When Carl Sandburg was in the sixth grade, his teacher was Lottie Goldquist. She emphasized to her students that they should get “the reading habit.” Books could be a comfort in times of stress; a friend in times of loneliness and a teacher in times of need.

Miss Goldquist introduced the class to a poem by Thomas Gray: “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.” The boys and girls memorized the poem. In those days, it was common to memorize poems and other pieces of literature. The thirty-two stanzas of Gray’s poem required considerable effort.

Thomas Gray was born in Cornhill, London. His parents were Philip and Dorothy Antrobus Gray. Thomas was their fifth child and the only one to survive of the twelve born to them. He was taught by his two uncles who were on the faculty of Eton College. Thomas was not athletic and enjoyed reading and observing the world around him.

Gray went on to Cambridge and started writing poems. In 1742 he began writing “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.” The graveyard was of St. Giles Church in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, where his aunt Mary Antrobus was buried.

The poem was completed in 1750 and first published in 1751. It became very popular and was recognized for its beauty and use of words as well as the themes of death and the afterlife. A number of phrases from the poem have entered the English language and have become commonly used, such as “the paths of glory,” “celestial fire” and “kindred spirit.” The poem was translated into many languages, including Japanese as late as 1882.

In 1898, when Carl Sandburg was in the United States Army, he remembered Gray’s poem and recited it to himself as he paced back and forth on guard duty. Along with millions of stars in the sky, the words of the poem were a consolation to his apprehension about going off to war.

Thomas Gray died July 30, 1771, in Cambridge. He was buried beside his mother in the country churchyard.