Day of Wrath

The Requiem sequence — the most famous poem in Latin.

The thirteenth-century sequence of the Requiem Mass, and probably the best-known Latin verse ever written; its chant melody has been quoted by composers from Berlioz to film scores. It is nineteen stanzas long. The opening and closing stanzas are given here.

The Opening

Dies irae, dies illa,
solvet saeclum in favilla,
teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando iudex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

In English

Day of wrath, that day
will dissolve the world in ashes,
as David and the Sibyl testify.

What trembling there will be
when the Judge shall come
to weigh everything strictly.

The trumpet, scattering a wondrous sound
through the tombs of every land,
will summon all before the throne.

The Turn

Recordare, Iesu pie,
quod sum causa tuae viae:
ne me perdas illa die.

Remember, merciful Jesus,
that I am the reason for Your journey:
do not cast me out on that day.

The Closing

Pie Iesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.

Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen.

About This Sequence

It is often remembered as a hymn of terror, and the first third is. But the poem turns at Recordare and never turns back: the argument of the second half is that the Judge already came a long way for the defendant, and that is the whole of the defence. It ends not with wrath but with the word requiem.