All 21 Uses of
wretched
in
The Ramayana
- By chains of duty firmly tied, The wretched king perforce complied.†
Book 1 *wretched = miserable or very bad
- The wretched hen in wild despair With fluttering pinions beat the air, And shrieked a long and bitter cry When low on earth she saw him lie, Her loved companion, quivering, dead, His dear wings with his lifeblood red; And for her golden crested mate She mourned, and was disconsolate.†
Book 1
- Cursed by my wrath for many a day, His wretched life for sin shall pay.†
Book 1
- O thou to whom the wretched flee, And find a saviour, Saint, in thee, Now let the king obtain his will, And me my length of days fulfil, That rites austere I too may share, May rise to heaven and rest me there.†
Book 1
- But yet the moon-crowned night could bring No comfort to the wretched king.†
Book 2
- Then Ráma having calmly heard His wretched father speak each word, With Lakshma?†
Book 2
- But then the ladies' bower was rent With cries of weeping and lament: "Where goes he now, our lord, the sure Protector of the friendless poor, In whom the wretched and the weak Defence and aid were wont to seek?†
Book 2
- The heart within my breast, I feel, Is adamant or hardest steel, Or, in a thousand fragments split, The loss of him had shattered it, When those I love, who should be blest, Are wandering in the wood distressed, Condemned their wretched lives to lead In exile, by thy ruthless deed.†
Book 2
- The wretched votaress how sustain, Who mourns her child in ceaseless pain?†
Book 2
- A brook where water once has been, A grove where grass no more is green, Kine with no herdsman's guiding hand— So wretched is a kingless land.†
Book 2
- And I the wretched cause why this Falls on the prince whose right is bliss!†
Book 2
- Great joys his happy days attend On whom the hopes of men depend, But wretched is the life he leads Who still the aid of others needs.†
Book 2
- Most wretched then my fate would be For such dishonour shown to thee: And only for the briefest stay Would I within this grove delay.†
Book 3
- Canst thou this wretched creature prize And look on me with scornful eyes?†
Book 3
- Lead forth an army mightier still, Ráma this wretched man, to kill.†
Book 3
- What, O thou large-eyed dame, hast thou To do with fallen Ráma now, From home and kingdom forced to fly, A wretched hermit soon to die?†
Book 3
- Through their kind aid, a faithful band Who guard their lord from hostile hand, Rest when their chieftain rests and bend Their steps where'er he lists to wend,— Through them alone, in toil and pain, My wretched life I still sustain.†
Book 4
- The poor and wretched seek his feet: In him the noblest glories meet.†
Book 4
- Think not of wretched Ráma: he Is less than nothing now to thee.†
Book 5
- Die in thy folly, or forget That wretched wandering anchoret.†
Book 5
- And shall I hear the wretched cry, And my protecting aid deny?†
Book 6
Definition:
very bad
in various senses, including:
- unfortunate or miserable -- as in "wretched prisoners sleeping on the cold floor"
- of poor quality -- as in "wretched roads"
- morally bad -- as in "The wretched woman stole his wallet."