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Sigh   Listen
verb
Sigh  v. t.  
1.
To exhale (the breath) in sighs. "Never man sighed truer breath."
2.
To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over. "Ages to come, and men unborn, Shall bless her name, and sigh her fate."
3.
To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs. "They... sighed forth proverbs." "The gentle swain... sighs back her grief."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Sigh" Quotes from Famous Books



... her; the kiss pleaded for her; the recollection of the love that had been given to him, and never returned, touched the heart of the fast-sinking man as nothing had touched it since the day of his marriage. A heavy sigh broke from him. He ...
— Armadale • Wilkie Collins

... me a sweet trembling, As if from far there echoed thus A sigh, our grief resembling: The dear ones long as well as I, And send to me their ...
— Rampolli • George MacDonald

... with a sigh, for just then the object for which he had gone out to those regions occurred to him; and although the natural buoyancy and hopefulness of his feelings enabled him generally to throw off anxiety in regard to his father's fate, and join in the laugh, and jest, and game as heartily ...
— The World of Ice • Robert Michael Ballantyne

... the place at last," exclaimed Bill, with a sigh of relief, as they came in sight of the miserable hut, "I began to think ...
— The Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol • Howard Payson

... with a deep and heavy sigh upon the ground, covered his face with his hands, and burst into an agony of grief; his chest heaved, his whole frame trembled, and he wept and sobbed aloud, with all the fearful vehemence of a man whose passions are strong and fierce, but to whom the violence of grief ...
— Rienzi • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... she'll know what tis to be a pilgrim an' a sojourner on the arth without nobody to consider her feelin's. Your cider is putty good." Here the old lady took a large draft, and set down the mug with a sigh of satisfaction. "It's jest the thing to take when a body's tired. It goes to the right spot. Cynthy Ann's husband didn't have none made this year. I wonder ef your ma would sell a quart or two ...
— Frank's Campaign - or the Farm and the Camp • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... trees were growing with the rapidity and luxuriance that distinguish vegetation within the tropics. As Mark's imagination pictured what might be the effects of cultivation and care on that singular spot, a sigh of regret mingled with his hopes for the future, as he recollected he was so soon to abandon the place for ever; while on the Summit, too, this feeling of regret was increased, rather than diminished. So much of the grass-seed had taken, ...
— The Crater • James Fenimore Cooper

... gestures evidently betray his uncomfortable situation: and as a sigh every now and then escapes him, we may be entitled to conclude that ...
— Wanderings In South America • Charles Waterton

... both," said the youth, draining his cup with a sigh of satisfaction. "Some time before I had bought up the mortgage on the farm without saying a word to father or mother. I was selfish, I guess, but I wanted the pleasure of their surprise." His eyes sparkled moistly. "My! it was great. It was worth every cent, although ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely

... hearts! to Britain's pride Once so faithful and so true, On the deck of fame that died, With the gallant good Riou: Soft sigh the winds of ...
— The Huguenots in France • Samuel Smiles

... another of enthusiastic students. Could he but have known how fresh a source of culture he was evoking there for other generations, through all those years in which, a little wistfully, he would harp on the limitation of his time by business, and sigh for a better fortune in regard to ...
— English Prose - A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice • Frederick William Roe (edit. and select.)

... again several times in a short composition. His fine person bore the marks of age, sickness, and sorrow; and he mourned for his departed beauty with an effeminate regret. He could not look without a sigh at the portrait which Lely had painted of him when he was only twenty-eight, and often murmured, Quantum mutatus ab illo. He was still nervously anxious about his literary reputation, and, not content with the fame which he still possessed as a dramatist, was determined to be renowned ...
— Critical and Historical Essays Volume 2 • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... to Osborne for L20; it became Dr. Askew's property for 60 guineas, and at the Askew sale it realized L170, the purchaser being George III. '"Could a copy now occur, Lord only knows," ejaculated Monkbarns, with a deep sigh and lifted-up hands—"Lord only knows what would be its ransom"; and yet it was originally secured, by skill and research, for the easy equivalent of twopence sterling.' It has been repeatedly stated that there is no foundation ...
— The Book-Hunter in London - Historical and Other Studies of Collectors and Collecting • William Roberts

... Margaret sigh even through the telephone. It was a sigh of pent-up emotion, an expression ...
— There was a King in Egypt • Norma Lorimer

... them and seemed to fold them together as they sat side by side. A deep sigh quivered and paused and was drawn again almost with a gasp that stirred the air. Suddenly Francesca's face was hidden in her hands, and her head was bowed almost to her knees. A moment more, and she sobbed ...
— Casa Braccio, Volumes 1 and 2 (of 2) • F. Marion Crawford

... these woeful lines did read, He with a sigh did say indeed, "If hanging be my destiny, My parents shall not ...
— Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10) • John Gibson Lockhart

... the flinty soil for an hour more, and then Mr. Baxter, with something like a sigh of disappointment, announced that they would have the ...
— The Young Treasure Hunter - or, Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska • Frank V. Webster

... all these officials and get a new lot," remarked Cossar with a sigh. But the time was too limited for anything fundamental, and so he swept through these minor controversies, disinterred what may or may not have been the station-master from some obscure hiding-place, walked about the premises holding him and giving orders in his name, and was out of the station ...
— The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth • H.G. Wells

... sat lumpishly in a wing-chair. The bedroom was uncanny in its half-light, which turned the curtains to lurking robbers, the dressing-table to a turreted castle. It smelled of cosmetics, of linen, of sleep. He napped and woke, napped and woke, a hundred times. He heard her move and sigh in slumber; he wondered if there wasn't some officious brisk thing he could do for her, and before he could quite form the thought he was asleep, racked and aching. The night was infinite. When dawn came and the waiting ...
— Babbitt • Sinclair Lewis

