Tuesday, April 28, 2015

What is the story of "Hampden" (in line 57)?

In the stanza that contains the line you mention, Thomas Grey mentions three people, all of whom are famous Englishmen.  He mentions Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, and John Hampden.


Hampden is less famous than the other two today, but he was an important figure in English politics in his time.  He was born in 1595 and died fighting in the English Civil War in 1643.  He was fighting on the side of Cromwell against the forces of the king.


Before his death he was famous as a Parliamentary leader who had tried to resist the power of the King and to defend the people from abuse by the King.  (Therefore the line about withstanding the tyrant.)


Gray includes these three figures in the poem as a way of saying that maybe the unknown people buried there could have been as great as the three he mentions.

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