The Elegy: A Lament (or is a lament an elegy?)
This week in lecture, we discussed the elegy. This genre of poetry deals with death. An elegy may be defined as a lament for the dead (as this online dictionary does: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=elegy). But, this definition gets confusing when one learns that there is another poetic genre called the lament. So, what is an elegy and what is a lament? I intend to differentiate between these genres presently:
An Elegy:
-lyric
-formal in tone and diction
-considers the death or a person or is the poet's contemplation of the tragic aspects of life
-the emotion is orginally expressed as a lament, but finds consolation in the comtemplation of some permanent principle
A Lament:
-non-narrative
-arising out of the oral tradition
-expresses profound regret, sorrow or concern of the loss of a person or position
I am unable to cite a source for these definitions, because I have taken them from the handout Professor Kuin gave the class on November 21th. I hope this admission is sufficient for everyone reading this post. If not, I will delete this and find definitions with a source I can cite.
Moving away from technicalities and back to poetry, I believe I have found some sound differences between the elegy and the lament. While both are about death, the lament seems to express sorrow, but find no solace, while the elegy also expresses sorrow, but finds some consolation. Also the lament belongs to the oral tradition, while the elegy is a lyric. These differences can be exemplified through an analysis of the poems we studied in class.
Chidiock Tichborne wrote "My Prime of Youth is but a Frost of Cares," in 1586, just three days before he was executed on a charge of conspiring against Queen Elizabeth with a group of other catholics. This poem may be thought of as more of a lament because Tichborne does not seem to find any solace in his sorrow. After using many metaphors to describe his despair throughout the poem, Tichborne ends with this, "And now I live, and now my life is done" (Norton 151). Perhaps I am mistaken but this is no consolation, moreso a indicator of defeat. On the other hand, Tichborne's poem does not correspond with the conventions of a lament, because it is not an oral poem. In fact, the footnote on page 151 of our Norton Anthology states, "the first owner of this manuscript noted that Tichborne [wrote] the poem 'with his own hande'."
A better example of a lament is the Old English poem, "The Wife's Lament," which I have written about in an earlier post, October 20th, to be exact (please refer to that post if you want to read the poem again). Although this poem is often called an elegy, I believe it to be more like a lament. This poem obviously deals with a sorrow over the loss of a person, but the exact topic of the poem isn't know, it possibly deals with a wife's despair after her husband has left her (for one reason or another, again, no one really knows how to interpret the text exactly). This poem arose out of the oral tradition, as did all Old English literature and truly there is no consolation found through the lament. Similar to Tichborne's poem, this poem ends with a sense of despair, "Woe to those who live longing for a loved one."
John Milton's 1637 poem, "Lycidas," is an elegy. More specifically, "Lycidas" is a pastoral elegy. This type of elegy utilizes shepard imagery as a metaphor for poets and their writing. Milton's poem is indeed a lyric in that it deals with subjective thoughts and feeling and was perhaps meant to be sung as is implied by footnote #8 in our Norton Anthology, page 410, which states, "Milton added this headnote when he published the elegy in his 1645 Poems" in reference to the line below the title, "In This Monody the Author Bewails a Learned Friend". The footnote defines "Monody" as "an elegy or dirge sung by a single voice." Furthermore, this poem provides consolation after the lament with this line, "At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue:/Tomorrow to frest woods, and pastures new" (Norton 415). This permanent principle, "tomorrow is a new day," is a comforting thought for one who is lamenting a loved one.
Now that these distinctions have been made, I think it is appropriate to consider why one would write a lament or elegy. First and foremost, as I learned in tutorial, when one writes about the dead, the poet makes this dead person immortal. Also, because writing poetry requires an intellectual process, when one writes about the dead or expresses intense emotions through poetry, s/he must detach her/himself from the topic and emotions in order to avoid cliches and focus on the elements or conventions of the particular style of poetry being used. This is a way of dealing with death with both distance and reverance. In essence, writing a lament or elegy is an act of mourning.