... quickly-changing color, her modest grace of movement. Slowly, and in evident agitation, she advanced to the door of the picture gallery—and paused, as if she was afraid to open it. Father Benwell heard her sigh to herself softly, "Oh, how shall I meet him?" She turned aside to the looking-glass over the fire-place. The reflection of her charming face seemed to rouse her courage. She retraced her steps, and ...
— The Black Robe • Wilkie Collins

... they were all condemned to die except the priest, who was in a terrible fright. Escudero and Cermeno were hanged; Umbria had his feet cut off, and each of the sailors received 200 lashes. When Cortes signed the ratification of this sentence, he exclaimed with a sigh: "Happy is he who cannot write, that he may not have occasion to sign the death-warrants of other men." In my opinion, this sentiment is often affected by judges, in imitation of Nero, at the time he counterfeited the appearance of clemency. ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. III. • Robert Kerr

... find her future not wrecked, but blessed doubly? for her conduct has made Walter almost worship her. I am happy to think I have brought her good, rather than ill; but—selfish being that I am—I am not contented. I have a sigh ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 6, April, 1858 • Various

... she bowed her forehead lowly, Tightened her tiara holy; And, with every sigh suppressed, Clasped ...
— Fringilla: Some Tales In Verse • Richard Doddridge Blackmore

... not always done what I ought to have done in my life, it is not for want of guidance and advice from others," said Hadria with a smile and a sigh. ...
— The Daughters of Danaus • Mona Caird

... the officer turned to the sergeant-major and said with a sigh, "Damned nuisances they are! Now we've got two of these fellows, Wolf and Weise, we must see they don't get ...
— 'Jena' or 'Sedan'? • Franz Beyerlein

... lad's dead I don't know how I'm a-goin' to break the news to his folks," he groaned, with a long sigh. "Joseph and his wife allers looked to me to keep an eye on him. They expect me to be keerful. 'Twasn't right at all fer me to take Henry so close to sech a dangerous spot. I ought to be licked fer it, an' licked ...
— On the Trail of Pontiac • Edward Stratemeyer

... moment that Andre's mother left the kingdom, the former queen of Naples, Robert's widow, Dona Sancha, breathed her last sigh. She was buried in the convent of Santa Maria delta Croce, under the name of Clara, which she had assumed on taking her vows as a nun, as her epitaph ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - JOAN OF NAPLES—1343-1382 • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE

... the sheriff, and Throop with a deep sigh and most dramatic gesture lifted the shroud which concealed the dead man. "Approach the body," commanded the coroner, and the jurors watched every motion with wide, excited eyes, as though expecting involuntary ...
— They of the High Trails • Hamlin Garland

... it a little this way and that, put two footstools before it, and three cushions into it, contemplated them for some time, and then shifted them a little. After which she minced out with a great sigh. ...
— The Highwayman • H.C. Bailey

... when he heard that Norway for a month and then America en route for Japan formed Miss Desmond's programme for the next year he was only just able to mask, with a cough, his deep sigh of relief. For, however much he might respect her judgment, he was always easier when Lizzie and her ...
— The Incomplete Amorist • E. Nesbit

... breath, like a sigh, went through the courtroom. In the midst of it an active, upright figure stepped forward. It was Lieut. Bradbury, who had arrived in the courtroom just in time to hear the concluding words. But he had already been informed of the facts, for the story was ...
— The Girl Aviators' Sky Cruise • Margaret Burnham

... at least, Uncle Sol must be told,' thought Walter, with a sigh. And as Walter was apprehensive that his voice might perhaps quaver a little, and that his countenance might not be quite as hopeful as he could wish it to be, if he told the old man himself, and saw the first effects of his ...
— Dombey and Son • Charles Dickens

... Hadst thou been kill'd when first thou didst presume, Thou hadst not liv'd to kill a son of mine. And thus I prophesy,—that many a thousand, Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear, And many an old man's sigh and many a widow's, And many an orphan's water-standing eye,— Men for their sons', wives for their husbands' fate, And orphans for their parents' timeless death,— Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born. The owl shriek'd ...
— King Henry VI, Third Part • William Shakespeare [Rolfe edition]

... sailor said with a sigh, "I won't say no more about the allygaters. I can't rightly recall when they came into the story. Howsomdever, I landed, you can believe that, ...
— By Sheer Pluck - A Tale of the Ashanti War • G. A. Henty

... inflicted on the court an unspeakably dreary oration, Preston, towards the close of the day, asked when it would be their lordship's pleasure to hear the remainder of his argument; whereupon Lord Ellenborough uttered a sigh of resignation, and answered, 'We are bound to hear you, and we will endeavor to give you our undivided attention on Friday next; but as for pleasure, that, sir, has been long ...
— A Book About Lawyers • John Cordy Jeaffreson

... Viaticum. She followed all the prayers, and was conscious to the last. When all was over, she bowed her head and whispered, "Thank God." A smile of peace and trusting came over her face, and with a faint sigh she breathed her last. She had heard the ...
— The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton Volume II • Isabel Lady Burton & W. H. Wilkins

... tone of the sweetest pity—for poor L.'s heart, I have long known it—her anguish is as sharp as yours—her heart as tender—her constancy as great—her virtues as heroic—Heaven brought you not together to be tormented. I could only answer her with a kind look, and a heavy sigh, and returned home to your lodgings (which I have hired till your return) to resign myself to misery. Fanny had prepared me a supper—she is all attention to me—but I sat over it with tears; a bitter sauce, my L., but I could eat it with no other; for the moment ...
— Selected English Letters (XV - XIX Centuries) • Various

