Eulogy
- Not to be confused with elegy.
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Look up eulogy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
A eulogy (from εὐλογία, eulogia, Classical Greek for "good words") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently dead or retired.[1][2][3] Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions. Eulogies can also praise a living person or people who are still alive, which normally takes place on special occasions like birthdays etc. Eulogies should not be confused with elegies, which are poems written in tribute to the dead; nor with obituaries, which are published biographies recounting the lives of those who have recently died; nor with obsequies, which refer generally to the rituals surrounding funerals. Catholic priests are prohibited by the rubrics of the Mass from presenting a eulogy for the deceased in place of a homily during a funeral Mass.[4]
Eulogies are usually delivered by a family member or a close family friend in the case of a dead person. For a living eulogy given in such cases as a retirement, a senior colleague could perhaps deliver it. On occasions, eulogies are given to those who are severely ill or elderly in order to express words of love and gratitude before they pass away.
[edit] Elegiac poetry
One of the most influential early elegiac writers was Callimachus whose writings had dramatic impact on such classic Roman poets as Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid. Catullus' 85th poem is one of the better know Latin elegies. Written for his lover, Lesbia, the poem expresses conflicting emotion of both love and hatred:
"odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? nescio, sed fieri sentio et ecrucior." "I hate and I love. Why do I do this, you might ask? I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured"
The feeling of helplessness express here is still very prevalent in modern elegies.
Elegiac poetry was originally championed as simply a way to express the beauty and grandeur of what we consider a classic roman epic poem in a shorter but equally noteworthy manner. Eventually, Roman authors also began to use the elegiac form to express strong emotion as well as tell stories. The use of elegiac poetry is evidenced in some of the works of Ovid, Propertius and others who used it to tell stories like the origin of Rome and the Temple of Apollo.
It was some of the English poets like Lord Tennyson and Thomas Gray that gave the elegy the characteristically somber tone we are now accustomed to. "Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson retained the elegiac tone and paired the praise it offered with a very mournful tone. Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard" inspired many poets of the time to take up the elegy. Most of these other poets used the format to express solitude and mourning in a very general way.
Poets of the Romantic era attempted to use elegiac poetry in a lyrical way. Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed the elegy was "most natural to the reflective mind." After the Romantic period, however, the elegy became more and more synonymous with lamentation. Eventually, the form settled into its common modern use as a way to mourn and celebrate the dead.
The eulogy and elegy both have a long, varied history that has led them to become the most popular poetry form for expressing loss, love and sorrow. Though they differ in origin, age and versatility, both forms of funeral lamentation can be a touching and heartfelt tribute to a newly departed loved one. These memorial poetry formats can be used as a farewell or a way to help the bereaved find comfort and closure in incredibly difficult times. Whether used in a speech, obituary or epitaph, eulogies and elegies are beautiful ways to find the beauty in sadness, the laudation in mournful observance.
[edit] See also
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Wikisource has several original texts related to: Eulogies |
- Consolatio Literary Genre
- Elegy
- Funeral oration (ancient Greece)
- Obituary
- Panegyric
- Requiem
- Types of speeches
