A Country Churchyard

From: "ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD"

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre:

...... Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

....... Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenour of their way.

Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

By Thomas Gray (1716-71).

I noticed yesterday that my blip the year before had been of Kingweston Church
and that I'd intended to return. Of course, I hadn't so on the way back from golf today I put that right.

I have to confess to a fascination with churchyards and these selected lines of Gray's sum up how I feel about them. The headstones give testimony to all those hidden , forgotten lives of ordinary people in a place that is far enough from the madding crowd now, let alone 100 years ago when many of them were buried. I find them very moving and lovely on a beautiful day like today.