dirge n : a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person [syn: coronach, lament, requiem, threnody]

English

Pronunciation

• italbrac RP , /dɜːdʒ/, /d3:dZ/
• italbrac US , /dɝːdʒ/, /d3:rdZ/
• Rhymes with: -ɜː(r)dʒ

Noun

1. A mournful poem or piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person

Synonyms

• lament, requiem, coronach, threnody

Translations

• Chinese: 挽歌 (wǎn gē)
• Finnish: surulaulu, valituslaulu
• Serbian: tužbalica, narikača
• Spanish: canto fúnebre

For the Transformers character, see Dirge (Transformers)

For the Xombie character, see Xombie

For The American comic book writter/artist, see Roman Dirge

A dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. The English word "dirge" is derived from the Latin Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam ("Direct my way in your sight, O Lord my God") , the first words of the first antiphon in the Matins of the Office for the Dead. The original meaning of "dirge" in English referred to this office.

Examples of dirges include:

• Dies Iræ
• The Lyke-Wake Dirge
• "Quiet Please" radio drama theme
• Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire
• Just a Closer Walk With Thee
• In the Sweet By and By
• Bye and Bye
• "Dirge" by Bob Dylan
• "Dirge" by Death in Vegas
• "Dirge for November" by Opeth
• "Musical Death (A Dirge)" by Testament
• "O Death" Appalachian dirge
• "Piano Concerto No. 1 'Scorpion Fire'" A song from the game beatmania IIDX
• "Dirge Inferno" by Cradle of Filth
• "Dirge for the Planet" by Firelake
• "Fallen Heros"
• "Flee as a Bird to the Mountain"
• "Over in the Gloryland"
• "Westlawn Dirge"

See also

• Elegy
• Funeral march
• Jeremiad
• Lament
• Requiem
• Oppari

Brautlied, Christmas carol, Dry Mass, English sonnet, Eucharistic rites, Horatian ode, Italian sonnet, Kunstlied, Lady Mass, Liebeslied, Low Mass, Mass, Missa, Missa bassa, Missa cantata, Missa legata, Missa media, Missa praesanctificatorum, Missa privata, Missa publica, Missa sicca, Petrarchan sonnet, Pindaric ode, Requiem Mass, Rosary, Rosary Mass, Sapphic ode, Shakespearean sonnet, Volkslied, alba, anacreontic, anthem, art song, aubade, balada, ballad, ballade, ballata, barcarole, bemoan, bewail, blues, blues song, boat song, bridal hymn, brindisi, bucolic, burial service, calypso, canso, canticle, canzone, canzonet, canzonetta, carol, cavatina, chanson, chant, chantey, clerihew, coronach, croon, croon song, dead march, death knell, death song, deathwatch, deplore, dithyramb, ditty, drinking song, eclogue, elegize, elegy, epic, epicedium, epigram, epithalamium, epode, epopee, epopoeia, epos, eulogy, exequies, extreme unction, folk song, funeral march, funeral oration, funeral rites, funeral song, georgic, ghazel, give sorrow words, graveside oration, grieve, haiku, hymeneal, idyll, jingle, keen, knell, lament, last duty, last honors, last offices, last rites, lay, lied, lilt, limerick, love song, love-lilt, lyric, madrigal, matin, minstrel song, minstrelsy, moan, monody, mourn, muffled drums, narrative poem, national anthem, nursery rhyme, obsequies, ode, palinode, passing bell, pastoral, pastoral elegy, pastorela, pastourelle, poem, prothalamium, repine, requiem, requiem mass, rhyme, rondeau, rondel, roundel, roundelay, satire, serena, serenade, serenata, sestina, sigh, sing the blues, sloka, song, sonnet, sonnet sequence, sorrow, tanka, tenso, tenzone, the Divine Liturgy, the Liturgy, theme song, threnode, threnody, torch song, triolet, troubadour poem, verse, verselet, versicle, viaticum, villanelle, virelay, wake, war song, wedding song, weep over