elegy
Poem for loss
An elegy is a mournful poem or song, typically one written to honor someone who has died.
The form has ancient roots and traditionally features reflective, sorrowful meditation on loss, mortality, or the passage of time.
While elegies most often commemorate the dead, the term extends to any literary work with a tone of grief or lamentation: Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" remains a classic of the form.
The adjective elegiac describes anything expressing sorrow or nostalgia.
Mournful expression of grief
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- mourningPeriod following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- lossBeing without something
anguish · heartache · woe · keening · threnody · weeping · lamentation · grieving
Service honoring the dead
- obituaryNotice of someone's passing
- cemeteryPlace for interring remains
- graveyardPlot for interring the dead
- eulogyTribute for the dead
requiem · dirge · epitaph · memorial · wake · interment · mourner · graveside
Metered poetic passage
pastoral · couplet · rhyme · poet · apostrophe · invocation · lament · refrain
Recalling past experiences
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- remembranceAct of holding something in mind
- bygoneOf earlier times
yesteryear · homesick · retrospective · halcyon · recollection · reverie · sepia-toned · pastoral
Expression of deep respect
- commemorationAct of honoring memory
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- dedicationWholehearted loyalty to purpose
- honoringRecognizing with respect
remembrance · testimonial · recognition · encomium · panegyric · accolade · reverence · celebration
Inclined toward reflective sorrow
- somberGravely serious in mood
- pensiveQuietly, sadly thoughtful
- wistfulSadly longing for something
- bittersweetWistful yet warm
mournful · solemn · contemplative · subdued · lugubrious · plaintive · dolorous · funereal
lament
Mournful expression of grief
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- mourningPeriod following loss
- bereavementState following loss
loss · anguish · heartache · woe · keening · threnody · weeping · lamentation · grieving · desolation
funeral
Service honoring the dead
- obituaryNotice of someone's passing
- cemeteryPlace for interring remains
- graveyardPlot for interring the dead
eulogy · requiem · dirge · epitaph · memorial · wake · interment · mourner · graveside · burial
verse
Metered poetic passage
ode · pastoral · couplet · rhyme · poet · apostrophe · invocation · lament · refrain · canto
reminiscence
Recalling past experiences
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- remembranceAct of holding something in mind
bygone · yesteryear · homesick · retrospective · halcyon · recollection · reverie · sepia-toned · pastoral · bittersweet
homage
Expression of deep respect
- commemorationAct of honoring memory
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- dedicationWholehearted loyalty to purpose
honoring · remembrance · testimonial · recognition · encomium · panegyric · accolade · reverence · celebration · acknowledgment
melancholic
Inclined toward reflective sorrow
bittersweet · mournful · solemn · contemplative · subdued · lugubrious · plaintive · dolorous · funereal · grave
Milton
Baroque English verse master
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, meter
- lyric poemslyric poetry, sonnet, ode, odes, sonnets
- Latin PoetryAeneid, Metamorphoses, Virgil, Ovid, Horace
- Ancient RomeRome, Julius Caesar, Caesar, gladiator, gladiators
- literary formsnovel, novels, novella, poetry, poetry collections
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- Hillbilly ElegyAppalachian upbringing memoir