Read full poem →Then couth I sing of love, and tune my pipe
Unto my plaintive pleas in verses made;
Then would I seek for queen-apples unripe;
Dictionary Entry
Sounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.
In a Sentence
“a typically plaintive song from Radiohead”
Origin
Origin details are still being enriched for this entry.
Common Phrases
voice plaintivecry plaintivenote plaintive. plaintivecries plaintivetone plaintive
Missing dictionary details are being fetched in the background.
Poetry examples for “plaintive”
Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.
Read full poem →The Dryad stands in my court-yard
With plaintive, querulous crying.
(Tamuz. Io! Tamuz!)
Read full poem →That on wild cherry and red cedar feeds,
A winter bird, comes with its plaintive whistle,
And pecks by the witch-hazel, whilst aloud
Read full poem →As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Read full poem →In this little dome, all those melodies strange,
Soft, plaintive, and melting, for ever will sigh;
Nor e'er will the notes from their tenderness change;
Read full poem →Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,
And sings his plaintive song.
Read full poem →And the wavelets fly
With a plaintive cry
O'er the old earth's bare, bleak bones.
Read full poem →Why then, fond parents, why these fruitless groans?
Restrain your tears, and cease your plaintive moans.
Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain,