Today’s poem is by Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771), an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,published in 1751.[1]

Gray was a self-critical writer who published only 13 poems in his lifetime, despite being very popular. He was even offered the position of Poet Laureate in 1757 after the death of Colley Cibber, though he declined.[2] His writing is conventionally considered to be pre-Romantic but recent critical developments deny such teleological classification.

—Bio via Wikipedia

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