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Quotation from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray
“Far from the madding Crowd's ignoble Strife, Their sober Wishes never learn'd to stray; Along the cool sequester'd Vale of Life They kept the noiseless Tenor of their Way.”
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 19, lines 73-76 (1751 first edition)
Gray praises the steady, unambitious course of village lives; the first line gave Hardy his title.
Citation: "Far from the madding Crowd's ignoble Strife, Their sober Wishes never learn'd to stray; Along the cool sequester'd Vale of Life They kept the noiseless Tenor of their Way." — Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 19, lines 73-76 (1751 first edition). (id elegy-written-in-a-country-churchyard-q6)
Portrait: Richard Bentley Elegy header, Bentley, Richard, Public domain.
