Elegy
noun
A poem or piece of music written to honor someone who has died.
He wrote an elegy to his late wife.
Often appears as...
- write an elegy
- read an elegy
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A piece of writing or speech that expresses sadness about the death of a person or the past.
Her novel can be read as an elegy for a lost world.
Often appears as...
- read as an elegy
- elegy for the past
noun
A poem or piece of music written to honor someone who has died.
He wrote an elegy to his late wife.
Often appears as...
- write an elegy
- read an elegy
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A piece of writing or speech that expresses sadness about the death of a person or the past.
Her novel can be read as an elegy for a lost world.
Often appears as...
- read as an elegy
- elegy for the past
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Tone of Respect
Elegy bears a respectful and solemn tone towards the deceased or the subject.
The poet's elegy carried a profound respect for the fallen hero.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Sad
While often sad, elegies can also express admiration or reflect on positive memories.
The elegy highlighted her infectious laughter and indomitable spirit.
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Variations
Elegies may differ in style and form across cultures, reflecting various traditions.
At the memorial, a traditional Japanese elegy was performed.
Compare with
dirgelamentplaintrequiemthrenody
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Video examples
Why did Phillis Wheatley...
The family published her work in a local newspaper, and in 1771, her elegy for renowned reverend George Whitefield captured the public’s imagination. The poem’s repetitive rhythms, dramatic religious references, and soaring spiritual language
Video examples
The Mind-Bending Art of...
It was an elegy to disappearing landscape. Can we connect to deep time via sensory experience? This artwork, called “Totality,”
Video examples
Why did Phillis Wheatley...
The family published her work in a local newspaper, and in 1771, her elegy for renowned reverend George Whitefield captured the public’s imagination. The poem’s repetitive rhythms, dramatic religious references, and soaring spiritual language
Video examples
The Mind-Bending Art of...
It was an elegy to disappearing landscape. Can we connect to deep time via sensory experience? This artwork, called “Totality,”
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Jesse Ball
American Poet
As far as I can see, the best writers in the last two hundred years have been Whitman, Rilke, Proust, Kafka. Their best works: 'Leaves of Grass - 1855;' 'Duino Elegies;' 'The Captive & The Fugitive;' 'The Castle.
Quote examples
Edward Hirsch
American Poet
There's something really unnatural about losing a child, and there's something unnatural about having to write an elegy for your child, but I felt that I wanted people to know what he was like.
Quote examples
David Lammy
British Politician
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis' by JD Vance made me entirely rethink U.S. republicanism, Donald Trump and the American white working class.
Quote examples
Jacqueline Woodson
American Writer
To me, elegy suggests that there is hope, and in some respects you've moved past the loss and are able to deal with it and to write about it.
Quote examples
Edward Hirsch
American Poet
The elegy does the work of mourning; it allows us to experience mortality. It turns loss into remembrance, and it delivers an inheritance.
Quote examples
David Whyte
English Poet
Regret is a short, evocative and achingly beautiful word: an elegy to lost possibilities even in its brief annunciation.
Quote examples
Natasha Trethewey
American Poet
It took me years of attempts and failed drafts before I finally wrote the elegies I needed to write.
Quote examples
Jesse Ball
American Poet
As far as I can see, the best writers in the last two hundred years have been Whitman, Rilke, Proust, Kafka. Their best works: 'Leaves of Grass - 1855;' 'Duino Elegies;' 'The Captive & The Fugitive;' 'The Castle.
Quote examples
Edward Hirsch
American Poet
There's something really unnatural about losing a child, and there's something unnatural about having to write an elegy for your child, but I felt that I wanted people to know what he was like.
Quote examples
David Lammy
British Politician
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis' by JD Vance made me entirely rethink U.S. republicanism, Donald Trump and the American white working class.
Quote examples
Jacqueline Woodson
American Writer
To me, elegy suggests that there is hope, and in some respects you've moved past the loss and are able to deal with it and to write about it.
Quote examples
Edward Hirsch
American Poet
The elegy does the work of mourning; it allows us to experience mortality. It turns loss into remembrance, and it delivers an inheritance.
Quote examples
David Whyte
English Poet
Regret is a short, evocative and achingly beautiful word: an elegy to lost possibilities even in its brief annunciation.
Quote examples
Natasha Trethewey
American Poet
It took me years of attempts and failed drafts before I finally wrote the elegies I needed to write.
Example 1 of 7
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