The word 'dirge' can also mean a sad story or a lament. It often refers to a song or poem that expresses grief or mourning. Like in some ancient cultures, a dirge would be sung to commemorate the dead, and it was usually full of sorrowful tales about the person who passed away.
Another word could be 'elegy'. An elegy is a poem or a piece of writing that has a sad, melancholy tone, usually written in memory of someone or something that has been lost. It often tells a sad story of the past, like Thomas Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' which reflects on the lives of the ordinary people buried there in a somewhat sad and reflective way.