Elegiac refers either generally to compositions that are like elegies or specifically to Greek and Latin poetry composed in elegiac couplets, in which a line of dactylic hexameter is followed by a line of dactylic pentameter. Because the hexameter line is in the same meter as epic poetry and because the elegiac form was always considered lower style than epic, elegists frequently wrote with epic in mind and positioned themselves in relation to epic.

The first examples of elegiac poetry in writing come from classical Greece. The form dates back nearly as early as epic, with such authors as Archilocus and Simonides of Ceos from early in the history of Greece. The first great elegiac poet of the Hellenistic period was Philitas of Cos: Augustan poets identified his name with great elegiac writing. One of the most influential elegiac writers was Philitas' rival Callimachus, who had an enormous impact on Roman poets, both elegists and non-elegists alike. He promulgated the idea that elegy, shorter and more compact than epic, could be even more beautiful and worthy of appreciation. Propertius linked him to his rival with the following well-known couplet:

Thomas Frederick Day ("Tippy") (August 20, 1935 — August 21, 2000) was an American football player. A defensive end, he played college football at North Carolina A&T State University, and professionally in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills and the San Diego Chargers. He was part of the Bills' defense which did not allow a rushing touchdown for 17 consecutive games over a portion of the 1964 and 1965 seasons, winning the American Football League Championship in both years. Day was an AFL All-Star in 1965.

Day said of winning the AFL championship, "Winning the championship is like making love to the most beautiful woman in the world."

Jon Hopkins (born 1979) is a London-based producer and musician who writes and performs his own melodic electronica and dance music. After starting his career performing keyboard for Imogen Heap, he's produced or contributed to albums by Brian Eno, Coldplay, David Holmes, and others. Hopkins composed the soundtrack for the 2010 film Monsters, which was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score. His third solo album, Insides, reached #15 on the Dance/Electronic Album Chart in 2009,. His collaborations on Small Craft on a Milk Sea with Brian Eno and Leo Abrahams and Diamond Mine with King Creosote both reached #82 on the UK Albums Chart. In 2011 Diamond Mine was nominated for a Mercury Prize, which is annually awarded for best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Jon Hopkins was born in 1979 in Wimbledon in the South of London, where he was raised. He first became aware of electronic music after hearing early house music on the radio at the age of seven or eight, and also became an avid fan of Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys. These records inspired an early fascination with synths.

Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation. Bax’s poetry and stories, which he wrote under the pseudonym of Dermot O’Byrne, reflect his profound affinity with Irish poet W. B. Yeats and are largely written in the tradition of the Irish Literary Revival.

Brad Mehldau (born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brian Blade, Jimmy Cobb, classical vocalists Renée Fleming and Anne Sofie von Otter, and singer-songwriters Chris Thile and John Mayer.

Mehldau was born Bradford Alexander Mehldau in 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida. His family moved to Connecticut where Mehldau spent most of his childhood and high school. He attended William H. Hall High School in West Hartford and participated in Hall's prestigious jazz program. While a sophomore in high school, he won Berklee College's Best All-Around Musician Award. Mehldau moved to New York in 1988 to study jazz at The New School, studying under Fred Hersch, Junior Mance and Kenny Werner, and also playing with Jimmy Cobb.^{[citation needed]} He went on to play as sideman with a variety of musicians, most importantly with the Joshua Redman quartet, before forming his own trio in 1994, with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, and later Jeff Ballard, who succeeded Rossy in 2005. In addition to his trio work, Mehldau collaborated with guitarist Pat Metheny, releasing two albums with him and embarking on a worldwide tour along with Grenadier and Ballard.