It is pleasant to know that he warmly
returned her love and that he now rests by her side in the churchyard
at Stoke Poges, which is always associated with the _Elegy_. On her
tomb he placed the inscription "--mother of many children, one of whom
alone had the misfortune to survive her." Gray's friends were warmly
attached to him. With one of them, Horace Walpole, the well-known
author and collector, he traveled on the continent soon after leaving
the university; and although they quarreled and separated the
friendship was renewed later. Gray never married. In 1742 he returned
to Cambridge and lived there during the rest of his life, with the
exception of two years spent in London. After he became famous the
laureateship was offered to him, but his dislike of publicity caused
him to refuse it. In 1768 he was made Professor of Modern History and
Languages at Cambridge. All his life he was a student; indeed he was
the most learned of the English poets, except possibly Milton. In some
respects he was in advance of his age. He appreciated certain kinds of
poetry that no one else liked in his time, and he cared greatly for
wild nature. In these days, when almost every one loves rugged
mountains and remote regions by the sea, it is hard to realize that
there ever was a time when most persons preferred to look upon trim or
even stiff gardens or the cultivated grounds of a country seat; but
such was the case.
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