Statue of herself to Venus" and beginning "Te tibi, sancta, fero nudam; formosias, ipsa". First published complete and in Gray's order in Bradshaw (ed.), Poetical Works (1891), 168-172.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 149, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 150, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 151, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 152, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 153, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 154, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph, revised, the first line altered from "Te tibi, sancta, fero nudam: formosius ipsâ" in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 155, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 287.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 156, 94; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 288.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 157, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 288.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 158, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 288.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 159, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 288.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 160, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy, headed "...Of Bassus", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 288.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 161, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 25
Contents: Autograph fair copy, headed "Of Rufinus...", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. I, 288.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written probably in 1760 or 1761 when Gray was living in London. Based on a Latin translation by Evan Evans of the original Welsh "Arwyain Owain Gwynnedd" by Gwalchmai ap Meilyr. First published in Poems (1768).
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 162, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Autograph fair copy, with four lines at the end intended to follow l. 26, here entitled "The Triumphs of Owen, a Fragment from the Welch", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1068.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.
Summary: Written probably in 1754, copied by William Mason from Gray's pocketbook for that year. First published, among "Thoughts and Verse Fragments", in Tovey (ed.), Gray and his Friends (1890), 269-270.
Alternate Form:
Microfilm copy available in Poetic Commonplace Books and Manuscripts of Thomas Gray, 1716-1771, from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1999), reel one
References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 165, 95; Poetic C. B., Pembroke College (1999), 30
Contents: Transcript in the hand of William Mason, 12 lines beginning "Gratitude/ The Joy that trembles in her eye", within the "Extract from Mr Gray's Pocket Books... 1754", in Gray's Commonplace Book, vol. III, 1110.
Surrogates: Digital facsimile [JPEG] from original MS available online.