 It is also possible that parts of T. S. Eliot 's Four Quartets are derived from the Elegy , although Eliot believed that Gray 's diction , along with 18th @-@ century poetic diction in general , was restrictive and limited . But the Four Quartets cover many of the same views , and Eliot 's village is similar to Gray 's hamlet . There are many echoes of Gray 's language throughout the Four Quartets ; both poems rely on the yew tree as an image and use the word " twittering " , which was uncommon at the time . Each of Eliot 's four poems has parallels to Gray 's poem , but " Little Gidding " is deeply indebted to the Elegy 's meditation on a " neglected spot " . Of the similarities between the poems , it is Eliot 's reuse of Gray 's image of " stillness " that forms the strongest parallel , an image that is essential to the poem 's arguments on mortality and society . 
