Posted on 05/25/2005 5:16:48 AM PDT by VRWCmember
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
threnody \THREN-uh-dee\ noun
a song of lamentation for the dead; elegy
Example sentence:
In the opera's final scene, the leading lady sings a threnody to mourn the murdered king.
Did you know?
"Threnody" encompasses all genres. There are great threnodies in prose (such as the lines from Charles Dickens' _Bleak House_ upon the death of Little Jo: "Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead..."), in poetry (as in W.H. Auden's "Funeral Blues": "The stars are not wanted now: put out every one, / Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun..."), and in music (Giovanni Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater," for one). "Threnody," which we borrowed from the Greek word "threnoidia" (from "threnos," the word for "dirge"), has survived in English since the early 1600s. "Melody" and "tragedy" are related to "threnody" through the Greek root that forms their ending -- "aeidein," which means "to sing." By the same token, "comedy" is related as well.
Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.
The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
McPain ranks right up there with the Hildebeast as America's Most Self-Promoting Politician - a title, BTW, for which there are hordes of contenders....
Ooooh, I shouldn't have said that out loud.
good for him. and yes, you are still a stem cell, we must look out for you : )
Too bad he's just a congressman, he's so presidential.
Let the threnodies rise,
sing the dirges soft and sad,
bring the mourners to keen up to heaven.
Let the tolling begin,
long, slow, sonorous,
here the strands of Dies Irae proclaim,
the day of wrath approaches.
With each choice that says bad is good,
good is bad,
sterility is abundance,
death is choice,
God is nil,
man is all,
spirit is myth
and all is dust,
We man the death watch
that says farewell to the bright and wonderous promise
that once was western civilization,
and see it take its place
next to Sumeria,
and Assyria,
the Parthians,
the Anasazi,
and join the dead cities,
Mycenae,
Knossos,
Ur,
Babylon.
and all the others
in being in the past.
The future it looks, belongs to others.
dang knitting, i am ready to lay down for a dirtnap after reading that!
Had a rough night...caught my teen smoking on the back porch last night and I could have strangled him. Told him very clearly that he was in big trouble if I found him smoking on the grounds again, and there he was. Didn't sleep worth a darn, had a grownup temper tantrum this morning when I saw he didn't do the dishes, saw red almost to the point of breaking a chair and managed to bruise both my hands.
It was easy to write dirges after that...
Kid's not really bad enough to want to send to special programs, but willful, hardheaded and self indulgent. Probably par for the course at 16, almost 17.
wow, sorry to hear it. i can't even imagine it, my kids think smoking is totally disgusting, to the point of being judgmental about it (what? my kids, judgmental? HA!) Not to say that they might not outright defy me about something else. But it has never happened, and i would lose my mind if it did. so i don't blame you. xsteen is 16, will be 17 in Oct, but other than being largely sullen and incommunicative for periods of time (usually high stress times for her, i expect her to be more bearable to be around when her final exams are over next week), she is not defiant. xsboy is 13 almost 14 and will pull crap staying up playing videogames but that is pretty much as bad as it gets. xsbrownie seems to be entering puberty and getting moody and i expect battles ROYAL with her, bc she is a mini-ME/. : )
Yikes, you had a rough night.
No kidding, eh?
A threemelody is a song for the dead.
(What do call a septumelody, if we need to lament the passing of 7 repubbie traitors?)
McCain looks like he was just given the business.
OK - I'm sick and tired of drinking, water, teas and OJ - any other suggestions?
(you can tell I'm sick, I haven't had a cigarette since Monday and absolutely no desire for one)
i hope Dick had a few words for him....
Actually it looks like someone put their boot up Warner's butt..........and rightfully.
cold type sick? zinc, vit C ?
I think he told both of them to "go Leahy themselves"
I was over in your woods for a while yesterday.
Ginger ale? Particularly Reed's?
Slice oranges into your water...that's nice and refreshing...
My latest craze is Diet Mountain Dew. I am amazed how good it tastes, since I don't as a rule like things sweetened with nutrasweet. I think it tastes better than regular mountain dew...
diet Barqs rootbeer is also amazingly good for diet soda.
Yes cold flu - fever, seats, chils, headache, body aches - the whole shooting match - that's why I wasn't around yesterday.........I got out of bed in time for the school bus and stayed up long enough to injest copious quantities of liquids and chicken soup :)
I don't know about zinc, but I wiped out the bottle of vitamin C tablets and I'm too fuzzy headed to even consider getting in the car to go to the store.
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