Death Elegy Poems | Examples
These Death Elegy poems are examples of Elegy poems about Death. These are the best examples of Elegy Death poems written by international poets.
I put my arms around you, your heart melts into mine;
the borders of your anguish I can easily define.
There is no need for language explaining agony,
I perceive a griever’s heartache in black telepathy.
Your landscape is familiar, I know one similar
in the trackless barren places, in the lonely city spaces
where people neither know nor care.
I gleaned shriveled fruit from withered vines,
crushed, distilled, and drank the acrid wine.
I climbed the treeless summit, trekked the tundra of despair,
heard the mountain winds dark harmony
to a mourning mother’s keening prayer.
I know because my heart has heard
within its depths your soundless words.
Copyright, July 11, 2026
She got oat stuck in her throat.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
No longer smell I the breath, see the chest rises;
No longer do I see those beautiful hazel/brown eyes;
Never on this side of heaven, shall I hear the voice;
Nor will I feel the soft warm vessel the skin.
I mourn for the flesh her vessel, gone nothing be, SPIRIT
~~~~~~~~LEFT.
4/19/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026©
Well, here we are,
dear canine friend.
The Reaper is racing
towards us,
but I won't say Goodbye.
I'll say Thank You.
Thank you, Sandy,
for being the best friend
that I’ll ever know.
Thank you, Sandy,
for trotting
towards me
during my
loneliest hours.
You were
my confidante,
my guardian,
and my playmate.
Please know that
as I turn away
for the final time,
I’m not turning away
from you.
Our time together
is finished.
There is no sense
in sobbing
over the inevitable.
Then why do I
tremble
as I lumber away?
Why is my soul
coated
with sorrow?
I hear the Reaper
coming, dear girl.
He’ll take my heart
with you.
The big bronze bell was tolling
From the façade of St Peter’s
An incessant toll above death
88 clangs from its open mouth
The Angelus Bell rang out
For the years of Francis’ life
Over the sky of Rome
A clear celestial blue
The blue of the Virgin mother
Through which we see God
Men of the clergy on the right
Royals and politicians on the left
The chorus sings the Requiem
No melody can melt away
The broken world of sin
Nor wake the dead lying alone
In a wooden box on the cold stone
As the mourning clouds rolled in
ALEXANDRIA
I came late to Jesus,
Got cancer before my time,
Watched my husband die,
Found my baby drowned.
What did I do wrong?
Followed His church’s way,
Never missed a Sunday mass,
Confessed my sins religiously.
Refused to hear the call
For contraception—
That was not God’s way.
I made Him a dozen babies.
Why’d he punish me?
My faith wasn’t always strong.
Still, I never strayed,
Took communion regularly.
I prepare myself to meet my Maker.
Doctor says I only have a day or two.
Jesus, come to me—
Save me from eternal void.
"The essence in us is the same as the essence of the sun”
Dweller of our heart
A sun went out, a silent, sudden night,
and left a shadow where once there was light,
For in our chests, a solar flame still burns,
A borrowed heat that twists and gently turns.
The essence in us is the same as the essence of the sun,
And so your light, though gone from sight and sound,
Is now a warmth within this hallowed ground.
You live in me, a dweller in the core,
A part of fire I am now and evermore.
Though earth received what was your final form,
You shine within, and keep my spirit warm.
Here one day gone the next
I did not know you very well
You were always nice to me
Commonalities in passing
Sudden sadness in the clouds
The old heads respected you
Sadness in everyone’s heart
Grief in everyone’s eyes
Stillness in your energy gone
The type of sudden sadness
Which leaves you in shock
The type of sudden sadness
Which brings abrupt silence
The type of sudden sadness
Which hollows you out inside
The type of sudden sadness
When kindness of 37 years young dies
Youthful Israeli embassy couple,
almost engaged,
gunshots fired in the May DC eve,
murdered sweethearts,
hate, it never pauses,
almost had hope,
shalom to the world. ~
The bright in the daylight beacons shine;
Beating hearts no longer a lined;
The doctor M.E. has pronounced the vessel dead;
Sorely he bled out after being pierced in the head;
Now a corpse no longer shall he rise
His spirit now with Father-God
04/03/25
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2025©
I shed tears today for a lady I never knew
For so long my emotions faced exemption
My life, created in lieu of a tragic encounter, grew
At last my understanding salvaged some redemption
Perceptions and thoughts of the unknown accumulated
Visions of youth, sorrow, love, loyalty, and despair
Through the eyes of destiny we communicated
Briefly revealing how much you loved and deeply cared
Your concern for other’s lives gave way to mine
For a moment I felt your warmth and saw your light shine
A unique memory of you shall forever be kept
Of the day, upon your resting place, in silence, I wept
My beloved late husband and I
once strolled down Bourbon Street,
on a mild winter's afternoon.
The musicians enchanted the
atmosphere,
as sparrows lent their own songs.
We dined on gumbo al fresco
with friends,
Spanish Moss clothed ancient trees.
It wasn't yet Mardi Gras,
but we felt so festive,
with her old-time buildings
and eccentric people,
all those years ago.
This New Year's Day,
New Orleans mourns again,
her heart has the wound of loss,
as some of her innocent revelers
died an untimely and unforseen death.
The city of celebration,
candlelit for remembrance. ~
Laid still mourners pass, surpasses
Time moves let subs pendant closed passes
Subjoin the beauty instilled blurred by glasses
To be resurrected renewed in the ever lasted
12/16/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
.
i never left the place
we left off
i see you in all uv
herz
looks
sees
winks
tears
all uv mine
thinks
'bout yourn
haven't
won't
stop
Her struggling gait and wrinkled face
Reflected grief for her dead mate.
She’d lost her family at great cost
Before she entered society’s lost.
I passed her every day on streets
And thought she was a deadbeat.
She did not have delusions grand
And only craved a kindly hand.
She limped her way down city streets
With no one’s help and nil to eat.
She had no home and widely roamed
Before she spent her nights alone.
Her shrunken frame and knotted mane
Hid the fact that she was lame.
She struggled for her every breath
And every day she cheated death.
Ghosts like her die alone
And no one hears their final moan.
They fade away like apparitions,
Victims of Man’s blindered vision.