Elegies

Elegy: An elegy is a mournful poem, with its contents typically focusing on things of the past. More specifically, elegies usually mourn the death of a person.

Robert Frost composed the following elegy. He is quite a famous poet, and is well-known for his poem, “The Road Not Taken.”

My Butterfly

Thine emulous fond flowers are dead, too,
And the daft sun-assaulter, he
That frightened thee so oft, is fled or dead:
Saave only me
(Nor is it sad to thee!)
Save only me
There is none left to mourn thee in the fields.
 
The gray grass is scarce dappled with the snow;
Its two banks have not shut upon the river;
But it is long ago--
It seems forever--
Since first I saw thee glance,
WIth all thy dazzling other ones,
In airy dalliance,
Precipitate in love,
Tossed, tangled, whirled and whirled above,
Like a linp rose-wreath in a fairy dance.
 
When that was, the soft mist
Of my regret hung not on all the land,
And I was glad for thee,
And glad for me, I wist.
 
Thou didst not know, who tottered, wandering on high,
That fate had made thee for the pleasure of the wind,
With those great careless wings,
Nor yet did I.
 
And there were othe rthings:
It seemed God let thee flutter from his gentle clasp:
Then fearful he had let thee win
Too far beyond him to be gathered in,
Santched thee, o'ereager, with ungentle gasp.
 
Ah! I remember me
How once conspiracy was rife
Against my life--
The languor of it and the dreaming fond;
Surging, the grasses dizzied me of thought,
The breeze three odors brought,
And a gem-flower waved in a wand!
 
Then when I was distraught
And could not speak,
Sidelong, full on my cheek,
What should that reckless zephyr fling
But the wild touch of thy dye-dusty wing!
 
I found that wing broken today!
For thou art dead, I said,
And the strang birds say.
I found it with the withered leaves
Under the eaves.

The following elegy was written by Jonathan Swift, who also wrote "A Modest Proposal" and "Gulliver's Travels" for those of you who may recognize his name. 

Jonathan Swift

A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General  (analyze this one!)

"His Grace! impossible! what, dead!
Of old age too, and in his bed!
And could that mighty warrior fall,
And so inglorious, after all?
Well, since he's gone, no matter how,
The last loud trump must wake him now;
And, trust me, as the noise grows stronger,
He'd wish to sleep a little longer.
And could he be indeed so old
As by the newspapers we're told?
Threescore, I think, is pretty high;
'Twas time in conscience he should die!
This world he cumber'd long enough;
He burnt his candle to the snuff;
And that's the reason, some folks think,
He left behind so great a stink.
Behold his funeral appears,
Nor widows' sighs, nor orphans' tears,
Wont at such times each heart to pierce,
Attend the progress of his hearse.
But what of that? his friends may say,
He had those honours in his day.
True to his profit and his pride,
He made them weep before he died

Come hither, all ye empty things!
Ye bubbles rais'd by breath of kings!
Who float upon the tide of state;
Come hither, and behold your fate!
Let pride be taught by this rebuke,
How very mean a thing's a duke;
From all his ill-got honours flung,
Turn'd to that dirt from whence he sprung" 

 In this poem, Swift depicts the passing of a general and the accompanying funeral ceremony. While Swift regards the late general as “His Grace” and thus signifying an apparent reverence for him, the rest of the poem regards the general very literally as a cruel, harsh man who was undeserving of his honors.

In an almost mocking tone, Swift calls the general’s death “inglorious,” as he was felled not by wounds from the wars he served in, but by “old age.” Swift rhetorically asks, “And could that mighty warrior fall…after all?” insulting the general by calling him a “mighty warrior” whose death was “inglorious.” As if to again slight the general’s passing, Swift uses metonymy in his reference to “sleep,” in which the general would “wish to sleep a little longer.” By calling the general’s death just going to sleep, Swift brings a certain light tone to the situation.

Swift refers to “noise growing stronger,” after his death, the public began to speak out. He was clearly a prominent enough general, since he made it into the “newspapers.” The general is “threescore” years old, or 60 years old, which was quite elderly for the time period in which this poem was composed. Thus, when Swift says “twas time…he should die...this world he cumber’d long enough,” he captures the public’s sentiment that the general was disliked and actually strained the planet with his existence. This is quite a bold and powerful statement which epitomizes the negativity directed towards him.

And while the general had many “honors” bestowed upon him, many thought they were “ill-got” as a result of his killing their husbands and parents, as referred to by the “widows” and “orphans.” Sealing the general’s fate as a man remembered for his terrifying acts of killing, the public is happy that he has “turn’d to that dirt from whench he sprung.”