For A Little Girl, Lost, An Elegy Poem by Michael Burch

Elegy for a little girl, lost
by Michael R. Burch

...qui laetificat juventutem meam...
She was the joy of my youth,
and now she is gone.
...requiescat in pace...
May she rest in peace.
...amen...
Amen.

NOTE: I was touched by this Latin prayer, which I discovered in a novel that I read as a teenager. I decided to incorporate it into a poem. From what I now understand, "ad deum qui laetificat juventutem meam" means "to the God who gives joy to my youth" but I am sticking with my original interpretation: a lament for a little girl at her funeral. This was my first translation, started in high school and revised later as an adult. Keywords/Tags: Latin, translation, elegy, eulogy, epitaph, lament, prayer, hymn, joy, sorrow, requiescat, pace, rest, peace, amen, funeral, grave, girl, daughter