The iron of the world's wrongs had entered into his soul; there is an undertone of sorrow in his lyrics; his sarcasm, directed against oppression and bigotry, at times betrays the earnestness of one whose own withers have been wrung.
Her life was earnest work, not play; Her tired feet climbed a weary way; And even through her lightest strain We heard an undertoneof pain.
Must the hymn of our thanksgiving for countless mercies and the unspeakable gift of His life have evermore an undertone of funeral wailing?
To their wild wail the waves which break Forever round that lonely lake A solemn undertone shall make!
A low wail of inappeasable sorrow, an undertone of dirges, mingles with his gay melodies.
She replied in an undertone scarcely better than a whisper: "Thank you, I am quite comfortable.
In an undertone she spoke passionately for a moment.
The light undertone of melancholy which pervades gypsy beauty, gypsy music, gypsy manners, has an extremely remarkable fascination for all who perceive it.
Their murmur seemed to offer a sympathetic undertone to the honest conversation of my companion, and I sat there as humble a ministrant to the simple and beautiful idea of British valor as the occasion could require.
Audrey spoke in a quick undertone to the man nearest to her.
On some still day in autumn, the nutty days, the woods will often be pervaded by an undertone of sound, produced by their multitudinous clucking, as they sit near their dens.
I am not at all sure," he said in an undertone to Quest, "about our position with the Mongars.
That's some girl, that Miss Laura," he muttered in an undertone to Quest.
The two walked towards one of the platforms, and it was plain that Dalmaine was delivering himself in an undertone of a gentlemanly reproof.
The singer was approaching; her voice grew a little louder, though still in the undertone of one who sings but half consciously.
The ominous undertone of the waves on the beach and the muttering thunder pass harmless by him.
In an undertone he now said something that brought the old man to his feet.
If now and then there was a forlorn undertone which at the time seemed inexplicable, you might be perplexed at the drift of what he said, but you felt all the more drawn to the speaker.
Lisbeth in an undertone to Hortense, "what can you do?
You ought to be very happy," she added in an undertone to Lisbeth.
As we went out of the door he turned back a moment and added with a slightly sharpundertone in his voice: "And the next time I come, Gaylord, you'll shake hands!
I knew that he was thinking of Polly Mathers, and I imagined that I could detect an undertone of triumph in his voice.
I was told with a meaning undertone that he "favored" his brother Jeff.
Just at present they are not so deserted as we should like," he returned with a suggestive undertone in his voice.
Rad caught an ironical undertone in his father's voice.
Every long declamation was a duet, the prompter's rapid undertone charging along beneath the actor's voice like a horse beneath its rider.
His family wanted him laid over the way," continued that scared undertone at my ear, "but the bishop said no.
There was something else too that brought an undertone of beauty, which she was not acknowledging even to her inmost self.
There was an undertone of sadness and suppressed excitement, for it was in the minds of all the Hollisters that the time in the old barn must of necessity be growing brief.
Our heads were bent over our work when Bickerton, the junior prefect of Bramhall, entered the room, approached the master's desk, and spoke in an undertone to Radley.
Radley turned round and, having seen me, said something in an undertoneto Chappy.
It was with feelings of regret on both sides that her officers and the Keiths parted; Edward Wells taking an opportunity to say in an undertone to Mildred that he hoped they would sometime meet again.
I feel it so," Mrs. Keith said, with anundertone of deep joy in her sweet voice.
Robert what it should be, Vaura said in an undertone to Trevalyon: "I do admire the clever Earl immensely, and not only because it is the decree of the god of fashion.
Wolsley," exclaimed Chancer of the Guards in an undertone to Everett of the Lancers.
But the undertone rose higher and grew stronger until at the last it became the dominant, the only tone to be heard.
It was the never-absent undertone of His life, from earliest years until the tragic close.
And I heard the same sad, glad undertone last year out in Corea, in the homes we visited, whose loved ones were behind prison bars for their Friend's sake.
And then we will set our lives to that joyous music with its rare undertone of the exquisite minor.
She seemed now to be delirious, babbling incoherently, repeating in an undertone and in that strange hoarse voice fragments of words and phrases that in spite of their wildness arrested his attention.
Thérèse was no longer to be seen; she must have slipped out, but his aunt was saying something in an anxious undertone to the doctor, who at that moment had moved nearer the fireplace.
There was an undertoneof anxiety in her manner despite her proud tenderness.
It was a laugh of great irony at his own expense that escaped the narrow chest, from which he breathed with such difficulty, and a less sharp ear than Leo's would not have detected in it an undertone of weariness or hesitation.
Leo wondered what she meant, for there was anundertone of distinct displeasure in her voice.
But in the big man's voice there was a growlingundertone which reminded Leo of his worst boyish scrapes in the days when that great red puffy hand wielded the birch over him.
Unless we can catch the undertone of this acknowledgment, a poet's voice is in our ears hardly more than sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
There is no undertone of anguish in his work like that which gives such poignant and haunting beauty to Tchehov.
She chattered incessantly and showered slang words and phrases about her freely; yet all the while kept up a nervous little undertone of movement and manner that showed she was not at ease.
He laughed, as though he was expected to understand that she was talking nonsense, but he spoke with an undertone of decision.
There was a miserable undertone question hovering about each petition: Could it be possible that she must teach herself to pray for Mamie Parker, not as a passing acquaintance but as one of her very own?
The words seemed to repeat themselves in her brain like a dull undertone refrain.
Providence won't be tempted, nor misunderstand," replied Faith, an undertone of reverence qualifying her girlish repartee.
I catch the murmur of its undertone That sigheth, ceaselessly,--alone!
