Elegy
Overview by Ashton Swift
Overview
An elegy is a poem of mourning about a personal death. It expresses sadness, but also exhaults the person. It is a lyrical poem. A pastor could be a symbol to remember an elegy because at funerals they show sadness but uplift the passed.
Purpose
"An elegy is a response to a personal death." "Is written to exhault the person who passed."
Example
With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse,
Sing of human unsuccess
In a rapture of distress;
In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.
Make a vineyard of the curse,
Sing of human unsuccess
In a rapture of distress;
In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.
~"In memory of W. B. Yeats" By W.E. Auden
Characteristics
Ways to indentify an Elegy:
Look for the three stages of grief: Lament (expressing sorrow and grief). Praise and Admiration. Consolation (closure with the death).
Serious tone.
Credits
The Poetry Archive. 12-3-14. http://www.poetryarchive.org/glossary/elegy
Poetic Form. 12-4-14. http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-elegy
Mr.McEwin. Decmber 3-4, 2014.