Literary notes about Plaintive (AI summary)
The term plaintive often conveys a deep, aching sorrow or gentle lamentation in literary works. It is used to describe a melancholy sound or tone that seems to mourn or appeal for empathy—whether in a character's voice, as when a blind boy speaks in a plaintive tone [1], or in the soft, sorrowful strains of music that evoke the mood of a forgotten past [2]. At times, it underscores the emotional weight of nature itself, illustrated by the plaintive notes of birds mourning in the distance [3]. In other instances, it colors a narrative with a subtle call for solace, such as in the stirring lament of a people burdened by their fate [4], or in the gentle, sorrowful inflection of a character resigned to loss [5].
- “And I?” said the blind boy in a plaintive voice.
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov - The music grew strange and fantastic—turbulent, insistent, plaintive and soft with entreaty.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - Somewhere, far away to the left, lapwings uttered their plaintive notes.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass - Levin was beginning again in a plaintive voice, just as the doctor came in dressed and ready.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy
