Literary notes about WAIL (AI summary)
The word "wail" in literature powerfully conveys the depth of human emotion, from heart-wrenching lamentation to eerie, natural cries. Writers use it to articulate both personal grief and collective sorrow, as seen in understated mourning in [1] and the theatrical expression of pain in [2]. In epic and poetic contexts, "wail" often elevates the narrative to mythic proportions, embodying both the anguish of loss in [3] and the sorrow of fate in [4]. Whether signifying a physical, audible cry or a more symbolic, inner outpouring of distress, the term resonates with an intensity that underscores the tragic and transformative moments of human experience, as reflected across many works such as [5] and [6].
- There was a wail along the road as if a funeral were passing.
— from Twice-told tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne - “Good God!” broke in an awful wail from her bosom.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Grieved at the giants' mournful tale, Long, shrill was Atikáya's wail; And Triśirás in sorrow bowed His triple head, and wept aloud.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - Wail, Banba, with your wind: and wail, O ocean, with your whirlwind.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - Then there arose within the inner apartments of the Pandavas a loud wail of woe.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - I ceased not to weep and wail until midnight, when my mother said to me, Thy father hath been dead ten days.
— from The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.
