Over the breast of the spring, the land, amid cities,Īmid lanes and through old woods, where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris,Īmid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes, passing the endless grass, Here are some examples of elegy in literature: Example 1: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d (Walt Whitman)

Regardless of the subject, this poetic form enhances experience and understanding for readers at a deeply emotional level. Poets utilize elegy to reflect upon and memorialize the death of important historical figures or their own personal losses. death of influential leader, writer, or other public figures/ heroes Famous Examples of Elegy Written by One Author for AnotherĪs a poetic device, the artistic language of elegy allows writers to express honor, reverence, mourning, and even solace.death and its inevitability and/or universality.Here are some common examples of theme in elegy:

However, elegiacal poetry can address many themes other than loss of life and grief. In addition, much of graveyard poetry addresses the physical phenomenon of death and fleeting nature of life. Some have termed this type of poetry as “graveyard” or “churchyard” poetry, intended to express bereavement, sorrow, and pain. Thomas Gray’s well-known poem “An Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard,” published in the mid-eighteenth century, solidified elegy poems as philosophical expressions of lamentation and mourning. As a literary device and poetic form, elegy traditionally encompasses themes that represent a poet’s deep and meaningful personal reflections.

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