1. Fitting subjects includes the death of a loved one or a president.
2. The poem must be somber in tone.
3. There is no set form, but a good elegy should include a metrical pattern or rhyme scheme.
4. Try to create distinctive imagery.
5. Include some of your own thoughts about death and dying.

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• by Vince

• An elegy is a type of poem written on the occasion of a death, be it someone the poet knows personally, a public figure or a group of casualties. The best elegies use the death, or deaths, as a starting point on a meditation about death and dying. Somber in tone, the elegy dates back to ancient Greek poetry.

• For thousands of years, poets have been able vent to their passions and inspire listeners through poetry. The success of a poem, whether an elegy or a love poem, depends on the writer's command of language, not to mention their knowledge of poetic devices. Here are a few to get you started.

1. Rhyme. Rhyming is one of the most basic poetic skills that we have. Succeed to Read: Rhyme Rhyming is the act of putting two sound-alike words together, such as spoon and June or day and way. Almost anyone learning to talk can discover and generate rhymes intuitively.
2. Rhythm. Rhythm is another basic skill that children come across just by learning language. Rhythm involves the combination of accented and unaccented syllables to produce something pleasing to the ear.
   • For example, Iambic pentamter is a very popular rhythm in poetry. Cummings Study Guides: Meter Iambic means that there is an unaccented syllable placed right next to an accented syllable. If someone says "the car" they would place the accent on the word "car." Pentameter means that there are five iambs in a line. William Shakespeare wrote some of his most powerful poetry in iambic pentameter. Absolute Shakespeare: Poems
3. Alliteration. This device consists of finding two words that begin with the same letter, as in crazy cats, hairy hippos or terrible toucan. Think Quest: Alliteration
4. Simile. Compare two unlike nouns using "like" or "as." Think Quest: Simile

• For more poem basics, check out Mahalo's How to Write a Poem.

• While the theme of an elegy is always death or dying, the person or persons about whom the poem is being written can range from a loved one to a group of people the poet has never known personally.

1. Death of a Friend. For his elegy, Lycidas, poet John Milton (1608-74) mourned the loss of an old classmate, Edward King. Consolatio: John Milton: Lycidas is Dead, Dead Ere His Prime
2. Death of a Loved One. Ben Jonson wrote an elegy after the death of his young son in 1616. Luminarium: On My First Son
3. Death of a Hero or Public Figure. Percy Shelley composed Adonais after fellow poet John Keats died. English History: Adonais
4. A Tragic Event Involving Death. William Butler Yeats wrote Easter, 1916 after violent riots in Ireland protested British rule, riots in which many died. Online-Literature: Easter, 1916

• There is no set metrical pattern or rhyme scheme for an elegy. Eduqna: What is the Format for Writing an Elegy Poem? An elegy, therefore, is a creative opportunity in which the poet can let the spirit move them. The following are a few forms you might want to try:

1. Free Verse. Free verse is the easiest of the poetic forms, because it involves no fixed metrical pattern and no rhyming. Writing U Penn: Free Verse
   • Walt Whitman (1819-92) was a pioneer of this form, which he used for When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, an elegy on the death of Lincoln. glbqt: Literature
2. Rhymed Couplets. Adding an elevated tone to a poem, rhymed couplets mean that a line will rhyme with the line that follows, then the following two lines will rhyme, and so on. Literary Explorer: Patterns and Types of Poetry
   • John Milton wrote the elegy Lycidas basically in this form, with some unrhymed lines added to make it somewhat irregular.
   • For a more in depth look at couplets, check out Mahalo's How to Write a Couplet.
3. Epigram. Ben Jonson's On My First Son has been called an epigram, meaning that it is concise, fitting of an epitaph. Dictionary: Epigram An epitaph is something that is short enough to fit on a tombstone, a pithy tribute to someone who has been laid to rest. Goliath: Elegies Ending "Here"

• These are just a few of the poetic forms that would make your elegy stand out. The Word Shop: Poetic Forms and Terminology

• Because an elegy is a poem exploring death and dying as a theme, it's important to express that theme through motifs that emphasize the tone of sadness.

1. Nighttime. Setting the poem at twilight or nighttime gives it a sad or contemplative mood, as Thomas Gray does in his classic Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. Thomas Gray Archives: The Primary Poetry Gray's references to "parting day," "drowsy tinklings" and the "moping owl" establish the time of day and the motif of darkness.
2. Solitude. Death can make survivors feel alone. Put this in your poem through imagery or word choice. The image of a solitary bird in Whitman's elegy for Lincoln is one of the more moving images in all of poetry, symbolizing the sense of loss the speaker feels. Bartleby: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd Choose words such as "solitary," "alone" and "lonely" to help create the feeling of emptiness.
3. Religion. An elegy is the perfect opportunity to explore your religious views. How does the death of this person or persons make you feel about your own life? God and Jesus are the first references in Tennyson's In Memoriam A.H.H., written in the 19th century. Online-Literature: In Memoriam A.H.H. You can also describe things you might see in a church or churchyard to further the emphasis on religion.

• If you follow the above steps in writing your elegy poem, you will be following in the footsteps of some of the finest writers from the last few centuries. It's now time to put your pen to paper (or your fingers to keyboard) and let your creativity flow.