Dies Irae (Traditional English Excerpt)

Dies Irae is the traditional sequence of the Requiem Mass, meditating on judgment and mercy. This classic English excerpt is public domain.

The Prayer

Day of wrath! O day of mourning! See fulfilled the prophets' warning, Heaven and earth in ashes burning! Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth When from heaven the Judge descendeth On Whose sentence all dependeth! Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth; Through earth's sepulchers it ringeth; All before the throne it bringeth. Death is struck, and nature quaking, All creation is awaking, To its Judge an answer making. Lo! the book, exactly worded, Wherein all hath been recorded: Thence shall judgment be awarded. When the Judge His seat attaineth And each hidden deed arraigneth, Nothing unavenged remaineth. What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding

Traditional Requiem sequence; classic English, public domain.

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