REQUIEM, n. A mass for the dead which the minor poets assure us the winds sing o'er the graves of their favorites. Sometimes, by way of providing a varied entertainment, they sing a dirge.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911.
-- Ambrose Bierce, (Jun 24 1842-1914), US journalist, short-story writer; He was a noted wit, satirist and sardonic short story writer who disappeared while covering the Mexican revolution.