Some examples include John Milton's "Lycidas," Alfred Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam," and Walt Whitman's "When Lilacs Last Bloom'd in the Dooryard." Peter Sacks recently eulogized his father in "Natal Command," and Mary Jo Bang wrote "You Were You Are Elegy" and other poems for her son.
These are just a few examples of elegy poems. There are many more poets who have written elegy poems. In fact, it is estimated that there are hundreds of elegy poems written by different poets over the years. Elegy poems are often related to the Greek word eulogy which means "speaking well of." Thus, an elegy poem is a beautiful way for people to speak well of someone they have lost.
Elegy poetry has many forms including lyric, narrative, and epigram. Lyric elegy poems are usually about one central idea or feeling with some reference to past events. They can be short (three lines or less) or long (four or five). Many famous lyrical elegy poems include those by John Keats, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Lyrical elegy poems often focus on love lost especially between men and women. This is because the poet(s) writing the poem feels like something is missing without their loved one. Love is what connects us all together so when we lose this connection through death, everyone around the victim feels its absence.
The following are some of the best instances of metrical romance:
For example, John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" was inspired by his sonnet attempts. Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," Robert Creeley's "America," Bernadette Mayer's "Ode on Periods," and Robert Lowell's "Quaker Graveyard on Nantucket" are among the other well-known odes. These poems, as well as others, were chosen by Stephen Mitchell for his book Odes: Translations from the Greek.
Mitchell notes that in classical Greece there were two types of odes: hymns and epics. Hymns were sung at religious festivals and included calls to prayer and praise. Epic poems told of historical or legendary figures and often included music. Ancient Greek poets borrowed ideas from both types of odes. For example, the opening lines of Shelley's ode come from an epic poem: "The west wind is up, / The day is dawning; let us fly! / Love has been here, his footsteps leave behind / A token that will tell the world he lived."
Shelley also took parts of his ode from hymns. In fact, he based his poem on a famous hymn by Anacreon: "Come, lovely butterfly, / Come away home. / If you want to be happy, / Don't flutter around alone."
Another ancient poet who used parts from both types of odes was Horace.
An elegy is a poetry or song composed in memory of a loved one who has passed away. It was formerly characterized only by the couplet form, as shown in John Donne's poem 'To His Mistress Going to Bed.' Nowadays, elegiac writings bemoan this person's passing. They may use iambic pentameter or blank verse.
Elegy is often used to describe poems written in memory of the dead. These poems are often based on actual people or events but are not necessarily true stories. Many great poets have produced elegies, including John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, and Edward Young.
Donne's poem "Elegy XVII" begins with these words: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as India; for so this lesser fragment is no longer distinguishable, being engulfed by the greater mass of the world.
'Tis hard for those who love us to see us suffer, yet it must be done to keep us safe. Every pain we endure helps us grow stronger and more capable of withstanding other things that might hurt us later. Donne was right when he said that losing someone close leaves a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled.
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