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Quotes from Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College — Thomas Gray

1716–1771 England

← All quotes by Thomas Gray

9 quotes

They hear a voice in every wind,
And snatch a fearful joy.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Still as they run they look behind,
They hear a voice in every wind,
And snatch a fearful joy.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Alas, regardless of their doom,
The little victims play!
No sense have they of ills to come,
Nor care beyond today.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed,
Less pleasing when possest;
The tear forgot as soon as shed,
The sunshine of the breast.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Ye distant spires, ye antique towers,
That crown the wat'ry glade.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

And moody madness laughing wild
Amid severest woe.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

To each his suff'rings: all are men,
Condemn'd alike to groan,
The tender for another's pain;
Th' unfeeling for his own.
Yet ah! why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Ah, tell them they are men!

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Grim-visaged comfortless Despair.

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Gray (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.