"The Bard. A Pindaric Ode"

• Archive Work ID: poems.bapo
• Uniform Title: "The Bard. A Pindaric Ode" [e-text]
• First Line: 'Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!
• Language: English
• First Published: 1757
• References: Starr/Hendrickson (eds.), Complete Poems (1966), 18-24; Lonsdale (ed.), Poems (1969), 177-200
• Summary: Begun late in 1754 and initially abandoned by August 1755, then taken up again, completed and revised, between May and August 1757. Gray sent the earlier parts of the poem in letters to Thomas Wharton, dated 6 August 1755 (ll. 1-56), and to Richard Stonhewer, dated 21 August 1755 (ll. 63-100), the latter part (ll. 111-144) to William Mason, dated [24 or 31] May 1757. First published, as "Ode II." in Odes by Mr. Gray (1757), 12-21.

1 Manuscript:

• • Archive MS ID: mss.0021 (Source: EAD/XML)
  • Title: [untitled]
  • Date: 1 February 1768
  • Physical Description: [2?] pages, 324 mm x 200 mm; autograph, partial [notes only]
  • Language: English
  • Location: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, Vol. 52, Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature, Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ, USA <http://rbsc.princeton.edu/>
  • References: Smith (ed.), Index (1989), item GrT 17, 80; Heist, Michael, "RE: Modern (Bound) Manuscripts, vol.52, Robert H. Taylor Collection". E-mail to the editor, 11 January 2007
  • Contents: Autograph notes to the poem, headed "Prefix the origl. advertisement, The following Ode is founded, &c:", in MS instructions to Beattie for the 1768 Glasgow edition, originally sent in a letter, 1 February 1768.
  • Separated Material: The letter in which these instructions were originally sent is now at Historic Collections, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.