A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something that they regret or someone that they have lost, and they are usually accompanied by wailing, moaning and/or crying. Laments constitute some of the oldest forms of writing, and examples exist across human cultures.
Facts
Partially Attested
Place of OriginSource cites ancient Sumer as the site of one of the oldest surviving laments and says laments exist across human cultures; no single place of origin is stated. Notable ExampleDido's Lament (When I am laid in earth) by Henry Purcell 1 Defining TraitA passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form 1 FAQs
How is a lament related to an elegy?
A lament is a poem of deep grief, closely related to the elegy and the dirge.
The Poetry Foundation glossary defines a lament as any poem expressing deep grief, usually at the death of a loved one or some other loss, and says it is related to the elegy and the dirge. It points readers to A Lament by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lament by Thom Gunn and Lament by Edna St. Vincent Millay as examples.
Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Lament
History, paragraph 1
The Lament for Sumer and Ur dates back at least 4000 years to ancient Sumer
History, paragraph 7
Dido's Lament ("When I am laid in earth") (Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas)
Lead, sentence 1
a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form
In Group: Elegy and Lament, Lead section
A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form.
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