STOKE-POGIS.
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ROM HOWITT'S "HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE BRITISH POETS."[1] [Footnote 1: Harper's edition, vol. i. p. 314 foll.] It is at Stoke-Pogis that we seek the most attractive vestiges ofGray. Here he used to spend his vacations, not only when a youth atEton, but during the whole of his future life, while his mother andhis aunts lived. Here it was that his _Ode on a Distant Prospect ofEton College_, his celebrated _Elegy written in a CountryChurchyard_, and his _Long Story_ were not only written, but weremingled with the circumstances and all the tenderest feelings of hisown life. His mother and aunts lived at an old-fashioned house in a veryretired spot at Stoke, called West-End. This house stood in a hollow,much screened by trees. A small stream ran through the garden, and itis said that Gray used to employ himself when here much in thisgarden, and that many of the trees still remaining are of hisplanting. On one side of the house extended an upland field, whichwas planted round so as to give a charming retired walk; and at thesummit of the field was raised an artificial mound, and upon it wasbuilt a sort of arcade or summer-house, which gave full prospect ofWindsor and Eton. Here Gray used to delight to sit; here he wasaccustomed to read and write much; and it is just the place toinspire the _Ode on Eton College_, which lay in the midst of its finelandscape, beautifully in view. The old house inhabited by Gray andhis mother has just been pulled down, and replaced by an Elizabethanmansion by the present proprietor, Mr. Penn, of Stoke Park, justby.[2] The garden, of course, has shared in the change, and nowstands gay with its fountain and its modern greenhouse, and,excepting for some fine trees, no longer reminds you of Gray. Thewoodland walk still remains round the adjoining field, and thesummer-house on its summit, though now much cracked by time, and onlyheld together by iron cramps. The trees are now so lofty that theycompletely obstruct the view, and shut out both Eton and Windsor. [Footnote 2: This was written (or published, at least) in 1846; butMitford, in the Life of Gray prefixed to the "Eton edition" of hisPoems, published in 1847, says: "The house, which is now called_West-End_, lies in a secluded part of the parish, on the road toFulmer. It has lately been much enlarged and adorned by its presentproprietor [Mr. Penn], but the room called 'Gray's' (distinguished bya small balcony) is still preserved; and a shady walk round anadjoining meadow, with a summer-house on the rising land, are stillremembered as favourite places frequented by the poet."--_Ed_.] * * * * * * Stoke Park is about a couple of miles from Slough. The country isflat, but its monotony is broken up by the noble character anddisposition of its woods. Near the house is a fine expanse of water,across which the eye falls on fine views, particularly to the south,of Windsor Castle, Cooper's Hill, and the Forest Woods. About threehundred yards from the north front of the house stands a column,sixty-eight feet high, bearing on the top a colossal statue of SirEdward Coke, by Rosa. The woods of the park shut out the view ofWest-End House, Gray's occasional residence, but the space is openfrom the mansion across the park, so as to take in the view both ofthe church and of a monument erected by the late Mr. Penn to Gray.Alighting from the carriage at a lodge, we enter the park just at themonument. This is composed of fine freestone, and consists of a largesarcophagus, supported on a square pedestal, with inscriptions oneach side. Three of them are selected from the _Ode on Eton College_and the _Elegy_. They are: Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove;Now drooping, woeful-wan, like one forlorn,Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love. One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,Along the heath, and near his fav'rite tree;Another came; nor yet beside the rill,Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he.
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