Consuela Castilo
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- Dictionaryelegy/ˈɛlədʒi/
noun
- 1. (in modern literature) a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.
- 2. (in Greek and Latin verse) a poem written in elegiac couplets, as notably by Catullus and Propertius.
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Elegy (which may be traced to the Greek word elegos, “song of mourning”) commonly refers to a song or poem lamenting one who is dead; the word may also refer somewhat figuratively to a nostalgic poem, or to a kind of musical composition.
Elegy presents every thing as lost and gone or absent and future. A famous example of elegy is Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1750). Other languages. In French, perhaps the most famous elegy is Le Lac (1820) by Alphonse de Lamartine. In Germany, the most famous example is Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke (1922).
The 19th century Swiss composer Louis Niedermeyer set Lamartine's elegy Le Lac to music, capturing the doleful spirit of the form. Cite This Page. A concise definition of Elegy along with usage tips, an expanded explanation, and lots of examples.
Elegy, dirge, and eulogy serve similar purposes in relation to mourning and funerial services, but they are distinct from each other. An elegy is a poem that reflects on a subject or person through sorrow or melancholy. Elegies are typically poems about someone who has died.
Elegy, meditative lyric poem lamenting the death of a public personage or of a friend or loved one; by extension, any reflective lyric on the broader theme of human mortality.
ELEGY definition: 1. a sad poem or song, especially remembering someone who has died or something in the past: 2. a…. Learn more.
The elegy is a form of poetry in which the poet or speaker expresses grief, sadness, or loss. History of the Elegy Form. The elegy began as an ancient Greek metrical form and is traditionally written in response to the death of a person or group.
