26 pages 52 minutes read

Thomas Gray

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1751

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Literary Device Answers

1. Imagery. Descriptions such as “The curfew knells the toll of parting day” (Line 1) and “The plowman homeward plods his weary way” (Line 3) provide imagery that allows the reader to visualize the setting.

2. C. Personification occurs when things that are not human are assigned human characteristics.  

3. B. The ABAB rhyme scheme remains consistent throughout the poem.

4. A. Gray calls to mind Milton’s famous elegy with his description of the pastoral setting.