will no longer feel the warmth of the fire(line 21) or thelove of a woman(line 22). They will not experience being welcomed by their kids when they come homefrom work or the fields(line23) and having them climb their knees for a kiss. All these things areworldly pleasures that the dead will no longer experience. Stanzas seven through nine deal with death as a part of life. For instance, in line 29 and 30 thespeaker states that they shouldnt let their ambitions confuse their destiny, meaning the dead. Every oneof us awaits the inevitable hour(line35) and all our work, wealth, possessions and beauty that our lifebestows on us all lead to the same paths. The paths of glory(line 36) which lead but to the grave. This also evokes the feeling of hopelessness (brought about by the death of his friend) which Gray must havebeen going through at the time he wrote this. The basic concept of these few stanzas is that no matter whatone does in his or her life and how valuable he or she believes it is one can not escape death; death isinevitable.The next section of the elegy (stanzas 10 -15) goes into the description of the unhonored dead orpeople who received no recognition for their lifes work. We first see this in line 45 where the speakerposes a question. Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid / Some heart...fire are the two lines thatpresent the question who lies in this grave? and are they important? The speaker then says that there aremany great people born who are never recognised. Like a flower in a desert they blush unseen andwaste their sweetness on the desert air(lines 55-56) They could have been a village Hampden(line57)in reference to John Hampden who defied King Charles I by resisting his revival of a tax on shippingwithout the consent of the Parliament. The speaker also includes Milton and Cromwell. These peoplecould have been famous but They kept the noiseless tenor of their way(line 76) and chose a differentway of life...
