" italic=no" (; "Last Judgment") is a Latin sequence attributed to either Thomas of Celano of the Franciscans (1200–1265)
It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual verse and rhymed lines. The metre is trochee. The poem describes the Last Judgment, the trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames.
It is best known from its use in the Roman Rite Catholic Requiem Mass (Mass for the Dead or Funeral Mass). An English version is found in various Anglican Communion service books.
The first melody set to these words, a Gregorian chant, is one of the most quoted in musical literature, appearing in the works of many composers. The final couplet, Pie Jesu, has been often reused as an independent song.
Use in the Roman liturgy
The "italic=no" has been used in the
Roman Rite liturgy as the sequence for the Requiem Mass for centuries, as made evident by the important place it holds in musical settings such as those by Mozart and Verdi. It appears in the
Roman Missal of 1962, the last edition before the implementation of the revisions that occurred after the Second Vatican Council. As such, it is still heard in churches where the
Tridentine Mass is celebrated. It also formed part of the pre-conciliar liturgy of All Souls' Day.
In the reforms to the Catholic Church's Latin liturgical rites ordered by the Second Vatican Council, the "Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy", the Vatican body charged with drafting and implementing the reforms (1969–70), eliminated the sequence as such from funerals and other Masses for the Dead. A leading figure in the post-conciliar liturgical reforms, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, explained the rationale of the Consilium:
"italic=no", slightly edited, remains in use ad libitum as a hymn in the Liturgy of the Hours on All Souls' Day and during the last week before Advent, for which it is divided into three parts for the Office of Readings, Lauds and Vespers, with the insertion of a doxology after each part.
Indulgence
In the Roman Catholic Church there was formerly an
indulgence of three years for each recitation and a plenary indulgence for reciting the prayer daily for a month.
[(S. Paen. Ap., 9 March 1934). As cited in ] This indulgence was not renewed in the Manual of Indulgences.
[(Manual of Indulgences, Section 29)]
Text
The Latin text below is taken from the Requiem Mass in the 1962
Roman Missal.
The first English version below, translated by William Josiah Irons in 1849,
albeit from a slightly different Latin text, replicates the rhyme and metre of the original.
This translation, edited for more conformance to the official Latin, is approved by the Catholic Church for use as the funeral Mass sequence in the liturgy of the Catholic ordinariates for former Anglicans.
The second English version is a more dynamic equivalence translation.
|
| I | italic=no | Day of wrath and doom impending!
David's word with Sibyl's blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes ending! | The day of wrath, that day,
will dissolve the world in ashes:
(this is) the testimony of David along with the Tiburtine Sibyl. |
| II | italic=no | Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth. | How great will be the quaking,
when the Judge is about to come,
strictly investigating all things! |
| III | italic=no | Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;
Through earth's sepulchres it ringeth;
All before the throne it bringeth. | The trumpet, scattering a wondrous sound
through the sepulchres of the regions,
will summon all before the throne. |
| IV | italic=no | Death is struck, and nature quaking,
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making. | Death and nature will marvel,
when the creature will rise again,
to respond to the Judge. |
| V | italic=no | Lo, the book, exactly worded,
Wherein all hath been recorded,
Thence shall judgement be awarded. | The written book will be brought forth,
in which all is contained,
from which Last Judgment. |
| VI | italic=no | When the Judge his seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth. | When therefore the Judge will sit,
whatever lies hidden, will appear:
nothing will remain unpunished. |
| VII | italic=no | What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing? | What then shall I, poor wretch that, say?
Which patron shall I entreat,
when even the just may only hardly be sure? |
| VIII | italic=no | King of Majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us! | King of fearsome majesty,
Who saves the redeemed freely,
save me, O fount of mercy. |
| IX | italic=no | Think, kind Jesu!my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation. | Remember, merciful Jesus,
that I am the cause of Your journey:
lest You lose me in that day. |
| X | italic=no | Faint and weary, Thou hast sought me,
On the Cross of suffering bought me.
