Graveyard poets

E61635

The Graveyard poets were an 18th-century group of English writers whose meditative, melancholic verse on death and mortality helped bridge Neoclassicism and the emerging Romantic movement.

Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form As subject As object
Graveyard school of poetry 0 2
graveyard school of poetry 0 1

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literary movement
poetic school
aestheticTendency gothic sensibility
taste for the sublime
associatedWith Edward Young
James Hervey
Robert Blair
Thomas Gray
Thomas Parnell
concernedWith human frailty
preparation for death
the vanity of worldly pursuits
countryOfOrigin England
criticalLabel Graveyard poets self-linksurface differs
surface form: Graveyard school of poetry
form lyric poetry
meditative elegy
genre poetry
historicalSignificance helped prepare the way for Romantic poetry in Britain
influenced Romantic poets
surface form: English Romantic poets

Romanticism
language English
literaryContext late Neoclassicism
pre-Romanticism
literaryInnovation emphasis on personal emotion
use of introspective first-person speakers
literaryPeriod 18th century
mainTheme death
melancholy
mortality
the afterlife
transience of life
movementRole bridge between Neoclassicism and Romanticism
notableWork A Night-Piece on Death
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Night-Thoughts
The Grave
philosophicalOrientation Christian moral reflection
meditation on eternity
stylisticCharacteristic meditative tone
reflective verse
religious and moral reflection
somber imagery
use of graveyard and night settings
timeFrame mid-18th century
typicalSetting churchyards
graveyards
night scenes

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Graveyard poets criticalLabel Graveyard poets self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Graveyard school of poetry
this entity surface form: graveyard school of poetry
Thomas Gray movement Graveyard poets
Pre-Romanticism relatedMovement Graveyard poets
this entity surface form: Graveyard school of poetry