... back in his chair and looked at us all, one after the other, as if he had only just become aware of our presence, accompanying his inspection with a smile of the most perfect benevolence; then, heaving a gentle sigh of satisfaction—'Ma foi! I have made ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 55, No. 340, February, 1844 • Various

... went back and beckoned. Mr. Culver gathered Rosanna up in his arms, and with Minnie leading the way, carried her to her pretty room. She gave a sigh of happiness when she felt herself tucked into her own soft, pleasant bed, and a tear squeezed itself from under her closed lids, but it ...
— The Girl Scouts at Home - or Rosanna's Beautiful Day • Katherine Keene Galt

... the happy land, and we shall miss him; but we'll follow his example and soon find him again," said a gentle Sponge cake, with a sigh, as all went back to their work; while Lily hurried after Snap, eager to see the new country, which was the best ...
— The Louisa Alcott Reader - A Supplementary Reader for the Fourth Year of School • Louisa M. Alcott

... lost his appetite for supper in consequence of his approaching trials, and, laying aside his books with a sigh of regret, sat listlessly regarding his sisters; enlivened now and then by some cheerful ...
— The Garies and Their Friends • Frank J. Webb

... proceed, in order to become motion picture stars. Another was an advertisement of a new automobile. The fifth requested an autographed picture of herself. She swept the five over the edge of the table with a sigh of relief. How stupid of all these people, she thought, to take up their time, ...
— The Film of Fear • Arnold Fredericks

... the party told Mrs. Merkel that there had been no casualties, and, with a satisfied sigh, she went back in the house, and began to put the supper on the table, with the assistance of Nell and two ...
— The Boy Ranchers - or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X • Willard F. Baker

... the door after her, and in spite of herself Billie uttered a little sigh of relief. She felt very much like a ...
— Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance - The Queer Homestead at Cherry Corners • Janet D. Wheeler

... With an impatient sigh, I swept the litter from the table, and, taking from the shelf that held my meagre library a bundle of Master Shakespeare's plays (gathered for me by Rolfe when he was last in London), I began to read; but my thoughts wandered, and the tale seemed dull and oft told. I tossed it aside, and, taking ...
— To Have and To Hold • Mary Johnston

... a sigh of relief over the knowledge that the meeting, which she so much dreaded, was to be postponed a little, and after dinner she returned to her room, and sat down quite composedly to read the morning paper, which she had purchased on her way ...
— Mona • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

... as he could, expecting to discover sundry loopholes in his person, pierced by his adversary's sword. Finding none, however, and observing in course of time that his guest was as cool and unruffled, both in his dress and temper, as he had been all day, old John at last heaved a deep sigh, and began to think no duel had been ...
— Barnaby Rudge • Charles Dickens

... sigh of relief, for those six shots had not been fired in vain. The prisoner had unconsciously summoned assistance to complete his capture, and Lennox's sigh had been produced by the sight of a flash ...
— The Kopje Garrison - A Story of the Boer War • George Manville Fenn

... luxurious habits: these made him dependent on the rich part of his partisans; made his wisdom subservient to opulent folly or selfishness; deprived his country of all the benefit that it might have derived from his talents; and, finally, sent him to the grave without a single sigh from a people, a great part of whom would, in his earlier years, have wept at his death ...
— Advice to Young Men • William Cobbett

... distinctly: I'm more thinly clad than you. [He sits down again, and proceeds, with a sigh of satisfaction]. What a relief to get off the ship and have a private room! That's the worst of a ship. You're under observation ...
— Overruled • George Bernard Shaw

... and sit down at my side." And with a slender finger like a ray of white light she pointed to the purple cushions on the ground. Balthasar sat down, gave a great sigh, and grasping a cushion in each hand he ...
— Balthasar - And Other Works - 1909 • Anatole France

... Jovian ship and the sudden outrush of the Sons of God, armed only with the forty-pound axes they used at close quarters. In none of the scenes did he see the huge form of Glavour. He removed the band with a sigh of relief. ...
— Giants on the Earth • Sterner St. Paul Meek

... the wind arose and swept the plain with a long-drawn sigh. This increased to a murmur, till presently the whole expanse—before sunk in awful silence—seemed to awake with vague complaints, incessant sounds, and low moanings. At times he thought he heard the halloaing of distant voices, at times it seemed as a whisper in his own ...
— A Waif of the Plains • Bret Harte

... all," replied Chichikov, pressing his hand; after which he heaved a profound sigh. Indeed, he seemed in the right mood for outpourings of the heart, for he continued—not without a ring of emotion in his tone: "If you but knew the service which you have rendered to an apparently insignificant individual who is devoid both of family and kindred! ...
— Dead Souls • Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

... conflict, anxiety and unrest among men, when at times it begins to look as if "the Caucasian" really is "played out," perhaps the English-reading world will turn with a sigh of relief to the contemplation of wild animals. At all events, the author has found this diversion in his favorite field mentally agreeable ...
— The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals • William T. Hornaday

... thunderous noise and the Avenger rocked gently in recoil from the heavy blast. Tom quickly sighted on the range finder and saw a ball of light flash brilliantly in front of the passenger ship. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had to keep up his avowed reputation of being a crack marksman and at the same time could not damage the unarmed passenger ship. The ...
— On the Trail of the Space Pirates • Carey Rockwell

... darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to shake off, otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap. I might boast that during all this scene of horror not a sigh or expression of fear escaped from me, had not my support been found in that miserable, though strong, consolation, that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I imagined I was perishing with ...
— Historic Tales, Volume 11 (of 15) - The Romance of Reality • Charles Morris

... sigh of relief, 'our positions are fixed for the meals of the voyage.' She had made her plans for beginning an acquaintance with the young man, but they were rendered unnecessary by the polite Mr. Wentworth handing her the ...
— A Woman Intervenes • Robert Barr

... concluded with remaining silent and giving no answers at all. He was then told that the torture would soon restore him his voice, and some select gendarmes seized him and laid him on the rack; there he uttered no complaint, not even a sigh, though instruments the most diabolical were employed, and pains the most acute must have been endured. When threatened that he should expire in torments, ...
— Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, Complete - Being Secret Letters from a Gentleman at Paris to a Nobleman in London • Lewis Goldsmith

... death, my friend; of all those who have breathed out their last sigh to God in this bed. For it is also the tomb of hopes ended, the door which closes everything, after having been the one which lets in the world. What cries, what anguish, what sufferings, what groans, how many arms stretched out towards ...
— The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume III (of 8) • Guy de Maupassant

... you would fasten up my plaits, dear," said Rosamond, letting her arms fall with a little sigh, so as to make a husband ashamed of standing there like a brute. Lydgate had often fastened the plaits before, being among the deftest of men with his large finely formed fingers. He swept up the soft festoons of plaits and fastened in the tall ...
— Middlemarch • George Eliot

... meet the eyes directed upon her. Hers were clear, untroubled, a deep grey and eminently pleasant to look into; especially now that she put into them a little friendly smile. But in another moment and with a half sigh of weariness, she settled into a chair at the fireside and let her gaze wander back ...
— Six Feet Four • Jackson Gregory

... my care Now these leaves waxeth bare. Oft I sigh and mourne sare When it cometh in my thought Of this worldes joy, how it goeth all ...
— Brief History of English and American Literature • Henry A. Beers

... with that stopping of the breath which comes with a sudden joy; then he gave a long sigh, and turned his blue-gray eyes straight on Philip's face, as he had not done for a fortnight or more. As for Maggie, the bare idea of Tom's being always lame overcame her, and she clung to him and ...
— Tom and Maggie Tulliver • Anonymous

... disappointment. Then she rose—still holding the withered remains—and paced thoughtfully up and down the room. The night hours passed, and still she softly paced, or tranquilly seated herself, without the falling of a tear, and only now and then a long deep breath rather than a sigh. ...
— Trumps • George William Curtis

... linsey-woolsey, above described, and was of no color whatever, unless you call it "the color of dirt." His breeches were of deer-skin with the hair outside. In dry weather these were what you please, but when wet they hugged the skin with a clammy embrace, and the victim might sigh in vain for sanitary underwear. These breeches were held up by one suspender. The hunting shirt was likewise of deer-skin. The stockings,—there weren't any stockings. The shoes were cow-hide, though moccasins made by his mother were substituted in dry weather. ...
— The Life of Abraham Lincoln • Henry Ketcham

... that in such a gathering the situation would be freely discussed. "It looks to me," said Breckinridge, with a sigh, "that if we are forced to give up Corinth, our cause in the West will be lost. I am in favor of holding Corinth to the ...
— Raiding with Morgan • Byron A. Dunn

... principles. I do not know many political ejaculations more affecting than that of Henry Barrow, said to have been a dissipated youth, when Cartwright refused, before Barrow's execution, to allow of a conference. The deluded man, after a deep sigh, said: "Shall I be thus forsaken by him? Was it not he that brought me first into these briars? and will he now leave me in the same? Was it not from him alone that I took my grounds? Or did I not, out of such premises as he pleased to give me, infer those ...
— Calamities and Quarrels of Authors • Isaac D'Israeli

... And then she would sigh, for, alas! the Major was one of those careless, extravagant creatures, who are never restrained from buying a luxury by the uninteresting fact that the bread bill is owing, and the butcher growing pressing in his demands. When his wife pleaded ...
— Pixie O'Shaughnessy • Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

... whole party heaved a sigh. "Who could ever be," they exclaimed, "so intuitively wise as you, to show, above, such regard for Madame Wang, and below, such consideration for ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin

... Mr. Cuthbert felt ashamed of himself. He did not feel comfortable all through dessert, and gave a sigh of relief when ...
— We Two • Edna Lyall

... whether Nukapu will ever understand that her natives were shot, not for killing the Bishop, but for firing on the British flag. For the present the way is closed, and we can only echo Fisher Young's sigh, 'Poor Santa Cruz people!' ...
— Life of John Coleridge Patteson • Charlotte M. Yonge

... could not, with effrontery of selfishness, take the last possible place,—a place already asked for by another. She thanked Dakie Thayne, and, with just one little secret sigh, got into the interior, placing herself by ...
— A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life. • Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney

... my arms, uncomfortably folded on the little table, and fancied I was about to perform one of the feats which practice renders possible,—"sleeping with one eye open," as we say: a half-and-half doze, for all senses sleep but that of hearing; the faintest murmur, sigh, or motion will break it, and give one back one's wits much brightened by the brief permission to "stand at ease." On this night, the experiment was a failure, for previous vigils, confinement, and much ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863 • Various

... their nearest and dearest connections. The severity of disappointment is here diminished; for what cannot be retained, or is precarious, or ought to be resigned, is dispensed with, if not without a sigh or tear, at least without a resentment against ...
— Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I • Francis Augustus Cox

