Elegy

An elegy is a reflective poem or song that laments the death of a person or a broader loss, often moving from mourning toward contemplation of mortality and consolation. The word derives from the Greek elegos, meaning a lament or mournful verse, and was originally a form of ancient Greek poetry later adopted and adapted by Roman writers.

In classical literature, elegy referred to a specific metrical form known as the elegiac couplet, typically used for themes of love, loss, and moral reflection. Latin poets such as Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid popularized the genre, while Greek poets earlier contributed models of lament and memory. In English literature, the pastoral elegy emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, blending mournful tone with rural imagery and social commentary.

Common features of an elegy include an invocation or address to a figure of mourning, a description of the subject’s absence, and a turn toward larger reflections on life, death, and virtue. Although there is no fixed form, many elegies move from complaint to praise of the deceased and often aim to provide consolation or moral insight to the living.

Subgenres include the pastoral elegy, which foregrounds nature and rural setting, and occasional elegy, written for specific events or persons. In modern usage, elegy can describe any poem or prose passage that mourns a loss in a subdued, contemplative mood, even when not tied to a particular person.

Notable examples include John Milton’s Lycidas, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais, Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam, each advancing the tradition while adapting it to new poetic concerns.