Analysis of Dies Irae
On that great, that awful day,
This vain world shall pass away.
Thus the sibyl sang of old,
Thus hath holy David told.
There shall be a deadly fear
When the Avenger shall appear,
And unveiled before his eye
All the works of man shall lie.
Hark! to the great trumpet's tones
Pealing o'er the place of bones:
Hark! it waketh from their bed
All the nations of the dead,--
In a countless throng to meet,
At the eternal judgment seat.
Nature sickens with dismay,
Death may not retain its prey;
And before the Maker stand
All the creatures of his hand.
The great book shall be unfurled,
Whereby God shall judge the world;
What was distant shall be near,
What was hidden shall be clear.
To what shelter shall I fly?
To what guardian shall I cry?
Oh, in that destroying hour,
Source of goodness, Source of power,
Show thou, of thine own free grace,
Help unto a helpless race.
Though I plead not at thy throne
Aught that I for thee have done,
Do not thou unmindful be,
Of what thou hast borne for me:
Of the wandering, of the scorn,
Of the scourge, and of the thorn.
Jesus, hast thou borne the pain,
And hath all been borne in vain?
Shall thy vengeance smite the head
For whose ransom thou hast bled?
Thou, whose dying blessing gave
Glory to a guilty slave:
Thou, who from the crew unclean
Didst release the Magdalene:
Shall not mercy vast and free,
Evermore be found in thee?
Father, turn on me thine eyes,
See my blushes, hear my cries;
Faint though be the cries I make,
Save me for thy mercy's sake,
From the worm, and from the fire,
From the torments of thine ire.
Fold me with the sheep that stand
Pure and safe at thy right hand.
Hear thy guilty child implore thee,
Rolling in the dust before thee.
Oh the horrors of that day!
When this frame of sinful clay,
Starting from its burial place,
Must behold thee face to face.
Hear and pity, hear and aid,
Spare the creatures thou hast made.
Mercy, mercy, save, forgive,
Oh, who shall look on thee and live?
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGAAHHIICCDDJJKKLMNNOOPPFFQQRRNNSSTTJUHHNNAAKKVVWX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 1111101 1010111 1110101 1110101 10010101 0010111 1011111 110111 1100111 111111 1010101 0010111 10010101 101101 1110111 0010101 1010111 0111101 0111101 1110111 1110111 1110111 11100111 10101010 11101110 1111111 1100101 1111111 1111111 11111 1111111 10100101 1010101 1011101 0111101 1110101 1110111 1110101 1010101 1110101 101010 1110101 101101 1011111 1110111 1110111 111111 10101010 101111 1110111 1011111 11101011 10001011 1010111 1111101 10111001 1011111 1010101 1010111 1010101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,957 |
Words | 370 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 62 |
Lines Amount | 62 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,507 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 367 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:52 min read
- 46 Views
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"Dies Irae" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35985/dies-irae>.
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