First published in 1884. The poem is printed in the standard edition of Gray’s poems, edited by H.W. Starr and J.R. Hendrickson (Oxford, 1966), based on its publication by Gosse in 1884. The editors note that it is difficult to date and their text is in fact frequently in error, particularly with reference to spelling and punctuation, when compared with the autograph, which was bought by Monckton Milnes in 1854.