... "Ha! That's the stuff to brace a man's nerves! But you mustn't drink too much, John Stumpy, or you'll be no good at all. If you'd only let liquor alone you might be as rich as Aaron Woodward, remember that." He gave something like a sigh. "Oh, well; let it pass. I'll get the tools and be on the way. The money in my pocket, I'll take the first train in the morning for the West." He paused a moment. "But no; I won't go until I've seen Woodward. He owes me a little on ...
— True to Himself • Edward Stratemeyer

... the wide and fertile valley of the Mississippi, with eddying whirl has passed to the coast of the Pacific; from the West and the East the tides are rushing toward each other, and the mind is carried to the day when all the cultivable land will be inhabited, and the American people will sigh for more wilderness to conquer. But there is here a physico-political problem presented for our solution. Were it purely physical, your past triumphs would leave but little doubt of your capacity to solve it. A community which, when ...
— The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government • Jefferson Davis

... faithful are deputed to a twofold end. First and principally to the enjoyment of glory. And for this purpose they are marked with the seal of grace according to Ezech. 9:4: "Mark Thou upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and mourn"; and Apoc. 7:3: "Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our ...
— Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) - From the Complete American Edition • Thomas Aquinas

... sit to Nick Dormer, and he helped himself further by going to her theatre whenever he could. He was conscious Julia Dallow would probably hear of this and triumph with a fresh sense of how right she had been; but the reflexion only made him sigh resignedly, so true it struck him as being that there are some things explanation can never better, can ...
— The Tragic Muse • Henry James

... Cousin Morris had offered his carriage," she thought, as the corn-colored and white wagon disappeared from view. "The train stops five minutes at West Silverton, and some of those grand people will be likely to see the turnout," and with a sigh as she doubted whether it were not a disgrace as well as an inconvenience to be poor, she repaired to the kitchen, where sundry savory smells betokened a ...
— Family Pride - Or, Purified by Suffering • Mary J. Holmes

... was too late. The emissary dealt him a blow with a blunt instrument that stunned him and, as he reeled back and grasped at a table, the other thugs rushed from the hall and rained blow after blow on his venerable head and beat him to the floor. A convulsive shudder—a long-drawn-out sigh—and ...
— The Master Mystery • Arthur B. Reeve and John W. Grey

... regained their power over Lucien and Louise; they talked like friends, as before; but when the lady, with a hesitating sigh, put the question, "Are you happy?" Lucien was not ready with a prompt, decided answer; he was intoxicated with gratified vanity; Coralie, who (let us admit it) had made life easy for him, had turned his head. A melancholy "No" would have made his fortune, but he must needs begin to explain ...
— Lost Illusions • Honore De Balzac

... answered: "Tear me with iron hooks, and talk not of my sacrificing to your devils: I have already told you, that I will sacrifice to that God alone for whom I suffer." Hereupon the governor {081} commanded his tortures to be redoubled. The martyr, far from fetching the least sigh, sung with alacrity those verses of the royal prophet: One thing I have asked of the Lord; this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.[1] I will take the chalice of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord.[2] ...
— The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints - January, February, March • Alban Butler

... descriptive expressions; then suddenly wings flashing open and the imagination in the firmament, where it is always at home. Follow the pitiful inventory of insignificances of the forlorn being he describes with a pathetic humor more likely to bring a sigh than a smile, and then mark the grand hyperbole of the last two lines. The passage is from ...
— Ralph Waldo Emerson • Oliver Wendell Holmes

... smith had now rejoined the crowd. No doubt he intended to make sure of getting his money. The mob behind the huts was growing noisy, and Smith gave a sigh of relief when Rodier came out with the mended stay and proceeded to fix it in place. While he did this, Smith beckoned some of the lads forward, and made them understand by signs that he wished them to help him wheel the aeroplane round. The slope between it and the sea was ...
— Round the World in Seven Days • Herbert Strang

... witness the folly, the weakness, the vanity, the selfishness of his future wife, without frequently comparing her with thee. When equivocal words and prevaricating sentences fell from her lips, he remembered with a sigh thy candour—that open sincerity which dwelt upon thy tongue, and seemed to vie with thy undisguised features, to charm the listener even beyond the spectator. While Miss Sedgeley eagerly grasped at all the gifts he offered, he could ...
— Nature and Art • Mrs. Inchbald

... people who were eating, and well-nigh suffocated by the odor of food, the Comte and Comtesse de Breville and Monsieur and Madame Carre-Lamadon endured that hateful form of torture which has perpetuated the name of Tantalus. All at once the manufacturer's young wife heaved a sigh which made every one turn and look at her; she was white as the snow without; her eyes closed, her head fell forward; she had fainted. Her husband, beside himself, implored the help of his neighbors. No one seemed to know what to do until the elder of the ...
— Maupassant Original Short Stories (180), Complete • Guy de Maupassant

... admitted "that there was a rogue in his coat;" but this was by no means uttered in a tone of voice that betrayed any disrelish to him. On the contrary, they often said—and many of them with an involuntary sigh—that "he was too purty to be made a priest of;" others, that "it was a pity to make a priest of so fine a young man;" others, again, that "if he must be a priest, the colleens would be all flockin' to hear ...
— Going To Maynooth - Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of - William Carleton, Volume Three • William Carleton

... silent, and I also, marvelling on her face and on the words which she spoke. There came a light tap at the door, and she awoke as it were from a trance which possessed her. She drew her hands over her face, with a long sigh; she knelt down swiftly, and crossed herself, making an obeisance, for I deem that her saints had been with her, wherefore I also crossed myself and prayed. Then she rose and cried "Enter!" and ere I could speak she had passed ...
— A Monk of Fife • Andrew Lang

