What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bard
This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for kindle devices. We have endeavoured to create this version as close to the original artefact as possible. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we believe they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
- GenresPoetry
72 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1757
20 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Gray
950 books92 followersThomas Gray was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 14, 2023
This poem is a Pindaric ode and has the configuration and many of the general qualities of The Progress of Poesy. As in that poem, so here Gray uses a metrical arrangement that conglomerates the greatest fluidity with the greatest strictness.
In imitation of Pindar, this poem consists of nine stanzas, divided into groups of three. In each group the first two stanzas are identical, while the third uses a different pattern.
The poem is to be regarded as spontaneous outpouring of a 13th-century Welsh Bard in a situation of wildness and terror. Gary felt its subject to be suitable for Pindaric terms; for abrupt transitions were regarded as characteristic of "primitive" poetry. The tradition that forms the basis of the poem is not historically authentic, but it serves Gray's purpose.
Gray's own comment on the poem was: "I felt myself the Bard".
This poem has a more understandable harmony than The Progress of Poesy. It has a single setting-in the mountains of Snowdon where they meet the river Conway. The action takes place at a particular moment in the year 1283 when Edward I was returning from his conquest of Wales.
The harmony of this poem is helped also by its dramatic structure. Only lines 9-22 and 143-4 are devoted to a description of the scene of the action. The rest of the poem is a speech by the sole surviving Bard, interjected by a chorus of the ghosts of the slain poets. (But the survivor himself joins that chorus too.)
In imitation of Pindar, this poem consists of nine stanzas, divided into groups of three. In each group the first two stanzas are identical, while the third uses a different pattern.
The poem is to be regarded as spontaneous outpouring of a 13th-century Welsh Bard in a situation of wildness and terror. Gary felt its subject to be suitable for Pindaric terms; for abrupt transitions were regarded as characteristic of "primitive" poetry. The tradition that forms the basis of the poem is not historically authentic, but it serves Gray's purpose.
Gray's own comment on the poem was: "I felt myself the Bard".
This poem has a more understandable harmony than The Progress of Poesy. It has a single setting-in the mountains of Snowdon where they meet the river Conway. The action takes place at a particular moment in the year 1283 when Edward I was returning from his conquest of Wales.
The harmony of this poem is helped also by its dramatic structure. Only lines 9-22 and 143-4 are devoted to a description of the scene of the action. The rest of the poem is a speech by the sole surviving Bard, interjected by a chorus of the ghosts of the slain poets. (But the survivor himself joins that chorus too.)
March 17, 2024
Poor digital edition
Struggled to follow the poem due to bad formatting, could have benefited from a little human editing. Would suggest avoiding.
Struggled to follow the poem due to bad formatting, could have benefited from a little human editing. Would suggest avoiding.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews