So Many Forms, So Little Time (PE 2011)

Wk 20 -Epitaph of a Fallen Man"

Epitaph of a Fallen Man   (E) Epitaph (week 20 Poetic Explorations) #1780077 by SWPoet

Epitaph from: The teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms, edited by Ron Padgett. Wheeler English

An epitaph (from Greek, meaning "upon a tomb") is an inscription on a tomb, or writing suitable for that purpose. The epitaph can be in prose or poetry; if poetry, it can be in any rhythmical pattern or none, rhymed or unrhymed. It should not be confused with the elegy, which, although often similar to the epitaph in subject and tone, is quite a bit longer.

Epitaphs range from the lofty to the coarse, from the sublimely serious to the shockingly hilarious. Some people have used satire to write their enemy's epitaph long before the enemy died. The earliest examples of epitaphs, carved in stone, are from ancient Egypt. The Greeks and Romans became conscious of the epitaph as a literary form. Elegies were written throughout the Middle Ages, too, but it wasn't until the 15th century in England that the epitaph developed into an exceptionally high art.

For the complete article see: http://www.angelfire.com/ct2/evenski/poetry/epitaph.html