NAME: SAFOORA FATIMA

COMBINATION:PLP
COURSE: B.A
ROLL NO:120421263014
SUBJECT: LITERATURE
TOPIC: THE ELEGY
 THE ELEGY
An elegy is a form of poetry that typically reflects on
death or loss. Traditionally, an elegiacal poem
addresses themes of mourning, sorrow, and
lamentation; however, such poems can also
address redemption and solace. Overall, the artistic
language of poetry allows such sentiments to be
expressedand articulated in the form of elegy.For
example, Walt Whitman’s elegy “O Captain! My Captain!” memorialized
President Abraham Lincoln shortly after his assassination:
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought
is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and
daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Common Examples of Themes in Elegy
As a literary device and poetic form, elegy traditionally
encompasses themes that represent a poet’s deep and
meaningful personal reflections. 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. Some
have termed this type of poetry as “graveyard” or “churchyard”
poetry, intended to express bereavement, sorrow, and pain. In
addition, much of graveyard poetry addresses the physical
phenomenon of death and fleeting nature of life.
As a poetic device, the artistic language of
elegy allows writers to express honor,
reverence, mourning, and even solace. Poets
utilize elegy to reflect upon and memorialize
the death of important historical figures or
their own personal losses. Regardless of the
subject, this poetic form enhances
experience and understanding for readers at
a deeply emotional level.