Threnody For Souls In Torment

thren·o·dy
n. pl. thren·o·dies
A poem or song of mourning or lamentation.
[Greek thrēnōidiā : thrēnos, lament + aoidē, ōidē, song; see ode.]

threnody

"song of lamentation," 1634, from Gk. threnodia, from threnos "dirge, lament," + oide "ode." Gk. threnos probably is from a PIE imitative base meaning "to murmur, hum;" cf. O.E. dran "drone," Goth. drunjus "sound," Gk. tenthrene "a kind of wasp."

In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
there was no one to help her.
Her enemies looked at her
and laughed at her destruction.
Jerusalem has sinned greatly
and so has become unclean.
All who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns away.
~ Lamentations 1