What does the poet mean in the following lines from “elegy written in a country churchyard”? their lot forbade: nor circumscribed alone their growing virtues, but their crimes confined a. the villagers’ simple lives them avoid evil. b. the villagers’ vices were the cause of their hard lives. c. the villagers’ lives prevented them from being good. d. the villagers’ faults were hidden by their deaths.

The correct answer is A „the villagers’ simple lives helped them avoid evil”. This excerpt gives the idea that their humble life limits them to develop their virtues as well as their crimes, so their are kinda of lucky because of that. In this way, they can avoid the evil once they are dead.

"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is a poem that was written by Thomas Gray, it is believed, around 1746. Although the original poem was shorter, the one he published in 1751 is the version that it is known and read today. It is believed also that this poem may have been inspired by the experienced lived by Gray over the death of his friend Richard West in 1742.

In general the topic of this poem is the reflection the poet makes on death, its sadness, its effects and also its consequences over people. He further goes to reflect on images that imply that all people, regardless of their station will suffer death, but, some of these people will have a more ignominous one given that they had the means and birth station to make a mark in the world, while those of lower stations are forgotten. But he also seems to be addressing at some point the people of the higher classes of his time, asking them to meditate on how meaningless their richess are in view of their mortality, just like the poor will face.

On the lines asked in the question, which belong to stanzas 45 to 76, Gray is exhorting the upper classes to not think so highly on themselves because of their achievements due to their wealth. He expounds on the fact that the poorer, might have done as great, or even greater things, had they not been affected by what he called "Chill Penury". He also asks these upper classes to see that although suffering greatly because of poverty, this simplicity of life has protected the poor from wrongful behaviors that affect the rich and make them purer than them. This is why the correct answer is A.

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