View source for Thomas Gray

[[File:thomasgray.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Thomas Gray]]

==Country==

Great Britain

==Birth - Death==

1716 - 1771

==Occupation==

Poet

==Description==

Considered the second most important poet of the eighteenth century.  Subject matter of his poems focused on notions of rejection of sexual desire, with the figure of the poet in his poems being a lonely, alienated, and marginal one, and various muses or surrogate-mother figures being invoked.  Most famous for his poem ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’.  Also known for 'Hymn to Adversity' (1753) and the unfinished 'Hymn to Ignorance' (1768).  Known for his extensible correspondence.  Notable loves of his life include [[Horace Walpole]] and Henry Tuthill.

==Further Reading/Research==

* https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/thomas-gray
* http://rictornorton.co.uk/gray.htm
* http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535518/Ffion-Hague-chart-gay-18th-century-affair-poet-Thomas-Gray-Walpoles-son-Foreign-Secretarys-wife-hopes-repeat-success-book-The-Grand-Tour.html