. . . “Threnody”
A threnody is a song, poem or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The word comes from the Greek ‘threnoidia’ {threnos (wailing) + oide (ode)}
An example would be:
“Homecoming” by Australian Bruce Dawe, a poem that has been called “the most highly regarded poem about Vietnam written by any Australian” and “one of the finest threnodies in the war literature of Vietnam”.
I read this some time ago and thought it very powerful. I looked it up today when I saw it referenced under ‘Threnody’.
telegrams tremble like leaves from a wintery tree
and the spider grief swings in his bitter geometry
– they’re bringing them home, now, too late, too early
I apologize for missing last Wednesday and for this post being late. I may start writing these ahead of time so uploading will be simple. Thanks for understanding . . . ~ Linne
A Random Harvest 
Don’t you love it when you find those “right words”…the person who can coax them out of their muse and deliver them on a silver platter right when you need them the most :). Makes me proud to be an Aussie 🙂
I love, love, love this word. Can you believe I actually used it in my novel for children? I could have used a more common word, but I hoped not only to tell children a story, but to teach them new vocabulary! (I was a teacher in my other life.)
Here is what Marie (my character) said: I hear so many sounds in this strange but alluring place called Louisiana: the croaks of toads and frogs, the whirring crescendo of cicadas, and the longing threnodies of hidden fowl.
What’s the title of your book? I read a lot of children’s fiction. 🙂
I believe in reading well over kids’ heads, at least part of the time. I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to my boys when one was four and a half; the other was three or four months from being born!!
I did the same when my daughter was little – and she became a very strong reader.
Here is a link to my children’s historical fiction novel about Acadians – how they came to be Louisiana’s Cajuns…
http://stacyallbritton.com/about-me/the-diary-of-marie-landry-acadian-exile/
Thanks for asking, Linne. You’re a peach! ❤
Thank you! I’ll see if our library has it.