Dirge

A dirge is a sad song or poem of unhappiness. They are usually sung at funerals. For example, a dirge was sung for the soldiers that had died in the Battle of Gettysburg before Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. The word "dirge" came from the Latin word "dirige", which means "direct". It is likely that "dirge" also came from the old expression "Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam" ("Direct my way in your sight, O Lord my God"). "Dirge", meaning "to direct", is the same as a "dirigible" ("steerable") airship. These two words became connected in 1937 because of the Hindenburg disaster.