Back to: Literary Movements in English Literature
Table of Contents
Introduction
Graveyard Poets were a group of poets who came up in the 18th century. Their age was that of the Enlightenment Era, which came right after the Augustan Age.
Characteristics of the Graveyard Poets
Nature
Graveyard Poets were very much enamoured by nature. The setting of most of their works involved extensive descriptions of nature, particularly the pastoral, rural countryside. The changing of seasons again was used by them to depict life and its transience.
Death
As opposed to the positivity and optimism of the August Age, the Graveyard poets wrote elegies that were melancholic and contemplated death and its consequences. They often had sombre tones and sometimes commemorated real-life deaths of close friends or relatives of the poets.
Simplistic Language
Graveyard poets used simple diction to bring out the theme of mourning. This way, they could effectively bring out their lamentation and loss in a realistic way.
Graveyard Poets Major Poets List and Their Important Works
Thomas Gray
Gray was the most prominent of the Graveyard Poets. His magnum opus “Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard” is known for its quiet but simple way of mourning and is popular to date.
Thomas Parnell
Parnell was also an eminent Graveyard Poet. An Anglo-Irish Poet, his best-known work is his poem “A Night-Piece on Death”.
Edward Young
Young was yet another notable Graveyard Poet. He has penned several plays but is recognised for his work “Night Thoughts” or “The Complaint”.
Conclusion
The Graveyard Poets thus left an indelible mark in the Enlightenment Era. They brought about a shift from the rationality and optimism of the Augustan Age and instead focused on melancholy and mortality.
