To an Athlete Dying Young
A meditation on youth, fame, and mortality, where early death preserves glory from decay.
Annabel Lee
A lyrical elegy of love and loss in a kingdom by the sea.
O Captain! My Captain!
Whitman’s elegy for Lincoln balances public exultation with private grief in a rare, formally rhymed lament.
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d (Selected Excerpts)
Whitman’s Lincoln elegy braids lilac, star, and thrush into a ritual of grief and renewal in free verse.