Brooks,   Cleanth,   "Gray's   Storied  Urn,"   in  The   Well-Wrought Urn, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1947, pp. 96-113. Brooks, one of this century's most esteemed literary critics, examines the layers of complexity in this seemingly simple poem, which he likens to "a tissue of allusion and half-allusion."

Glazier, Lyle, "Gray's Elegy: "The Skull Beneath the Skin," in University ofKansas Review, Vol. XIX, Spring, 1953, pp. 174-180.

Glazier interprets this as a poem of equality, favoring no class over another. He reminds readers that it is not merely about the virtues of the poor, but a declaration that all persons, rich and poor, are mortal.

Golden, Morris, Thomas Gray, New York: Grosset & Dun-lap, Publishers, 1964.

This book-length overview of Gray's life and career provided students with a good general background of the poet's importance.

Hutchings, W., "Syntax of Death...