# Lines Written at Burnham explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Thomas Gray.

## What happens

The poet describes the ancient trees of Burnham, whose whispering tops seem to murmur the dark decrees of fate, and visions that cling to every leaf and bough as seen through poetic eyes.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and the Sublime

The hoary tops of the trees and their murmuring sounds evoke the sublime power of nature as a conduit for fate.

### Melancholy and Reflection

The dark decrees of fate and the visions clinging to the leaves suggest a reflective, melancholic mood.

## Key lines

> And, as they bow their hoary Tops, relate / In murm’ring Sounds the dark Decrees of Fate

The ancient trees bend their gray tops and whisper the hidden judgments of destiny.

_Personifies the trees as oracles of fate._

> While Visions, as Poetic eyes avow, / Cling to each Leaf and swarm on ev’ry Bough

Imaginary forms, as poets claim, cling to every leaf and cluster on every branch.

_Describes the poetic imagination populating nature with visions._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_23_se/chapters/lines-written-at-burnham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_23_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_23_se/chapters