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Far From The Madding CrowdFar From The Madding Crowd : PhrasesMeaning: A quiet and rural place. Example: Origin: This phrase is best known as the title of one of Thomas Hardy's most successful novels. Hardy took the title from Thomas Gray's poem - Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: '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.' It is possible that Gray was also alluding to earlier works: by William Drummond, circa 1614: "Farre from the madding Worldlings hoarse discords." or by Edmund Spenser, 1579: "But now from me hys madding mynd is starte, And woes the Widdowes daughter of the glenne." Whether Gray was referring to a specific churchyard isn't clear. It is well recorded though that Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard was written, at least in part, in a churchyard at Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire. Phrases Index |
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