[ad. Gr. θρηνῳδία dirge, f. θρῆνος THRENE + ᾠδή song.] A song of lamentation; spec. a lament for the dead, a dirge.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 10. They repaire vnto the Sepulchre, vsing Thrænodies and dolorous complaints.
1647. Farindon, Serm. 34 (L.). The most powerful eloquence is the threnody of a broken heart.
1753. W. Kenrick, Pasquinade, I. 189.
Has made his Threnody, gainst Fate shall end him; | |
Cause Cibber to the Bayes did recommend him. |
1827. Carlyle, Misc., Richter (1872), I. 4. Next came threnodies from all the four winds.
1876. Stedman, Victorian Poets, 168. This elegiac poem [In Memoriam], the great threnody of our language.
So Threnodial, Threnodian, Threnodic, Threnodical adjs., of or pertaining to a threnody, mournful; Threnodist, one who composes or utters a threnody; Threnody v., trans. to mourn in a threnody.
1817. Southey, Lett. (1856), III. 81. I would fain be excused from any *threnodial service. Ibid. (1837), Doctor, cxxxiii. IV. 352. This was pretty well for a threnodial flight. But Dr. Watts went farther.
1624. Quarles, Funeral Elegies, Poems (1717), 416. If this *Threnodian story Intend her honour with thy loss of glory.
1859. T. A. Trollope, A Decade of Italian Women, II. 391. And on looking over the *threnodic expression of Bolognas regret for La Sirani, it seems clear that the woman had captivated the affection of her contemporaries, as much as the artist had excited their admiration.
1881. Nation (N. Y.), XXXII. 188. The brief *threnodical essay published at the time of Irvings death.
1827. Carlyle, Misc., Richter (1872), I. 4. To think of laughing over these unhappy *threnodists and panegyrists.
1832. De Quincey, Cæsars, Wks. 1862, IX. 5. Peace, then, rhetoricians, false threnodists of false liberty!
1893. G. Allen, Scallywag, III. 254. Mr. Solomons, thus *threnodied by the appointed latter-day bards, was buried.