Elegy For a Little Girl, Lost

Elegy for a little girl, lost by Michael R. Burch . . . qui laetificat juventutem meam . . . She was the joy of my youth, and now she is gone. . . . requiescat in pace . . . May she rest in peace. . . . amen . . . Amen. NOTE: I was touched by this Latin prayer, which I discovered in a novel that I read as a teenager. I decided to incorporate it into a poem, which I started in high school and revised as an adult. From what I now understand, “ad deum qui laetificat juventutem meam” means “to the God who gives joy to my youth” but I am sticking with my original interpretation: a lament for a little girl at her funeral. This was my first translation. Keywords/Tags: Latin, translation, elegy, epitaph, lament, prayer, eulogy, hymn, joy, sorrow, grief, requiescat, pace, rest, peace, death, bereavement, funeral, grave, girl, father, daughter, sympathy, farewell, goodbye