... we shall expect you," replied Mrs Norton; and with a sigh she sank back on the cushions, and fell to thinking ...
— A Mere Accident • George Moore

... recalled again to mind how that throughout his lifetime his literary attainments had had an adverse fate and not met with an opportunity (of reaping distinction), went on to rub his brow, and as he raised his eyes to the skies, he heaved a deep sigh and once more intoned a ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book I • Cao Xueqin

... trousers, and with the point of a knife, which he always carried in his pocket, he picked a leg thoroughly varnished with jelly, bit it off and chewed it with such evident relish, that there arose in the coach a heavy sigh of distress. ...
— Mademoiselle Fifi • Guy de Maupassant

... not an envious sigh that accompanied the words, but born of mingled emotions,—the half-formed thought, "Shall I ever know such pleasures. Alas, they are not for me!" quickly succeeded by another,—"Ah, that sweet child cannot live to maturity, ...
— Elsie's children • Martha Finley

... out). Goodnight. Say good night and thanks to Miss Craven for me. To-morrow any time after twelve, remember. (They go out; and Charteris with a long sigh crosses to ...
— The Philanderer • George Bernard Shaw

... looking creature. She says she has been broken down ever since the birth of her last child. I asked her how soon after her confinement she went out into the field to work again. She answered very quietly, but with a deep sigh: 'Three weeks, missis; de usual time.' As I was going away, a man named Martin came up, and with great vehemence besought me to give him a prayer-book. In the evening, he came down to fetch it, and to show me that he can ...
— Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation - 1838-1839 • Frances Anne Kemble

... emotion. He then put them back in the envelope, and opening a small iron cash-box, which stood on a shelf of the book-case, locked up will, letter, power of attorney, and all. Then he shook his long limbs, with a sigh, and having rolled a thick cigarette, lighted it, and sat down in his chair to think. The shadows were deepening, and the smoke of his tobacco showed white against the gloom in the room. The news he had ...
— Doctor Claudius, A True Story • F. Marion Crawford

... this love may be That cometh to all but not to me. It cannot be kind as they'd imply, Or why do these gentle ladies sigh? It cannot be joy and rapture deep, Or why do these gentle ladies weep? It cannot be blissful, as 'tis said, Or why are their eyes so ...
— Songs of a Savoyard • W. S. Gilbert

... his arms to Heaven with a great sigh that was a sob almost, then he passed his hands over his face, and as they came in contact with the swollen ridge that scored it, love faded from his mind, and vindictiveness ...
— The Trampling of the Lilies • Rafael Sabatini

... set down." With a sigh of relief Mrs. McDougal took the chair offered to Miss Cary, folded her arms, and began to rock, her eyes fastened on the man still on the railing of the little porch, but now with his back against a post and hands clasped over the ...
— Miss Gibbie Gault • Kate Langley Bosher

... makes him who hears it sick all the days of his life for something which he cannot name. It is the song which the birds sing on the moor in the autumn nights, and the old crow on the treetop hears and flaps his wing. It is the lilt which men and women hear in the darkening of their days, and sigh for the unforgettable; and love-sick girls get catches of it and play pranks with their lovers. It is a song so old that Adam heard it in the Garden before Eve came to comfort him, so young that from it still flows the whole joy ...
— The Moon Endureth—Tales and Fancies • John Buchan

... smilingly down; a sudden wave of half-humbrous pity for a thing so frail and amazed swam about him; before he knew he had kissed her cheek. This set her blushing a little; but she seemed to take heart, smiled rather pitifully, and turned again with a sigh, like a ...
— The Forest Lovers • Maurice Hewlett

... the chaplain arriving at the open door of the farm, saw in the kitchen beyond it the daughter of the house, who had just come in from farm work. She was looking at a pile of dirty plates and dishes which had to be washed before supper, and she gave a sigh of fatigue. Suddenly in the back door on the other side of the kitchen appeared the sergeant. He looked at the girl, then at the dishes, then again at the girl. "Fattigay?" he said cheerfully, going ...
— The War on All Fronts: England's Effort - Letters to an American Friend • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... of money," he said to himself, "a lot of money. Still, I suppose, I must pay him something for his cattle. But it is a lot of money to part with," and he heaved a big sigh. ...
— Young Folks Treasury, Volume 2 (of 12) • Various

... and breathe a woman's sigh over poor Benjamin's dust. Love killed him, I think. Twenty years old, and out there fighting another young fellow on the common, in the cool of that old July evening; yes, there must have been love at the bottom ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. X (of X) - America - II, Index • Various

... "Hughie," she whispered and moved close to him. His heart stopped as he loosened her hand from his and put his arm around her. With a contented sigh she rested her head on one shoulder and her hand on the other. "Hughie dear," ...
— The Plastic Age • Percy Marks

... containing a daguerreotype of a girl's face. A sudden contrition smote Jim; he turned anxiously to his bunk, throwing the clothes left and right. The vest he had worn when he left the Francis Cadman lay under the pillow. He dived his finger into the watch-pocket, and heaved a sigh of relief. Yes, it was there, safe and sound. He held Lucy Woodrow's miniature, gazing on it, suffused with chastened emotions. Heavens! how beautiful she was, and so gentle and generous! What an ...
— In the Roaring Fifties • Edward Dyson

... my eyes, then, can you doubt? -Why, 'tis a mile from town. How green the grass is all about! We might as well sit down. -Ah, life, what is it but a flower? Why must true lovers sigh? Be kind, have pity, my own, my pretty,- "Good-bye, ...
— A Shropshire Lad • A. E. Housman

