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Literary notes about Weeping (AI summary)

The term “weeping” in literature often serves as a vivid emblem of unrestrained grief and emotional vulnerability, whether expressed through epic lamentations or intimate personal despair. Poets and novelists employ it to capture both momentary bursts of sorrow and sustained states of mourning, as seen when heroes and common folk alike are overwhelmed by loss or regret ([1], [2], [3]). In some contexts, it is rendered almost as a silent language of inner turmoil—its imagery evoking the steady, physical manifestation of sadness, as in quiet moments of reflection or tragic farewells ([4], [5], [6]). Yet, there can be instances of ironic or even gentle humor where the act of weeping underscores a character’s disconnect from societal expectations, adding layers to their persona ([7], [8]). Overall, the versatile use of “weeping” across varied narratives underscores its enduring power to transform fleeting emotion into a timeless symbol of human frailty and resilience ([9], [10]).
  1. [500-535] her grief kindled, at Ilioneus' and weeping Iülus' bidding Idaeus and Actor catch up and carry home in their arms.
    — from The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil
  2. I am full of heaviness, but I ought not to sit weeping and wailing in another person's house, nor is it well to be thus grieving continually.
    — from The Odyssey by Homer
  3. Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy, but he did not speak, and Andromache stood by him weeping and taking his hand in her own.
    — from The Iliad by Homer
  4. She was weeping bitterly, with sobs, and her long, unbrushed hair fell on her knees.
    — from The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  5. She did not move any more than did the mother, who, now leaning over the body with a blank stare, was weeping silently and watching it.
    — from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant
  6. Mercedes ceased weeping over the dogs, being too occupied with weeping over herself and with quarrelling with her husband and brother.
    — from The call of the wild by Jack London
  7. And I would laugh at it,” said the honest Jester, “if I could for weeping.”
    — from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott
  8. [Weeping] Don’t say any more, don’t say any more.... ANYA.
    — from Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  9. I remembered the ancient fables, in which human beings are described as dissolving away through weeping into ever-gushing fountains.
    — from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  10. And the old father and Granny and Kiryak—all stretched out their hands to the ikon, looked eagerly at it and said, weeping: “Defender!
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

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