# XIX: Be Not Sad Because All Men explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by James Joyce.

## What happens

The speaker comforts a beloved, urging them not to be saddened by the world's preference for falsehood over truth. The beloved is assured that others cannot truly dishonor them, as their own lives are filled with greater sorrow. The speaker calls for a proud response of denial to the world's tears.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Longing

The speaker's tender address and desire to soothe the beloved reflects deep affection and care.

### Isolation and Connection

The beloved is set apart from a hostile world, yet finds solace in the speaker's words of unity.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The speaker who offers comfort and reassurance to the beloved.

### Beloved

The recipient of the speaker's comfort, addressed as 'Sweetheart' and urged to be at peace.

## Key lines

> Be not sad because all men Prefer a lying clamour before you

Do not be sorrowful because everyone else favors false noise over you.

_The speaker acknowledges the world's unjust preference for deceit over the beloved._

> They are sadder than all tears; Their lives ascend as a continual sigh.

Those people are more sorrowful than any tears; their lives are one long sigh.

_The speaker reframes the world's judgment as a sign of their own deeper misery._

> Proudly answer to their tears: As they deny, deny.

Respond to their weeping with pride: just as they deny you, you deny them.

_The speaker urges the beloved to meet the world's denial with a proud, reciprocal denial._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters/xix-be-not-sad-because-all-men
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters