Record Number: 20872

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Sir, I do not think Gray a first-rate poet. He has not a bold imagination, nor much command of words. The obscurity in which he has involved himself will not persuade us that he is sublime. His "Elegy in a Church yard" has a happy selection, but I don't like what are called his great things'.

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Until: 25 Jun 1763

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Samuel Johnson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

18 Sep 1709

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Thomas Gray

Title:

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

20872

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R.W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

285

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 285, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=20872, accessed: 20 April 2024

---

Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791. Remarks addressed to Boswell at an early meeting.