Dies Irae

ABOUT THE TEXT
“Dies lrae” is a Latin poem on the subject of the Last Judgment. Attributed to a Franciscan monk named Tomaso de Celante (1190, c. 1255), the complete poem contains 18 rhymed stanzas. (An unknown author later added the “Pie Jesu” couplet and the “Amen.”) Little did this Franciscan know that his colorful poem would provide a springboard for some of the most dramatic musical works ever written. The portion of the complete poem is given below.

Dies irae, dies ilia Quando iudex est venturus
[dee-ehs ee-reh, dee-ehs ee-lahJ [kwahn-daw yoo-dex ehst vehn-too-roos]
Day of wrath, day that will when the judge comes

Solvet saeclum in favilla, Cuncta stricte discussurus!
[sohl-veht seh-kloom een fah-vee-lahJ [koongk-tah stree-kteh dee-skoo-soo-roos]
Dissolve the world into burning coals, To strictly sentence all.

Teste David cum sibylla. Pie ]esu Domine,
[teh-steh dah-veed koom see-bee-lahJ [pee-eh yeh-soo daw-mee-neh]
As David prophesied with the Sibyl.*Merciful Lord]esus,

Quantus tremor est futurus, dona eis requiem.
[kwahn-toos treh-mawr ehst foo-too-roosJ [daw-nah eh-ees reh-kwee-ehm]
How great trembling there will be, Grant them rest.

*“Sibyl” or “Sybilla” was a title given to the priestess of the Oracle. She sat on the Sybilline Rock, breathing vapors and eating laurel leaves, and making predictions.

Diction note: Flip all of the “r”s [r];
the vowel “O” is a pronunciational cross between “oh” [o] and “aw” [a];
and take care to keep the “e” [E] vowel consistent throughout the text. (Avoid mixing occasional [e] and [E] vowels.)

Z. Randall Stroope