"Elegy for My Father, Who is Not Dead" Situational Irony

"I think he wants to go, / a little bit - a new desire / to travel building up, an itch / to see fresh worlds." (Lines 6-9)

         There is a discrepancy between the literary term stated in the title: elegy, and the actual content of the poem. "Elegy" implies that the poem will be about a person who has passed away, which is what I expected. However, the second half of the title and the poem show that the speaker is not lamenting a death, but he is preparing to be upset for the impending passing of his father. The whole poem is ironic simply because - had it not been for the title - I would have assumed the father was dead already based on the presence of the word elegy. The speaker makes it extremely clear that his father is still alive, though, but he also makes it clear that he and his father do not agree on a certain topic. His father is excited for the new life awaiting him, (which is also ironic because people normally fear the end of their life), but the speaker is terrified of a time when his father will not be available. Their traditional roles are reversed in the poem.