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Thomas Gray was born in London n 26th December, 1716. His father's name was Philip Gray. His mother was Dorothy Antrobus. He was educated at Eton and at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He stated writing poetry around 1742. He composed some remarkable poems in his early life. His masterpiece work, 'An Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard' was finished in 1750. In 1757, he was given the poet-laureateship which he did not accept. He was appointed as professor of Modern History and languages at Cambridge in 1768. He remained bachelor throughout his life and died in 1771. He was buried in the little churchyard of stoke pages in Bucks. His other famous writings are 'Pindanic Odes', The Progress of Poesy and The Bard'. There is a melancholy note in his poems. We find his clear impact on Shelley and Keats. In the words of Johnson, "Gray was a romantic serpent grazing in classical grasses". It is also said that he was the most learned of English poets after Milton.
The poem 'An Elegy Written in A Country Churchyard' is composed by Thomas Gray, a poet of the eighteenth century. It is an elegy. An elegy is a lyric poem of lament and mourning over the death of some one dear to the poet. But here the poet does not mourn over some one dear to him or any great man. He mourns the passing away of those millions who remain unknown and unrecognized. On account of this, it abounds in sentiments which have a universal appeal. An appeal, which finds an echo in every bosom, has made this poem one of the most famous elegies in English Literature and has made the poet immortal. The poem is written in iambic pentametre. It is classical in precious but romantic in spirit. It is also rich in the use of the figures of speech, specially that of personification.