Chap. VIII. EXPRESSION OF LOVE, ETC. 215 



been felt had the father and son never met, will prob- 

 ably have passed through their minds; and grief nat- 

 urally leads to the secretion of tears. Thus on the re- 

 turn of Ulysses: — 



" Telemachus 

 Rose, and clung weeping - round his father's breast. 

 There the pent grief rained o'er them, yearning- thus. 

 ****** 



Thus piteously thej* wailed in sore unrest, 

 And on their weepings had gone down the day, 

 But that at last Telemachus found words to say." 

 ^Yorsley , s Translation of the Odyssey, 



Book xvi. st. 27. 



So again when Penelope at last recognized her hus- 

 band : — 



" Then from her eyelids the quick tears did start 

 And she ran to him from her place, and threw 

 Her arms about his neck, and a warm dew 

 Of kisses poured upon him, and thus spake: " 



Book xxiii. st. 27. 



The vivid recollection of our former home, or of 

 long-past happy days, readily causes the eyes to be suf- 

 fused with tears; but here, again, the thought naturally 

 occurs that these days will never return. In such cases 

 we may be said to sympathize with ourselves in our pres- 

 ent, in comparison with our former, state. Sympathy 

 with the distresses of others, even with the imaginary 

 distresses of a heroine in a pathetic story, for whom we 

 feel no affection, readily excites tears. So does sympa- 

 thy with the happiness of others, as with that of a lover, 

 at last successful after many hard trials in a well-told 

 tale. 



Sympathy appears to constitute a separate or distinct 

 emotion; and it is especially apt to excite the lacrymal 

 glands. This holds good whether we give or receive 

 sympathy. Every one must have noticed how readily 

 children burst out crying if we pity them for some small 



