Elegy
Poem of mourning
An elegy is a mournful poem lamenting the dead.
The form traditionally moves from grief through consolation, honoring someone's memory while reflecting on mortality: Milton's elegy for his drowned friend, Whitman's elegy for Lincoln.
More broadly, elegy can describe any sorrowful reflection on loss—of youth, of a way of life, of what's passed: The film is an elegy for small-town America.
Mournful expression of grief
- dirgeMournful commemorative music
- requiemMass for the deceased
- threnodyMemorial song of grief
- griefIntense sorrow from loss
sorrow · memorial · eulogy · tribute · bereavement · loss · death · funeral
Device that measures usage
- coupletTwo successive verse lines
- verseMetered poetic passage
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- odeLaudatory verse form
pastoral · Ovid · Rilke · pentameter · classical · Latin · Greek · lyric
Gradual loss of intensity
- vanishingCeasing to be visible
- passingMoving by or temporary
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- twilightLight after sunset
autumn · ruin · absence · bygone · lost · memory · forgotten · remnant
Slow musical tempo
- orchestralFor a symphony ensemble
- celloDeep-voiced bowed instrument
- stringsThin flexible lines
- somberGravely serious in mood
Elgar · Rachmaninoff · plaintive · movement · composition · opus · nocturne · largo
lament
Mournful expression of grief
grief · sorrow · memorial · eulogy · tribute · bereavement · loss · death · funeral · keening
meter
Device that measures usage
ode · pastoral · Ovid · Rilke · pentameter · classical · Latin · Greek · lyric · composition
fading
Gradual loss of intensity
twilight · autumn · ruin · absence · bygone · lost · memory · forgotten · remnant · echo
adagio
Slow musical tempo
- orchestralFor a symphony ensemble
- celloDeep-voiced bowed instrument
- stringsThin flexible lines
Elgar · Rachmaninoff · somber · plaintive · movement · composition · opus · nocturne · largo · minor
Elegycelebration
Festive event marking occasion
paean · encomium · panegyric · triumph · jubilation
Elegywedding song
Music for matrimonial ceremonies
welcome · aubade · cradle song
Elegycommencement address
Formal graduation ceremony speech
invocation · benediction · salutation · overture · prelude
- Hillbilly ElegyAppalachian upbringing memoir