Adirge (Latin:dirige,nenia[1]) is a sombersong orlament expressingmourning orgrief, such as may be appropriate for performance at afuneral. Often taking the form of a briefhymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative thanelegies.[2] Dirges are often slow and bear the character offuneral marches.[3][4] Poetic dirges may be dedicated to a specific individual or otherwisethematically refer to death.[5]
The English worddirge isderived from theLatinDirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam ("Direct my way in your sight, O Lord my God"), the first words of the firstantiphon (a short chant inChristian liturgy) in theMatins of theOffice for the Dead, based onPsalm 5. The original meaning ofdirge in English referred to this office, particularly as it appeared withinbreviaries andprimer prayer books.[6][7]: 71 [8]
In the lateMedieval period, it was common for Western Christianlaity–both men and women–to attend the celebration of theDivine Office (canonical hours) according to various editions of thebreviary alongside members ofmonastic communities.[6] However, the complexity of these breviaries proved prohibitive for a layperson to adopt in private use, so certain devotions that were invariable or only varied slightly day-to-day were adapted intoprimers.[7]: 70
Among the most consistent devotions within these primers was theOffice of the Dead, a popular arrangement of the canonical hours asprayers for the dead. This office was itself typically divided into two hours for recitation at different times of day:Dirige (equivalent toMatins andLauds) in the morning andPlacebo (equivalent toVespers orEvensong) in the evening. Both terms were derived from among first words always said when reciting those hours, withDirige starting anantiphon derived fromPsalm 5.[7]: 71 Gradually,Dirige and eventually "dirge" came to refer to not only to the morning hour, but to the Office of the Dead as a whole and its pairing with the Psalms of Commendation (Psalms 119 and139).[5][9]: 210 This practice was codified in the 1559 standardized primer issued underElizabeth I, wherein both hours appeared under the collective nameDirige.[7]: 71
Prior to theEnglish Reformation, translated sections from theDirige were among the most circulated vernacular portions of theBible available in England as recitation by laity of these prayers was common atfunerals and gravesites.[9]: 44, 79–80 Formalliturgical saying of theDirige–then legally required to be in Latin[10]–persisted through the first half of the 16th century, with occasional requirements that certain proportions of aparish church's congregation be present for such events.[9]: 135
The word "dirge" gradually came to be associated with the variety of funeral hymns it describes today. Among the earliest was a pre-Reformation funeral lament from theCleveland area ofnorth-east Yorkshire, England, known as theLyke-Wake Dirge. The contents are neither scriptural nor liturgical, but rather speak to the means of salvation throughChrist viaalms-giving.[9]: 358 A simultaneous development was a funerary "tariff" wherein those present at the recitation of the canonicalDirige would be paid a small amount from the estate of the deceased.[9]: 359 It is associated with the still-practicedLyke Wake Walk, a 40-mile challenge walk across the moorlands of north-east Yorkshire,[11] as the members' anthem of the Lyke Wake Club, a society whose members are those who have completed the walk within 24 hours.[12] This dirge saw a resurgence in popularity in the 1960s following performances by English folk bands suchThe Young Tradition andPentangle.[13]
While private devotionals were proliferated under theReform-minded Elizabeth, the number of permitted public liturgical devotions were targeted for curtailment.[14] TheDirige was retained within the Elizabethan primer overProtestant objections to prayers for the dead and there remained resistance to the public liturgical performance of the devotion.[7]: 80 In 1560 and 1561,episcopal visitors of theChurch of England observed with disapproval the continued practice of clerks singing psalms in "dirge-like" fashion.[9]: 571
Since their evolution away from Christian usage, some dirges have intentionally been written to beset to music, while others have been set or reset at later dates. Among the latter cases is the "Dirge for Fidele", a portion ofWilliam Shakespeare's playCymbeline that was later set to music by multiple composers.[3]
The dictionary definition ofdirge at Wiktionary