Home › Glossary › Letter E

Ecopoetic elegy

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An elegy mourning ecological loss—such as extinct species, deforestation, or climate collapse—blending environmental grief with lyrical lament.

Detailed Definition
Ecopoetic elegy mourns environmental loss—extinct species, deforested landscapes, polluted waters—through lyrical lament that blends personal grief with ecological consciousness, often invoking nonhuman voices and reimagining human responsibility within the web of life.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Jorie Graham’s “Sea Change,” ocean acidification becomes ecopoetic elegy; In Craig Santos Perez’s “from unincorporated territory,” coral death forms ecopoetic elegy; In Brenda Hillman’s “Practical Water,” polluted rivers become ecopoetic elegy; In Juliana Spahr’s “Gentle Now, Don’t Add to Heartache,” extinct species form ecopoetic elegy; In Ocean Vuong’s “Time Is a Mother,” burned forests merge with personal loss in ecopoetic elegy.
Additional Notes
Ecopoetic elegy mourns ecological loss—species, habitats, ecosystems—blending environmental awareness with traditional elegiac structures; it often calls for ethical reflection or action rather than personal consolation.
Also Known As
Environmental elegy Nature lament Ecological mourning poem Green dirge
Skip to main content