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"Ode on The Spring" Introduction: Ode on Spring belongs to the first period of Gray's poetic career. It was written in 1742. Gray most probably derived the inspiration for writing ode from James Thomson's poem called 'Seasons'. The poemhad Gray's romantic temper though it also bears the 18th century stamp in the form of personifications, poetic diction and a lot of moralising. Critical Summary The opening stanza of the poem is marked by both neo-classical characteristics and the romantic temper of the poet. The time of spring is personified as the "rosy- bosom'd hours." The nightingale and the cuckoo sing songs spontaneously. The sky becomes free from the clouds of winter and looks blue. Cool winds and breezes blow. They scatter sweet smell of flowers. The poet imagines himself as sitting in the company of the Muse. He also meditates upon the futility of the noise and the tumult which the city crowds give rise to the pursuit of their activities. The poet also meditates upon the littleness and the insignificance of the city-dwellers who feel very proud of their wealth and status. The shepherd is resting from his labours. The sheep are also at rest. The insects fly out to taste the sweetness of the flowers. Some of the insects hover over the surface of a brook or a river, and some cast hasty glances at the sun above. A thoughtful person would compare the life of a human being to the brief existence of the insects. All the insects where they look busy and seem to be care-free, they have only a short life to live. Some of them would get killed by accident. While others would die a natural death after having lived to maturity and old age. In the end, all of them would mingle with the dust below. Thus, the poet reduces human beings to the humble and hopeless position of the insects. The poet imagines that the insects, having heard his remarks about them give him a reply. They remind the poet of his own plight. They tell him that he himself is no more important than a lonely fly. He has no valuable possessions to display. He is no longer a young man. The spring of his life has already ended. But they (insects) are enjoying the pleasure which spring has brought. Critical Appreciation 'Ode on Spring' has a lyrical quality. It is one of the features of romantic litera- ture. It appears chiefly in the works of Thomas Gray. That is why he is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement in English poetry. On judging this poem as an ode, it does not confirm to any ancient classical pattern or form of the ode. It is by no means a pindaric ode. It can be called a regular English ode akin to the odes of the ancient classical poet Horace. Horace wrote an ode in uniform stanzas, each of the same length, and each having the same rhyme-scheme. The present ode also consists of ten lines and the rhyming scheme in all the stanzas is the same. Thus Gray's ode is different from 'The Progress of Poesy' and 'The Bard' which are Pindaric odes. There is an under-current of melancholy in this poem, and this is a romantic feature. The personal element also appears in the poem where Gray imagines him- self sitting in the company of the Muse by the river side. But here again we have the neo-classical tendency when Gray moralizes upon the situation. The personal ele ment is more particularly found in the final stanza of the poem. Here the poet speaks of himself as a solitary man having no worldly possessions to display and his youth has already flown. The poem brings out Gray's interest in natural objects, natural scenery, natural processes which are the most prominent features of a romantic poem. We have several pictures of Nature. He uses vivid imagery to describe them. Indeed, the pictorial quality and imagery of Nature are the most significant features of this poem.

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