noun

elegy

EL-uh-jee/ˈelədʒi/

A mournful poem or song, especially for someone who has died.

The man sings an elegy beside the coffin, accompanying himself on guitar.

An older man sings a quiet lament beside a flower-covered coffin, accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar while another older man mourns.

Etymology

Greek elegos meant a poem or song of lament, though its deeper origin is uncertain. Elegy also designated a particular verse form, but the funeral sense retains the connection with mourning.

In context

Jonathan Ullyot9:16

like proof rock's kind kind of going through his own internal thoughts and trying to write a lyric love song which turns into something more like an elegy but an elegy for himself.

How to Close Read Poetry: Form, Nonce Structure, and Rhetorical Design

More examples

The choir sings a quiet elegy for those lost at sea.
His elegy captures the loneliness that follows a friend's death.
The collection includes elegies for the poet's parents.

Forms

elegy · elegies

elegiac adjective — Expressing mourning or resembling an elegy.

Similar words

dirge: Usually a song performed at a funeral, rather than a poem.
lament: A broader expression of grief, not necessarily a poem or song.