Writing this post has really cleared up the confusion I felt about these poetic genres, I hope I have not made any errors. Please forgive me, then correct me, if I have.
Janice
An Elegy:
-lyric
-formal in tone and diction
-considers the death or a person or is the poet's contemplation of the tragic aspects of life
-the emotion is orginally expressed as a lament, but finds consolation in the comtemplation of some permanent principle
A Lament:
-non-narrative
-arising out of the oral tradition
-expresses profound regret, sorrow or concern of the loss of a person or position
I am unable to cite a source for these definitions, because I have taken them from the handout Professor Kuin gave the class on November 21th. I hope this admission is sufficient for everyone reading this post. If not, I will delete this and find definitions with a source I can cite.
Moving away from technicalities and back to poetry, I believe I have found some sound differences between the elegy and the lament. While both are about death, the lament seems to express sorrow, but find no solace, while the elegy also expresses sorrow, but finds some consolation. Also the lament belongs to the oral tradition, while the elegy is a lyric. These differences can be exemplified through an analysis of the poems we studied in class.
Chidiock Tichborne wrote "My Prime of Youth is but a Frost of Cares," in 1586, just three days before he was executed on a charge of conspiring against Queen Elizabeth with a group of other catholics. This poem may be thought of as more of a lament because Tichborne does not seem to find any solace in his sorrow. After using many metaphors to describe his despair throughout the poem, Tichborne ends with this, "And now I live, and now my life is done" (Norton 151). Perhaps I am mistaken but this is no consolation, moreso a indicator of defeat. On the other hand, Tichborne's poem does not correspond with the conventions of a lament, because it is not an oral poem. In fact, the footnote on page 151 of our Norton Anthology states, "the first owner of this manuscript noted that Tichborne [wrote] the poem 'with his own hande'."
A better example of a lament is the Old English poem, "The Wife's Lament," which I have written about in an earlier post, October 20th, to be exact (please refer to that post if you want to read the poem again). Although this poem is often called an elegy, I believe it to be more like a lament. This poem obviously deals with a sorrow over the loss of a person, but the exact topic of the poem isn't know, it possibly deals with a wife's despair after her husband has left her (for one reason or another, again, no one really knows how to interpret the text exactly). This poem arose out of the oral tradition, as did all Old English literature and truly there is no consolation found through the lament. Similar to Tichborne's poem, this poem ends with a sense of despair, "Woe to those who live longing for a loved one."
John Milton's 1637 poem, "Lycidas," is an elegy. More specifically, "Lycidas" is a pastoral elegy. This type of elegy utilizes shepard imagery as a metaphor for poets and their writing. Milton's poem is indeed a lyric in that it deals with subjective thoughts and feeling and was perhaps meant to be sung as is implied by footnote #8 in our Norton Anthology, page 410, which states, "Milton added this headnote when he published the elegy in his 1645 Poems" in reference to the line below the title, "In This Monody the Author Bewails a Learned Friend". The footnote defines "Monody" as "an elegy or dirge sung by a single voice." Furthermore, this poem provides consolation after the lament with this line, "At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue:/Tomorrow to frest woods, and pastures new" (Norton 415). This permanent principle, "tomorrow is a new day," is a comforting thought for one who is lamenting a loved one.
Now that these distinctions have been made, I think it is appropriate to consider why one would write a lament or elegy. First and foremost, as I learned in tutorial, when one writes about the dead, the poet makes this dead person immortal. Also, because writing poetry requires an intellectual process, when one writes about the dead or expresses intense emotions through poetry, s/he must detach her/himself from the topic and emotions in order to avoid cliches and focus on the elements or conventions of the particular style of poetry being used. This is a way of dealing with death with both distance and reverance. In essence, writing a lament or elegy is an act of mourning.
Writing this post has really cleared up the confusion I felt about these poetic genres, I hope I have not made any errors. Please forgive me, then correct me, if I have.
Janice