What does elegy mean?
An elegy is a poem—or, by extension, a piece of music or other artwork—written as a sustained meditation, most characteristically as a lament for someone who has died. The word carries a tone of solemnity, sorrow, and dignified reflection rather than raw grief, and it belongs chiefly to formal and literary registers: readers encounter it in poetry anthologies, obituaries, concert-program notes, and criticism. Famous English examples include Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" and Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" mourning Abraham Lincoln. In music, composers such as Edward Elgar have written works explicitly titled elegies. A related term worth knowing is "elegiac," the adjective describing anything mournful or plaintive in mood. Because it names both a specific poetic form and a general emotional quality, elegy bridges technical literary vocabulary and everyday figurative use—a writer may describe an entire novel or album as an elegy for something lost, whether a person, a place, or an era.
A poem of serious reflection, especially a lament for the dead.
"Milton's "Lycidas" is a celebrated elegy written to mourn the death of his friend Edward King."
In classical literature, an elegy could be on any subject if written in elegiac couplets; the restriction to mourning is a later development.
A mournful or reflective piece of music or other artistic work.
"Elgar's Elegy for Strings was composed in memory of a friend who died in 1908."
Often used figuratively to describe works that feel like laments without formally being titled elegies.
Standard plural; note the y changes to -ies, as with other nouns ending in consonant + y.
"The anthology gathers elegies written across three centuries of English poetry."
Thomas Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' — one of the most quoted poems in English — was inspired by graves he saw while wandering a churchyard in the village of Stoke Poges.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of elegy
"Elegy" comes from the Greek "elegos" (ἔλεγος), meaning a song of mourning or lament, which passed into Latin as "elegia" before entering English in the early 16th century. Originally, in Greek usage, the term described poems composed in a specific meter—the elegiac couplet—regardless of subject matter, but over time the word came to denote mournful poetry in particular. It shares its Greek root with related terms such as "elegiac" and "elegize," and its sense of lamentation parallels that of cognate classical forms like the eulogy and epitaph, which likewise concern commemoration of the dead.
Related word forms
How elegy is actually used
"Elegy" is a formal, literary word, most common in discussions of poetry and music. In classical Greek poetry an "elegy" referred to any poem written in elegiac couplets regardless of subject; the modern association with mourning developed later, largely through Latin and English tradition. The adjective form is "elegiac."
Easily confused with elegy
A eulogy is a speech of praise, often delivered at a funeral, whereas an elegy is specifically a lamenting poem or song of mourning.
An epitaph is a brief inscription on a tombstone honoring the deceased, while an elegy is a longer literary work of mourning.