Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1768

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” consists of ten stanzas of ten lines each. The form reflects an expectation that every stanza in a poem should be the same length in order to demonstrate unity, control, and intention on behalf of the poet. The form advances the theme and message of Gray’s poem, and the neat and even form lets the speaker break the poem into two parts. The first part — the first five stanzas, or 50 lines — has a cheerful tone as they focus on the experience of children, and the second half — Stanzas 6-10, or Lines 51-100 —highlights the challenges of turning into an adult. Line 51 sets the tone of the second half of the poem: “Alas, regardless of their doom.” At the poem’s midway point, the tone becomes sinister, and the tight form enhances the juxtaposition between the stanzas centered on childhood and the stanzas tied to adult life.

As for meter, the poem switches between iambic tetrameters and trimeters, with an “ababccdeed” rhyme scheme. The alternating meter is part of the ode genre, yet it also reflects the major theme of the poem since the poem alternates between the splendors of childhood and the hardships of adulthood. The rhyme scheme also reinforces the subject matter and the mood of the speaker. The irregularity of the rhymes mirror the speaker’s ponderous mood. At the same time, the rhymes establish a firm pattern, just as the speaker sees a set pattern in life where the grownup state inevitably spoils the enchantment of childhood.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the placement of two things, ideas, or concepts side by side to enhance the differences between the two. In “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” Thomas Gray employs this literary device to highlight the gulf between childhood and adult life. The speaker pits the enjoyable life of children against the difficult life of adults.

To create the juxtaposition, Gray uses two additional literary devices: hyperbole and imagery. The speaker’s diction is dramatic and sweeping with hyperbole, or, exaggeration. The speaker does not allow for the possibility that some childhoods might not be idyllic or that not all adults are miserable. For the speaker, all childhoods are magical, and all adults suffer. The dramatic diction links to the strong imagery that serves the juxtaposition. The sharp difference in images drives home the difference between children and adults, with children pictured positively and adults portrayed in a series of negative images.

Personification

Throughout Thomas Gray’s poem, many things and feelings take on the traits of people. In Line 10, the speaker calls the hills “happy” and the shade “pleasing.” Later, in Line 17, the wind waves to the speaker, and, in Stanza 3, the speaker asks the River Thames a question as if the river was a person capable of replying.

As the poem pivots to the adult section, the personification grows more emphatic. The speaker capitalizes common nouns like anger, fear, and shame to make these feelings and states look like the names of people. Like people, these emotions possess agency and can act independently. For example, passions “tear” (Line 61), shame “skulks” (Line 64), and falsehood “stings” (Line 75).

The extensive use of personification pertains to the speaker’s belief that people may have little control over their fate. Personification animates the surroundings of children and adults. Children can’t help but be joyous since their landscape is happy. Likewise, adults can’t minimize their suffering since their environment is unhappy. By personifying the conditions of life, the speaker reinforces their point that all are “Condemn’d alike to groan” (Line 92).