elegizev.
/ˈɛlᵻdʒʌɪz/, U.S. /ˈɛləˌdʒaɪz/ 1. transitive. To treat in an elegiac manner; to make the subject of an elegy.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > lyric poem > write lyric about [verb (transitive)] > write elegy upon
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1640 J. Gower tr. Ovid Festivalls ii. 26 Ah fool, to elegize [L. elegis imponere] a weight so great! This should have walk'd upon Heroick feet.
?a1650 W. Bosworth Chast & Lost Lovers (1651) 7 I by your looks your inward thoughts appears, You'l Elegize this story that shall come.
1717 J. Danforth (title) Greatness & goodness elegized, in a poem, upon the much lamented decease of the honourable & vertuous Madam Hannah Sewall.
1765 N. Weekes Crucifixion 5 in Messiah Why mute to elegize thy Master's Death, Who art his fav'rite Champion, Priest, and Friend?
1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 266 The bard who soars to elegise an ass.
a1845 T. Hood Poems (1846) II. 66 Whose late, last voice must elegise the whole.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. x. ii. 590 He elegises poor Adrienne Lecouvreur, the Actress.
1912 V. Robinson Pathfinders in Med. 266 Hofrath Birly..was elegized by his friends, and wreaths were placed upon his coffin.
1994 J. Ramazani Poetry of Mourning vi. 241 Lowell elegized numerous poets..but his elegy for Berryman portrays that poet as his nearest colleague.
2. intransitive. To write or speak in a mournful or elegiac manner; to compose elegies. Also with upon, about.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > lyric poem > compose lyric [verb (intransitive)] > compose elegy or lament
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1689 N. Lee Princess of Cleve i. ii. 7 Nay then let's Rave and Elegize together, Where Rosidore is now but common clay.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi iii. i. iii. 46/2 His Death gave the same Gentleman Occasion thus to Elegize upon him.
1754 H. Walpole Lett. I. 329 I..should have elegized on for a page or two farther.
1886 Edinb. Rev. July 155 Propertius and Tibullus elegised.
1917 F. P. Adams Weights & Meas. 71 Who paid the meat and grocery bills While Gray was elegizing?
1998 C. C. Barfoot & T. D'haen Oriental Prospects 3 A celebrated BBC correspondent elegized about the retreat from empire.
2001 T. R. Langley Image Govt. ii. xxiii. 165 Propertius, elegizing upon the event.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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