IRAE
(EER-ay)
Dies
Irae: famous Latin hymn about the Day of Judgment
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Gregorian
Chant – “Dies Irae”
Dies
Iræ is a famous Latin hymn written by Thomas of Celaeno. It
is often judged to be the best medieval Latin poem, differing
from classical Latin by its accentual (non-quantitative) stress,
and its rhymed lines. The meter is trochaic. The poem describes
the Day of Judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the
throne of God, where the good will be delivered and the evil will
be cast into eternal flames.
The
Last Judgment – Fresco in the Sistine Chapel by
Michelangelo
The
poem itself
The
text:
Dies
Iræ! dies illa
Solvet
sæclum in favilla
Teste
David cum Sibylla!
'Day
of Wrath! That day (which) will scatter the universe into embers,
by the witness of David and the Sibyl!'
Quantus
tremor est futurus,
quando
judex est venturus,
cuncta
stricte discussurus!
'What
trembling is to come, when the Judge arrives, everything drawn
together to be shattered.'
Tuba
mirum spargens sonum
per
sepulcra regionum,
coget
omnes ante thronum.
'The
trumpet, casting a wondrous sound through the tombs of all
nations, gathers all before the Throne.'
Mors
stupebit et natura,
cum
resurget creatura,
judicanti
responsura.
'Death
shall be stunned, and nature, when creation rises again, to
answer the Judge.'
Liber
scriptus proferetur,
in
quo totum continetur,
unde
mundus judicetur.
'The
written book shall be brought forth, in which all is contained,
from which the world will be judged.'
Judex
ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid
latet apparebit:
nil
inultum remanebit.
'So
when the Judge shall sit, whatever is hidden shall be clear, no
unpunished thing shall remain.'
Quid
sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem
patronum rogaturus,
cum
vix justus sit securus?
'What
am I, wretched, to say, What patron (am I) to call, when the just
will (only) narrowly be safe?'
Rex
tremendæ majestatis,
qui
salvandos salvas gratis,
salva
me fons pietatis.
'King
of awesome majesty, who freely saves the chosen, save me, O
fountain of grace[1]'.
Recordare,
Jesu pie,
quod
sum causa tuæ viæ:
ne
me perdas illa die.
'Remember,
gracious Jesus, that I am the cause of your journey; do not
forget me that day.'
Quærens
me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti
Crucem passus:
tantus
labor non sit cassus.
'Seeking
me, you sat exhausted; you redeemed me by suffering on the Cross;
so great a work should not be in vain.'
Juste
judex ultionis,
donum
fac remissionis
ante
diem rationis.
'Just
judge of vengeance, grant me the gift of forgiveness, before the
day of reckoning'.
Ingemisco,
tamquam reus:
culpa
rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti
parce, Deus.
'I
groan as though guilty, sin reddens my face; spare the
supplicant, O God'.
Qui
Mariam absolvisti,
et
latronem exaudisti,
mihi
quoque spem dedisti.
'You
who forgave Mary (Magdalene), and heard the plea of the thief
(Dismas), have also given me some hope.'
Preces
meæ non sunt dignæ:
sed
tu bonus fac benigne,
ne
perenni cremer igne.
'My
prayers are unworthy; but you, the Good, show me favour, that I
may not be consumed by eternal fire.'
Inter
oves locum præsta,
et
ab hædis me sequestra,
statuens
in parte dextra.
'Prepare
me a place among the sheep, and keep me from the goats, standing
at your right hand.'
Confutatis
maledictis,
flammis
acribus addictis:
voca
me cum benedictis.
'With
the slanderers silenced, sentenced to piercing flames, call me
with the blessed.'
Oro
supplex et acclinis,
cor
contritum quasi cinis:
gere
curam mei finis.
'Kneeling
I plead, (my) contrite heart like ash: carry my trouble until the
end.'
The
poem appears complete as it stands at this point. Some scholars
question whether the remainder is an addition made in order to
suit the great poem for liturgical use, for the last stanzas
discard the consistent scheme of triple rhymes in favor of rhymed
couplets, while the last two lines abandom rhyme for assonance
and are, moreover, catalectic:
Lacrimosa
dies illa,
qua
resurget ex favilla
judicandus
homo reus.
Huic
ergo parce, Deus:
pie
Jesu Domine,
dona
eis requiem. Amen.
'That
day will be full of tears, when from the grave, guilty mankind
rises to be judged. Therefore, have mercy upon me, O God; sweet
Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen'.
[1]
fons
pietatis
is sometimes translated 'fount of piety.'
The
inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from the Vulgate
translation of Zephaniah I:15-16:
Dies
iræ, dies illa, dies tribulationis et angustiæ, dies
calamitatis et miseriæ, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies
nebulæ et turbinis, dies tubæ et clangoris super
civitates munitas et super angulos excelsos.
That
day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of
wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day
of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm
against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. (KJV)
The
oldest text of the sequence is found, with slight verbal
variations, in a 13th century manuscript in the Biblioteca
Nazionale at Naples. It is a Franciscan calendar missal that must
date between 1253 - 1255 for it does not contain the name of
Saint Clare, who was canonized in 1255, and whose name would have
been inserted if the manuscript were of later date.
The
words have often been set to music as part of the Requiem
service, originally as a sombre Gregorian chant. Famous classical
versions include those by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi
and Hector Berlioz.
The
traditional Gregorian melody has also been quoted in a number of
other classical compositions, among them Berlioz's Symphonie
Fantastique,
Franz Liszt's Totentanz,
and several pieces by Sergei Rachmaninoff, including Rhapsody
on a Theme of Paganini,
The
Isle of the Dead
and the finale of his final large work, the Opus 45 Symphonic
Dances.
The
hymn was used as a sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem service
until the Missal of Paul VI, released in 1972. (It is still
permitted as an optional sequence at that Mass). The hymn is
suggested in the current Latin Breviary (Editio
Typica Altera,
from 2000) for use in the Liturgy of the Hours during the last
week of Ordinary Time, leading up to the feast of Christ the
King.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Dies Irae".
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