in a The sartrity, wat * has no et it is so t Stoke, or antbout tweets on fray, Steke fark be it was the scene et Story. The old mates house a계로 분류 sers of queen Elizabeth's one, is it was rected, are the home os desne d Na of this proce "In Ki An ancie The Hunting τως τις 11 Eony les'd the power of the To raise the eieings festred be phtt STOKE CHURCH, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. THIS Church has become very celebrated since the time of Gray, the poet, of whose beautiful poem, "The Elegy in a Country Churchyard," it is known to be the scene. The Church is a plain, rustic edifice of some antiquity, with a low tower and conical-shaped spire, but has none of those strongly marked features by which it is so admirably characterized in the poem. Stoke, or Stoke Pogis, is a large scattered village, distant about twenty-one miles from London. In the time of Gray, Stoke Park belonged to lady Cobham, and in 1747 it was the scene of his poem called the " Long Story." The old manor-house and the fantastic manners of queen Elizabeth's time, in whose reign it was erected, are thus humourously described in the opening of this piece. "In Britain's isle, no matter where, STOKE CHURCH. Rich windows that exclude the light, The seals and maces danc'd before him: Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it. there, Forth from their gloomy mansions creeping, The lady Janes and Joans repair, And from the gallery stand peeping, In peaked hoods and mantles tarnish'd, High dames of honour, once that garnish'd On the site of this old mansion is erected a most magnificent house, by Mr. Penn, the proprietor: it is chiefly built with brick, and covered with stucco. The burial-place of the poet is without side the Church, just beneath the eastern window. Here his remains lay unhonoured till the year 1799, when Mr. Penn erected a monument to his memory, in a field adjoining the Church. It consists of a large sarcophagus, supported on a square pedestal, with inscriptions on each side. |