Shall such grace be vainly brought me? | Seeking me, You rested, tired:
You redeemed me, having suffered the True Cross:
let not such hardship be in vain. |
| XI | italic=no | Righteous Judge, for sin's pollution
Grant Thy gift of absolution,
Ere the day of retribution. | Just Judge of vengeance,
make a gift of Absolution
before the day of reckoning. |
| XII | italic=no | Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning;
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning! | I sigh, like the guilty one:
my face reddens in guilt:
Spare the imploring one, O God. |
| XIII | italic=no | Through the sinful woman shriven,
Through the dying thief forgiven,
Thou to me a hope hast given. | You Who absolved Mary Magdalene,
and heard penitent thief,
gave hope to me also. |
| XIV | italic=no | Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying. | My prayers are not worthy:
but You, Who good, graciously grant
that I be not burned up by the everlasting fire. |
| XV | italic=no | With Thy sheep a place provide me,
From the goats afar divide me,
To Thy right hand do Thou guide me. | Grant me a place among the sheep,
and take me out from among the goats,
setting me on the right side. |
| XVI | italic=no | When the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me with Thy saints surrounded. | Once the cursed have been silenced,
sentenced to acrid flames,
Call me, with the blessed. |
| XVII | italic=no | Low I kneel, with heart's submission,
See, like ashes, my contrition,
Help me in my last condition. | Humbly kneeling and bowed I pray,
my heart crushed as ashes:
take care of my end. |
| XVIII | italic=no | Ah! that day of tears and mourning,
From the dust of earth returning
Man for judgement must prepare him,
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him. | Tearful will that day,
on which from the glowing embers will arise
the guilty man who is to be judged:
Then spare him, O God. |
| XIX | italic=no | Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen. | Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen. |
Because the last two stanzas differ markedly in structure from the preceding stanzas, some scholars consider them to be an addition made in order to suit the great poem for liturgical use. The penultimate stanza, Lacrimosa, discards the consistent scheme of rhyming triplets in favour of a pair of rhyming couplets. The last stanza, Pie Jesu]], abandons rhyme for assonance, and, moreover, its lines are catalectic.
In the liturgical reforms of 1969–71, stanza 19 was deleted and the poem divided into three sections: 1–6 (for Office of Readings), 7–12 (for Lauds) and 13–18 (for Vespers). In addition, "Qui Mariam absolvisti" in stanza 13 was replaced by "Peccatricem qui solvisti" so that that line would now mean, "You who absolved the sinful woman". This was because modern scholarship denies the common mediæval identification of the woman taken in adultery with Mary Magdalene, so Mary could no longer be named in this verse. In addition, a doxology is given after stanzas 6, 12 and 18:
|
|
| italic=no | O God of majesty
nourishing light of the Trinity
join us with the blessed. Amen. | You, God of majesty,
gracious splendour of the Trinity
conjoin us with the Beatific vision. Amen. |
Manuscript sources
The text of the sequence is found, with slight verbal variations, in a 13th-century manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III at Naples. It is a
Franciscan calendar missal that must date between 1253 and 1255 for it does not contain the name of Clare of Assisi, who was canonized in 1255, and whose name would have been inserted if the manuscript were of later date.
Inspiration
A major inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from the
Vulgate translation of Sophonias (Zephaniah) 1:15–16:
Other images come from the Book of Revelation, such as (the book from which the world will be judged), (sheep and goats, right hand, contrast between the blessed and the accursed doomed to flames), (trumpet), (heaven and earth burnt by fire), and ("men fainting with fear... they will see the Son of Man coming").
From the Jewish liturgy, the prayer Unetanneh Tokef appears to be related: "We shall ascribe holiness to this day, For it is awesome and terrible"; "the great trumpet is sounded", etc.
Other translations
A number of English translations of the poem have been written and proposed for liturgical use. A very loose
Protestantism version was made by
John Newton; it opens:
Jan Kasprowicz, a Polish poet, wrote a hymn entitled "Dies iræ" which describes the Last Judgment. The first six lines (two stanzas) follow the original hymn's metre and rhyme structure, and the first stanza translates to "The trumpet will cast a wondrous sound".
The American writer Ambrose Bierce published a satiric version of the poem in his 1903 book Shapes of Clay, preserving the original metre but using humorous and sardonic language; for example, the second verse is rendered:
The Rev. Bernard Callan (1750–1804), an Irish priest and poet, translated it into Gaelic around 1800. His version is included in a Gaelic prayer book, The Spiritual Rose.
Literary references
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Walter Scott used the first two stanzas in the sixth canto of his narrative poem "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" (1805).
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe used the first, the sixth and the seventh stanza of the hymn in the scene "" in the first part of his drama Faust (1808).
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Oscar Wilde's "Sonnet on Hearing the Dies Iræ Sung in the Sistine Chapel" ( Poems, 1881), contrasts the "terrors of red flame and thundering" depicted in the hymn with images of "life and love".
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In Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera, Erik (the Phantom) has the chant displayed on the wall of his funereal bedroom.
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It is the inspiration for the title and major theme of the 1964 novel Deus Irae]] by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny. The English translation is used verbatim in Dick's novel Ubik two years later.
Music
The words of "Dies iræ" have often been set to music as part of the
Requiem service. In some settings, it is broken up into several movements; in such cases, "Dies iræ" refers only to the first of these movements, the others being titled according to their respective
.
