Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1768

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Shade

The word “shade” appears three times within the first 11 lines in Thomas Gray’s poem. On each occasion, shade links to something pleasant. In Line 4, the speaker capitalizes the word shade since they use it in the context of King Henry VI and the Windsor Castle. Here, shade is “holy” (Line 4). In Line 8, shade is a part of the idyllic landscape and joins the commendable company of grass, flowers, and the historical River Thames. Finally, in Line 11, the “pleasing shade” joins the “happy hills” to create a peaceful, positive image.

For the speaker, shade symbolizes protection. The shade preserves the wondrous world of Eton College and guards against the toxic, adult environment. At the same time, shade symbolizes ignorance and impermanence as it cannot last forever. Even if the shade helps the children stay blissfully unaware of “ills to come” (Line 53), the shade, is a temporary state, like childhood itself. No longer protected nor ignorant, the children must eventually find out that “they are men!” (Line 60) and see the harsh light of knowledge.

Nature and Childhood

In the poem, a motif within the first five stanzas revolves around nature. For the speaker, nature has a palliative effect. While looking at the landscape of Eton College, with its flowers, grass, shade, and wind, the speaker experiences a “momentary bliss” (Line 16). The “fresh” (Line 17) air soothes their “weary soul” (Line 18) and gives them a “second spring” (Line 20). Springtime is the season during which nature comes back to life, and just being around nature enlivens the speaker.

The motif of nature and its restorative symbolism links to children. In nature, and specifically, in the natural landscape of Eton College, the children play and demonstrate their carefree, pure, and liberated condition. On the green grass, the children pursue their “paths of pleasure” (Line 24), untroubled by adult concerns.

As Stanza 6 arrives, nature disappears. When the children become men, they are removed from the natural world and placed into a world of torturous, draining emotions, desires, and labor. Instead of sunshine, there’s “black Misfortune’s baleful train” (Line 57). The world of adults centers on negative emotions and longings, and Gray presents this dislocation from nature as inevitable. The separation from nature symbolizes the departure from the purity of childhood since adults possess “blood defil’d” (Line 78).

Knowledge

In the poem, knowledge has several different meanings. Early in “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” the speaker portrays knowledge as a necessary part of childhood. In Stanza 4, the children acquire knowledge when they attend class. In the context of childhood, knowledge enhances the joys of freedom since the confinement of the classroom and the efforts of learning help “sweeten liberty” (Line 34). As well, in the first stanza of the poem, science symbolizes knowledge, and the speaker presents knowledge in a flattering light, employing the words “grateful” and “adores” in Line 3.

With science and schoolwork, knowledge is tangible and objective, presenting children with something specific to learn, do, or test. In the realm of adults, however, knowledge becomes painful, as it involves an awareness of debilitating emotions and desires. Thus, the word “wise” (Line 100) is somewhat misleading; adults aren’t necessarily smart or learned, but they are aware of negative human attributes.

Near the end of the poem, knowledge becomes a symbol of inevitable but harmful development. According to the speaker, “where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise” (Lines 99-100). Wisdom does not improve a person or better their lot in life; rather, the speaker believes that knowledge turns a person into a fool.