... problem, hardly a less difficult one, of a metre which would refuse nothing, which could rise to the occasion and sink with it, and be equally suited to the epitaph of a hero or the verses accompanying a birthday present, a light jest or a great moral idea, the sigh of a lover or the ...
— Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology • J. W. Mackail

... weary, making way for the magic of evening and the oncoming dark with its mystery. The tree-stems redden with the sunset; there is a chill sigh in the wind; the leaves turn before it, burnished against the purple sky. As the gloom rises up out of the earth, bands of dark red gather on the horizon, seaming the clear bronze of the sky, that passes upward ...
— Ireland, Historic and Picturesque • Charles Johnston

... some more at that. Ar, strike me blue! It gimme Joes to sit an' watch them two! 'E'd break away an' start to say good-bye, An' then she'd sigh "Ow, Ro-me-o!" an' git a strangle-holt, An' 'ang around 'im like she feared ...
— The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke • C. J. Dennis

... Moreover, he fetched and carried for me unweariedly, and would play at spillekins, help to put up puzzles, and enact little dramas with our wooden animals, such as Griff scorned as only fit for babies. Even nurse allowed Clarence's merits towards me and little Emily, but always with the sigh: 'If he was but as good in other respects, but them quiet ...
— Chantry House • Charlotte M. Yonge

... Jove, the son of Saturn; but fate subdued him, and the grievous wrath of Juno. So also shall I lie, when I am dead, if a similar fate be destined for me; but now may I bear away illustrious glory, and compel some one of the Trojan women and deep-robed Dardanians to sigh frequently, wiping away the tears from her tender cheeks with both hands; and may they know that I have long ceased from battle.[578] Wherefore do not hinder me from the combat, although loving me, for thou wilt ...
— The Iliad of Homer (1873) • Homer

... the First marched to Edgcot, near Banbury, on 22nd Oct., 1642, he saw him hunting in the fields not far from Shuckborough, with a very good pack of hounds, upon which it is reported, that he fetched a deep sigh and asked who that gentleman was that hunted so merrily that morning, when he was going to fight for his crown and dignity. And being told {339} that it was this Richard Shuckburgh, he was ordered to be called to him, and was by him very graciously ...
— Notes and Queries 1850.03.23 • Various

... direction of Florence's bent head. The scratch of Florence's pen over the paper now and then reached her ears. At last Florence stopped her work abruptly, leant back in her chair, stretched out her arms behind her head, uttered a profound yawn which ended in a sigh, and ...
— A Bunch of Cherries - A Story of Cherry Court School • L. T. Meade

... the old lay-sister; aye, for the moment she had forgotten the Convent and the cloister, the mile-long walk in darkness, the chant of the unseen monks. She trod again the springy heather of her youth; she heard the rush of the mountain stream; the sigh of the great forest; the rustle of the sunlit glades, alive with, life. These all were in ...
— The White Ladies of Worcester - A Romance of the Twelfth Century • Florence L. Barclay

... about her. The band was playing a dreamy waltz, and her partner danced perfectly. Neither of them spoke. Noreen could not; she felt that all she wanted was to float, on air it seemed, held close to Dermot's breast. She gave a sigh when the dance ended. In the interval she did not want to talk; it was enough to look at his face, to hear his voice. She hated her next partner when he came ...
— The Elephant God • Gordon Casserly

... thinks till he return again, And yet the duteous vassal scarce is gone. The weary time she cannot entertain, For now 'tis stale to sigh, to weep, to groan: So woe hath wearied woe, moan tired moan, That she her plaints a little while doth stay, Pausing for means to mourn ...
— The Rape of Lucrece • William Shakespeare [Collins edition]

... first ship in range, and a puff of smoke from the "Merrimac's" bow-gun warned the crew of the frigate that danger was coming. All held their breath an instant, until, with a clatter and whiz, a storm of grape-shot rattled against her sides, and whistled through the rigging. Then came a sigh of relief that it was no worse. When the enemy was within a quarter of a mile, the "Congress" let fly her whole broadside, and the crew crowded the ports to see the result. The great iron shot rattled off ...
— The Naval History of the United States - Volume 2 (of 2) • Willis J. Abbot

... had gone and he was alone at last, Truedale heaved a heavy sigh. It seemed to relieve the restraint under which he had ...
— The Man Thou Gavest • Harriet T. Comstock

... Here also may be learned, pity for the bereaved, benevolence for the destitute, and compassion for the helpless; and at the same time all the sympathies of the soul will be naturally excited to sigh at the unfavorable result, or to smile at ...
— A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison • James E. Seaver

... that we sigh, kiss, smile; Each kiss lasts but the kissing; and grief goes over; Love has no habitation but the heart. Poor straws! on the dark flood we catch awhile, Cling, and are borne into the night apart. The laugh dies with the ...
— The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke • Rupert Brooke

... acts?" She put her head out of the window, straining back for a glimpse of the sacred threshold. As they flew past it she sank into her seat with a satisfied sigh. ...
— The Reef • Edith Wharton

... sigh from the invalid, and a painful silence ensued. At last he lifted himself up again, and, placing his lips so near Anton's ear that his burning breath played upon his friend's cheek, he said, "I know that you are acquainted with the Baron Rothsattel. The young lady herself ...
— Debit and Credit - Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag • Gustav Freytag

... Alas! she married another. They frequently do. I hope she is happy—because I am. (Spoken with a sigh. It was a joke which always told. Artemus never failed to use it in his "Babes in the Wood" lecture, and the "Sixty Minutes in Africa," as well as in the Mormon story.) —some people are not ...
— The Complete Works of Artemus Ward, Part 6 • Charles Farrar Browne