The earliest surviving polyphonic setting of the Requiem by Johannes Ockeghem does not include "Dies iræ". The first polyphonic settings to include the "Dies iræ" are by Engarandus Juvenis (1490) and Antoine Brumel (1516) to be followed by many composers of the renaissance. Later, many notable choral and orchestral settings of the Requiem including the sequence were made by composers such as Charpentier, Delalande, Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, War Requiem and Stravinsky. Giovanni Battista Martini ended his set of (mostly humorous) 303 canons with a set of 20 on extracts of the sequence poem.
13th-Century Gregorian Chant
The original Gregorian setting, dating back to the 13th century, was a sombre
Plainsong (or
Gregorian chant).
It is in the Dorian mode.
In 5-line staff notation:
<<
\new Staff \with {
\remove Time_signature_engraver
}
\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"tuba" \tempo 8 = 90 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
\cadenzaOn
f8 e f d e c d d \breathe
f8 f([ g)] f([ e)] d([ c)] e f e d4. \breathe
a8 c([ d)] d d([ c)] e f e d4. \bar "||"
}
\addlyrics {
Di -- es i -- ræ di -- es il -- la,
Sol -- vet sae -- clum in fa -- vil -- la:
Tes -- te Da -- vid cum Si -- byl -- la
}
>>
Musical quotations
The traditional Gregorian melody gained widespread recognition through its use in
Hector Berlioz's
Symphonie fantastique. Since then, it has become associated with themes of death and terror, especially during the 19th century.
After Berlioz, it was used as a theme or musical quotation in many classical compositions, including:
-
Thomas Adès – Totentanz
-
Charles-Valentin Alkan – Souvenirs: Trois morceaux dans le genre pathétique, Op. 15 (No. 3: Morte) (1837)
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Eric Ball – "Resurgam"
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Ernest Bloch – Suite Symphonique
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Mel Bonis - La Cathédrale blessée, Op. 107
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Johannes Brahms – Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, No. 6, Intermezzo in E-flat minor
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Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco – 24 Caprichos de Goya, Op. 195: "XII. No hubo remedio" (plate 24)
-
Frédéric Chopin - Prelude No. 2 in A Minor, Opus 28 (1839), sometimes referred to as "Presentiment to Death" (or "Prelude to Death").
[ A Prelude to Death: An analysis of Prelude op.28, No. 2 (Prelude in A-Minor): Frederic Chopin. Sreemani, Swapnil. March 10, 2021. The Renaissance Voice of Change.]
-
George Crumb – Black Angels (1970)
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Luigi Dallapiccola – Canti di prigionia
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Michael Daugherty – Metropolis Symphony 5th movement, "Red Cape Tango";
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Ernő Dohnányi – no. 4 (E-flat minor) of "Four Rhapsodies" for Piano, op. 11
-
Alberto Ginastera – Bomarzo, Op. 34 (1967)
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Alexander Glazunov – Symphony No. 5 (4th movement), Op. 55 (1885), From the Middle Ages Suite, No. 2 "Scherzo", Op. 79 (1902)
-
Benjamin Godard – Dante opera, act 4, No. 35 Suite du Finale "Partons !" (1890)
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Charles Gounod – Faust opera, act 4 (1859), Mors et vita, part II, oratorio (1886)
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Kirk Hammet – The Incantation (5:57-6:35) on the EP Portals (2022)
-
Gustav Holst – The Planets, movement 5, "Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age"
-
Arthur Honegger – La Danse des Morts, H. 131
-
Hans Huber quotes the melody in the second movement ("Funeral March") of his Symphony No. 3 in C major,
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Alexander Kastalsky – Requiem for Fallen Brothers, movements 3 and 4 (1917)
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Aram Khachaturian – Piano Concerto Op. 38 (1936), Symphony No. 1 (1934), Symphony No. 2 (1944), Concerto-Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, Cello Concerto in E minor, Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, Violin Concerto in D minor
-
– Preludes on Polish Church Hymns: Dies Irae
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György Ligeti – Le Grand Macabre (1974–77)
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Franz Liszt – Totentanz (1849)
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Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 2, movements 1 and 5 (1888–94)
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Jules Massenet – Eve
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Nikolai Medtner – Piano Quintet in C, movement 2 (Op.posth)
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Modest Mussorgsky – Songs and Dances of Death, No. 3 "Trepak" (1875)
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Edvard Mirzoyan – Introduction and Perpetuum Mobile (1957)
-
Nikolai Myaskovsky – Symphony No. 4 (first movement), Symphony No. 6, Op. 23 (1921–23); Piano Sonata No.2, Op.13, Symphony No. 26, Op. 79 (halfway into first movement), Symphony No. 8 Op. 26 (fourth movement), Symphony No. 9 Op. 28 (third movement)
-
Vítězslav Novák – used the theme near the end of his May Symphony
-
