The Meaning of Elegy: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the meaning of the word elegy? This article will teach you all about this form of mournful poetry and how to use it!

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What Does the Word Elegy Mean?

According to Your Dictionary, an elegy is a poem dedicated to lamenting the dead. Elegy poems, also sometimes known as elegiac songs, are mourning odes in a poetic form. 

Elegiac Poetry Explained

Elegiac poetry is often a song of lament. This mournful poem could be used as a funeral song or  for a bit of serious reflection. Mourners can use elegy poems as an ode to the dead and to find solace.

The Structure of Elegiac Poetry

There are many forms of elegy that can be reflections on life, including elegiac couplets. Elegy poems usually feature a quatrain, written in an ABAB rhyme scheme using iambic pentameter. Elegies can also include other poems using various forms of meter and verse. 

What Are Translations of the Word Elegy?

Elegies are not only written in English. There are many other languages around the world that have poems that are considered elegies. If you are going to be studying elegies in other languages or plan on traveling to a foregin country, it is very useful to know translations of the word elegy.

Since the word elegy has Greek and Latin roots, you may notice that many of the below language switch Greek or Latin origins contain words that look similar to the word elegy. These are called cognates. Check out this list of translation of elegy from Word Sense. 

  • German: Elegie‎ (Fem.)
  • Yiddish: עלעגיע‎ (Fem.)
  • Arabic: رِثَاء‎ (Masc.)
  • Scottish Gaelic: Cumha‎ (Masc.), Tuireadh‎ (Masc.), Marbhnach‎ (Masc.), Marbhrann‎ (Masc.)
  • Esperanto: Elegio‎
  • Bulgarian: Елегия‎ (Fem.)
  • Hebrew: קינה‎
  • Ladino: Endecha‎
  • Mandarin: 挽歌‎ (Wǎngē) (Trad. Variant: 輓歌‎), 哀歌‎ (Āigē)
  • French: Élégie‎ (Fem.)
  • Latin: Elegīa‎ (Fem.), Elegī‎ (Masc. Pl.)
  • Finnish: Suruvirsi‎, Valitusvirsi‎, Elegia‎
  • Dutch: Klaaglied‎ (Neut.)
  • Old Irish: Marbnad‎ (Fem.)
  • Japanese: 哀歌‎ (あいか, Aika)
  • Swedish: Elegi‎ (Common)
  • Korean: 만가‎
  • Portuguese: Elegia‎ (Fem.)
  • Greek: Ελεγεία‎
  • Spanish: Elegía‎ (Fem.),
  • Polish: Elegia‎ (Fem.)
  • Zazaki: Hewal‎
  • Irish: Marbhna‎ (Masc.)
  • Czech: Žalozpěv‎ (Masc.), Elegie‎ (Fem.)
  • Danish: Elegi‎ (Common), Klagesang‎ (Common), Sørgedigt‎ (Neut.)
  • Russian: Эле́гия‎ (Fem.)
  • Serbo-Croatian: Narikača‎ (Fem.), Žalopojka‎ (Fem.), Tužbalica‎ (Fem.), Elegija‎ (Fem.)
  • Turkish: Ağıt‎, Sagu‎, Mersiye‎
  • Welsh: Marwnad‎ (Fem.)

What Is the Etymology of the Word Elegy?

According to Literary Devices and Merriam-Webster, the word elegy has been usec since c16 Middle French. This word comes from the Latin elegia/elegīa, meaning poem. Elegia also has roots in the Greek elegeia/Greek elegeîa, elegeion, and elegos. In Ancient Greek, these words are written as ἔλεγος or ἐλεγεία.

What Are Examples of Elegies?

One of the most famous elegies of all time is “O Captain! My Captain” by Walt Whitman. This poem was written as an elegy mourning the loss of President Abraham Lincoln and the state of the union post-Civil War. The poem reads as follows:

Line 1: O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

Line 2: The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

Line 3: The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

Line 4: While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

Line 5: But O heart! heart! heart!

Line 6: O the bleeding drops of red,

Line 7: Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Line 8: Fallen cold and dead.

Other Famous Elegies

Take a look at the below list of other famous elegies from Your Dictionary. Reading elegies is a great way to get familiar with the ones of sorrow and loss that elegies have.

  • “Elegy III: Change” – John Donne
  • “Adonais – An Elegy on the Death of John Keats” – Percy Shelley
  • “Blake’s Purest Daughter” – Brian Patten
  • “Sonnet for Dick” – Kit Wright
  • “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” – Walt Whitman
  • “The Golden Hour” – Shawn Greyling
  • “Elegy on Husayn” – Lynda Clarke
  • “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” – Thomas Gray
  • “The Woes of Daphnis” – Theocritus
  • “Carmen 101” – Catullus
  • “In Memoriam A.H.H.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
  • “Elegy XIX: To His Mistress Going to Bed” – John Donne
  • “To An Athlete Dying Young” – A.E. Housman
  • “I Roamed With Anger Out Of The House” – Emmanuel George Cefai
  • “Death Stands Above Me” – Walter Savage Landor
  • “Dirge Without Music” – Edna St. Vincent Millay
  • “Elegy XI: The Bracelet. Upon the Loss of His Mistress’ Chain, For which He Made Satisfaction” – John Donne
  • “You Don’t Even Exist” – Usman Hanif
  • “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” – Emily Dickinson
  • “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General “- Jonathan Swift
  • “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, Fire, of a Child in London” – Dylan Thomas
  • “Fugue of Death” – Paul Celan
  • “Thyrsis” – Matthew Arnold
  • “Amores” – Ovid
  • “Elegy” – Ambrose Bierce
  • “Lycidas” – John Milton
  • “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” – W.H. Auden
  • “The Nymph Complaining for the Death of Her Fawn” – Andrew Marvell

What Are Synonyms of the Word Elegy?

You can use many different words in place of the word elegy. This word refers to a very specific kind of poem and is not suitable for every situation. This list of elegy synonyms is from Power Thesaurus.

  • Ballad
  • Ballade
  • Coronach
  • Dead March
  • Death March
  • Death Song
  • Dirge
  • Eclogue
  • Epic
  • Epicedium
  • Epitaph
  • Epode
  • Eulogy
  • Funeral March
  • Funeral Song
  • Hymn
  • Idyl
  • Keen
  • Knell
  • Lament
  • Lamentation
  • Limerick
  • Lyric
  • Madrigal
  • Monody
  • Ode
  • Plaint
  • Poem
  • Requiem
  • Song
  • Sonnet
  • Threnody
  • Triolet

Summary

The word elegy refers to a plaintive poem that is used for mourning the deceased. These poems are often solemn in tone. Famous poets throughout history wrote elegies that are still read to this day, including Walt Whitman, Ambrose Bierce, W.H. Auden, and many more.

Sources:

  1. Elegy – Examples and Definition of Elegy as Poetic Device | Literary Devices 
  2. Elegy Definition & Meaning | Merriam-Webster 
  3. Elegy Poem Examples: From Ancient Greek to Modern Reflections | Your Dictionary 
  4. elegy: meaning, origin, translation | WordSense Dictionary 
  5.  Elegy synonyms – 207 Words and Phrases for Elegy | Power Thesaurus 
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Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.

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