... With a sigh, Ravdin eased himself out of the seat, his heart pounding with excitement. Perhaps, he thought, he was too excited, too eager to be home, for his mind was still reeling from the fearful discovery ...
— The Link • Alan Edward Nourse

... doctrine to be true, and be brought by my belief to repentance for my sins, to hungering and thirsting vehemently after this righteousness: for this is the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. Yea, let me pray, and cry, and sigh, and groan, day and night, to the God of this righteousness, that he will of grace make me a partaker. And let me thus be prostrate before my God, all the time that in wisdom he shall think fit; and in his own time he shall shew me that I am a justified ...
— The Pharisee And The Publican • John Bunyan

... adjourned to Clowes' study, where Trevor sank into Clowes' second-best chair—Clowes, by an adroit movement, having appropriated the best one—with a sigh of enjoyment. Running and passing, followed by the toil of furniture-shifting, had made him feel ...
— The Gold Bat • P. G. Wodehouse

... a lovely day, I did want to rake my garden, and have a walk with Molly, and finish my book so I can get another," she said with a sigh, as she leaned out of the open window for a breath ...
— Jack and Jill • Louisa May Alcott

... automatically timed relays. When only the regular driving power was left, and the acceleration had been checked and found to be exactly the designated value of 981.286 centimeters, he stood up and heaved a profound sigh of relief. ...
— Spacehounds of IPC • Edward Elmer Smith

... said the good woman with a sigh, 'even the serpents have their young ones, but I ...
— Edmund Dulac's Fairy-Book - Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations • Edmund Dulac

... regretful; homesick. regretted &c v.; much to be regretted, regrettable; lamentable &c (bad) 649. Adv. regrettably, unfortunately; most unfortunately. Int. alas!; what a pity!, hang it!, Phr. 'tis pity [Contr.], 'tis too true [Contr.]; sigh'd and look'd and sigh'd again [Dryden]; ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget

... drawing room had disclosed the affectionate family mourning their lost ones on Christmas-day? Had not Christmas come and gone, and yet they were still mourning? Time will show. It takes the sick couch, the dying words, the quivering breath, the last sigh, the solemn funeral pomp, to make death seem reality, to be assured we have lost "the light of our eyes," to be certain that one from amongst us has gone, and that we shall ...
— Yr Ynys Unyg - The Lonely Island • Julia de Winton

... highwayman to jest in the presence of the multitude when the hangman's cord is within an inch of his neck; the same which makes a gallant general, whose life is forfeited, command his men to fire on him; the same which makes the Hindoo widow mount the funeral pile without a tear in her eye or a sigh on her lips. If the robber were to be strangled in the corner of his dungeon—if the general were to be put to death privately in his own apartment—if the widow were to be burned quietly on her own hearth—if the nun were to be secretly smuggled in at the convent gate like a bale ...
— Mexico and its Religion • Robert A. Wilson

... note then recognised in the scale, is called 'the ground of all accord.' A-re, I suppose, represents the lover's sigh 'to plead his passion.' B-mi, may be twisted into 'Be mine,' by the light of the remaining words in the line; while 'D sol re, one cliff, two notes have I' obviously refers to Hortensio's disguise. ...
— Shakespeare and Music - With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries • Edward W. Naylor

... with words of love burning in your heart if not between your lips? Ah! these witches of Baaltis know their trade well; they are full of evil gifts, and of the wisdom given to them by the fiend they serve. With touch and sigh and look they can stir the blood of youth, having much practice in the art, till it seethes within the veins and drowns ...
— Elissa • H. Rider Haggard

... slowness in taking a jest. Should you happen to venture on one, It will sigh like a thing that is deeply distressed: And it always looks ...
— The Hunting of the Snark - an Agony, in Eight Fits • Lewis Carroll

... very much further," he said, with a sigh. And then he added quickly: "Jack, have ...
— The Rover Boys at Colby Hall - or The Struggles of the Young Cadets • Arthur M. Winfield

... most horrible piece of injustice." After which, I proceeded to acquaint him with the distressing history of his unfortunate mistress. He appeared perfectly well to recollect the female to whom I alluded; and when I ceased speaking, he said, with a half-suppressed sigh, "Poor creature! she has indeed been unfortunate; seventeen years and five months in prison! The duc de la Vrilliere is greatly to blame in the affair; but when once he has placed persons between four walls, he thinks he has fulfilled the whole of his ...
— "Written by Herself" • Baron Etienne Leon Lamothe-Langon

... in through the window. They ate a way to the door that led into the entry, so that it could be opened and the room could be entered that way. The boys now went in at the window and came out at the door, eating as they went and filling their pockets. Carrie could not but sigh at thought of the Boston chocolates, more than a cent apiece! But the boys ate, and then the girls came and ate; but with night all had to leave, at last. It was possible to shut the window and lock it, and shut the door for the night, after ...
— The Last of the Peterkins - With Others of Their Kin • Lucretia P. Hale

... through North Winnipeg to St. John's, down Main to Portage and Broadway, across the river to Fort Rouge and Norwood flew the news that Irish Ned was dying. Many an eye was filled with tears, many a breast heaved a throbbing sigh, many a heart had an aching load: Irish Ned was dying. Round at the Church and in Sunday School on that clouded Sunday morning they missed the bright, winsome face and dimpled smile, and many a prayer was sent on the wings of faith to the Throne of ...
— Irish Ned - The Winnipeg Newsy • Samuel Fea



Words linked to "Sigh" :   let loose, respire, vocalization, sound, utterance, breathe, suspiration, utter, suspire



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