Sergei Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 1 (1891); Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 (1895); Six moments musicaux, Op. 16 No. 3 (1896); Suite No. 2, Op. 17 (1901); Symphony No. 2, Op. 27 (1906–07); Piano sonata No. 1 (1908); Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (1908); The Bells choral symphony, Op. 35 (1913); Études-Tableaux, Op. 39 No. 2, 5, 7 (1916); Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 40 (1926); Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (1934); Symphony No. 3, Op. 44 (1935–36); Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1940)
-
Ottorino Respighi – quoted near the end of the second movement of Impressioni Brasiliane ( Brazilian Impressions)
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Camille Saint-Saëns – Danse Macabre; Symphony No. 3 ( Organ Symphony), Requiem (1878)
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Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 14; Aphorisms, Op. 13 – No. 7, "Dance of Death" (1969)
-
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji – Sequentia cyclica super "Dies iræ" ex Missa pro defunctis (1948–49) and nine other works
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Modern Greek Song (In Dark Hell) Op. 16 No. 6
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Frank Ticheli – Vesuvius (1999) for wind band
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Eugène Ysaÿe – Solo Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 27, No. 2 "Obsession" (1923)
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Bernd Alois Zimmermann – Musique pour les soupers du roi Ubu
-
Antonio Estévez - Cantata Criolla
It has also been used in many film scores and popular works, such as:
-
Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven on the album Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
-
Michel F. April – main theme of Dead by Daylight soundtrack
-
Francis Monkman – additional track "Dies Irae" on Sky (1979 studio album by Sky)' (1979)
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Hugo Friedhofer – opening scene of ''Between Heaven and Hell (film)' ' (1956)
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Bathory – on album Blood Fire Death (1988)
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Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind – Opening theme for The Shining
-
The Newton Brothers - Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining (2019)
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Danny Elfman – "Making Christmas" from The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
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Gerald Fried – Opening theme for The Return of Dracula, 1958
-
Diamanda Galás – Masque of the Red Death: Part I – The Divine Punishment
-
Jerry Goldsmith – The Mephisto Waltz
-
Donald Grantham – Baron Cimetiére's Mambo
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Bernard Herrmann quoted in the main theme for Citizen Kane (1941)
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Bernard Herrmann – Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (quoted during the scene of the scattering of the hydra's teeth)
-
Gottfried Huppertz – Score for Metropolis (1927)
-
Jethro Tull – The instrumental track "Elegy" featured on the band's 12th studio album Stormwatch is based on the melody.
-
Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen II (soundtrack), "Into the Unknown"
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Harry Manfredini – main title theme for (1986)
-
The Melvins – on their album "Nude with Boots" (2008)
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Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz – The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) soundtrack; "The Bells of Notre Dame" features passages from the first and second stanzas as lyrics.
-
Ennio Morricone – "Penance" from his score for The Mission
-
Lionel Newman – Compulsion
-
Leonard Rosenman – the main theme of The Car (1977)
-
Stephen Sondheim – – quoted in "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and the accompaniment to "Epiphany"
-
John Williams – "Old Man Marley" leitmotif from his score for Home Alone
-
Howard Shore - Leitmotif of the Nazgûl in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) - featured most prominently when the Witch-king summons the armies of Mordor forth from Minas Morgul
-
Hans Zimmer – "The Rightful King" from The Lion King soundtrack, "Rock House Jail" from The Rock soundtrack, and "House Atreides" from the 2021 Dune adaptation.
-
Guy Gross – "Salve me Lacrimosa" from the American-Australian television series Farscape
-
Cristobal Tapia de Veer – The White Lotus opening credits
-
Matt Dahan - Opening leitmotif to the song “Damn the Torpedoes” in episode 3 of the radio-style musical series “Pulp Musicals” entitled “The Ghosts of Antikythera”.
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Symphony X – Their album V – The New Mythology Suite references this work multiple times, such as in the song "A Fool's Paradise".
-
Jeff Russo – Mullen's entrance to the Joint Session of Congress from the television series Zero Day score (unknown if included on the 2025 soundtrack).
-
Lorien Testard – "Spring Meadows - Beneath the Blue Tree" from the role-playing video game (2025).
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Christopher Larkin - "Enter Pharloom", "Awakening", "Silksong" from the metroidvania (2025).
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Saja Boys – "Your Idol" from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters (2025).
[Kasprowicz, Jan, (1902). "Dies Iræ" . Hymn released in the tome "Ginącemu Światu"]
External links
