--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: (Later, I'l learn that's the structure of…" description: "\"“(Later, I'l learn that's the structure of an elegy: lament, consolation; bad news, followed by good news.)”\" — Mary Karr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mary-karr-3335_bad-news_later-i-l-learn-that-s-the-structure-of_1669395.png" --- # (Later, I'l learn that's the structure of an elegy… ![“(Later, I'l learn that's the structure of an elegy: lament, consolation; bad news, followed by good news.)” quote by Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mary-karr-3335_bad-news_later-i-l-learn-that-s-the-structure-of_1669395.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mary-karr-3335_bad-news_later-i-l-learn-that-s-the-structure-of_1669395.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mary-karr-3335_bad-news_later-i-l-learn-that-s-the-structure-of_1669395.png) > ““(Later, I'l learn that's the structure of an elegy: lament, consolation; bad news, followed by good news.)”” [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An elegy follows a pattern: sorrow, comfort, bad news, then relief, reflecting how we process grief. **In simple terms:** Grief moves from loss to hope. Key Takeaway Recognize the stages of mourning. Themes grief healing structure emotion Mood reflective hopeful Type literary emotional When to use this quote - personal loss - creative writing - therapy sessions - memorials Key Concepts Narrative arc emotional regulation Questions to Reflect On - What stage are you experiencing? - How can you find consolation? A Different Perspective Not all grief follows this exact pattern; cultural differences exist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elegy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elegy/) [Good news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-news/) [Lament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lament/) ## Related quotes > [“Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep, He hath awaken’d from the dream of life; ’Tis we, who lost in stormy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/peace-peace-he-is-not-dead-he-doth-not-sleep-he-hath-awaken-d-from/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [There's something really unnatural about losing a child, and there's something unnatural about having to write an elegy for your child, but I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/there-s-something-really-unnatural-about-losing-a-child-and-there-s/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I can’t talk about my books. I have written them and tried to forget them. I have written once, and readers have read me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-can-t-talk-about-my-books-i-have-written-them-and-tried-to-forget/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I want my images to achieve two things in this regard - to be an elegy to a world that is tragically vanishing, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-brandt/i-want-my-images-to-achieve-two-things-in-this-regard-to-be-an-elegy/) [Nick Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-brandt/) > [“It's really over." He put his arms around her, pulling her to him. "Now just as long as you don't get tangled up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/it-s-really-over-he-put-his-arms-around-her-pulling-her-to-him-now/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [The elegy does the work of mourning; it allows us to experience mortality. It turns loss into remembrance, and it delivers an inheritance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-elegy-does-the-work-of-mourning-it-allows-us-to-experience/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Travel is a caprice in childhood, a passion in youth, a necessity in manhood, and an elegy in old age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-rizal/travel-is-a-caprice-in-childhood-a-passion-in-youth-a-necessity-in/) [Jose Rizal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-rizal/) > [“How the time passed away, slipped into nightfall as if it had never been!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-the-time-passed-away-slipped-into-nightfall-as-if-it-had-never/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I was from Cupid's passions free, my Muse was mute and wrote no elegy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/when-i-was-from-cupid-s-passions-free-my-muse-was-mute-and-wrote-no/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [We should write an elegy for every day that has slipped through our lives unnoticed and unappreciated. 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They're my elegy to a world that is steadily, tragically vanishing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-brandt/my-images-are-unashamedly-idyllic-and-romantic-a-kind-of-enchanted/) [Nick Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-brandt/) > [Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/full-many-a-flower-is-born-to-blush-unseen/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“An Elegy A thousand times must we deplore The lost will never come to life again; Even as flowing water runs away, Returning nevermore.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reiko-chiba/an-elegy-a-thousand-times-must-we-deplore-the-lost-will-never-come-to/) [Reiko Chiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reiko-chiba/) ## More by Mary Karr > [I do have a really good memory. 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How he sort of learned to lean into feeling hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-think-about-the-story-of-job-i-heard-in-carol-sharp-s-sunday-school/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I believe in God, but even if you don't, you can believe in a self, the person who is innately who you are. Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-believe-in-god-but-even-if-you-don-t-you-can-believe-in-a-self-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Love is the only passion which includes in its dreams the happiness of someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/love-is-the-only-passion-which-includes-in-its-dreams-the-happiness/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It strikes me that whatever advantages there are to being a boy--getting to stay out late and having other people wash your clothes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/it-strikes-me-that-whatever-advantages-there-are-to-being-a-boy/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“I liked to call myself a poet and had affected a habit of reading classical texts (in translation, of course – I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-liked-to-call-myself-a-poet-and-had-affected-a-habit-of-reading/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It turned out to be impossible for me to 'run away' in the sense other American teenagers did. Any movement at all was taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/it-turned-out-to-be-impossible-for-me-to-run-away-in-the-sense-other/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“What hurts so bad about youth isn't the actual butt whippings the world delivers. It's the stupid hopes playacting like certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/what-hurts-so-bad-about-youth-isn-t-the-actual-butt-whippings-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) [Explore all 133 Mary Karr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## More Bad news quotes > [In the wake of such bad news, it was heartening to know that what 'Sense8' stood for meant so much to so many people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-j-smith/in-the-wake-of-such-bad-news-it-was-heartening-to-know-that-what/) [Brian J. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-torres/if-there-s-one-thing-you-should-know-about-me-it-s-that-i-m-utterly/) [Julio Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-torres/) > [I seem to thrive by destroying the last thing I did, in a kind of cartoon Nietzsche way. Emerson says in "Experience" something like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chiasson/i-seem-to-thrive-by-destroying-the-last-thing-i-did-in-a-kind-of/) [Dan Chiasson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chiasson/) > [“The bad news is that, measured in terms of geologic time, if the Earth’s history is an accurate guide, glaciers will soon return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/the-bad-news-is-that-measured-in-terms-of-geologic-time-if-the-earth/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [I love an underdog. No, I don't necessarily mean the cartoon. I mean like David, as in Goliath, or the Bears, as in The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/i-love-an-underdog-no-i-don-t-necessarily-mean-the-cartoon-i-mean/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) > [The good news is that economists are intelligent, engaging and often charming folks. The bad news is their work is often of little use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/the-good-news-is-that-economists-are-intelligent-engaging-and-often/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [The flatter the corporate hierarchy, the more likely it is that employees will communicate bad news and act upon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-flatter-the-corporate-hierarchy-the-more-likely-it-is-that/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [The good news may be that Nature is phasing out the white man, but the bad news is that's who She thinks we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/the-good-news-may-be-that-nature-is-phasing-out-the-white-man-but-the/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [For a long period of time, the media covered rap music and hip hop the same way they cover a lot of black people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-d/for-a-long-period-of-time-the-media-covered-rap-music-and-hip-hop-the/) [Chuck D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-d/) > [“Shifting from a superior/inferior paradigm to a strength-in-difference paradigm was kind of a good news/bad news situation. 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