A Youth -- The epitaph and the words of the hoary-headed swain seem to give a specific identity to this youth. Nevertheless, I think him representative of all sensitive, feeling readers. Similar to the way Gray particularizes Ambition and Grandeur, he gives form and emphasis to this "everyman." We are supposed to identify with the sensibilities of the youth--Gray could surmise that if a reader made it this far, he or she would likely be sensitive. Embodying notions of understanding and sympathy in the youth also gives Gray the chance to end with a flourish. The poetic voice has been standing in a graveyard, contemplating upon life, class, and death. As the poem ends Gray has crafted an opportunity to convey, through the epitaph, the ideals of eighteenth-century morality in his own "uncouth rhymes."

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