Definition of elegy. plural. elegies. 1 : a poem in elegiac couplets. 2a : a song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation especially for one who is deadb : something (as a speech) resembling such a song or poem. 3a : a pensive or reflective poem that is usually nostalgic or melancholyb : a short pensive musical composition.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 â March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include  Paul Revere's Ride , The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri 's The Divine Comedy, and was one of the five Fireside Poets.
THOREAU'S EARLY YEARS. Henry Thoreau was born in 1817 in Concord, where his father, John, was a shopkeeper. John moved his family to Chelmsford and Boston, following business opportunities. In 1823 the family moved back to Concord where John established a pencil-making concern that eventually brought financial stability to the family.