And since it is axiomatic to say, “There are worse things than death,” it is appropriate that today’s poetic device is
Elegy: A poem of grief or mourning; a lyric lament.
The Poet’s Dictionary: A Handbook of Prosody and Poetic Device, by William Packard. While I am thinking of it, I should tell you that I am only partially quoting most of these definitions. The examples and elaborations Packard gives for some of them go on, quite helpfully, for pages.
And so for my version of a lyric lament, which was written many years ago., thus, this post is taking the easy way out by using a pre-existing poem, which may or may not disqualify me from your assurances. As for there being worse things to befall us than death, I would have to say, that may be true for the individual who experiences the departure, but it is not true for those of us who are left living.
