Plural of elegiac; poems written in elegiac meter or style, or the metrical form itself used in classical poetry.
From elegiac (relating to elegy, from Greek elegeia) plus the plural -s. In classical poetry, 'elegiacs' specifically refers to couplets of dactylic hexameter and pentameter lines.
Ancient Greek and Roman poets had elegiac meter down to a science—it's a specific rhythm that sounds naturally mournful, and they used it for everything from love poems to serious lamentation.
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