Careful Words

tragedy (n.)

Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy

In sceptred pall come sweeping by,

Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line,

Or the tale of Troy divine.

John Milton (1608-1674): Il Penseroso. Line 97.

  The playbill, which is said to have announced the tragedy of Hamlet, the character of the Prince of Denmark being left out.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): The Talisman. Introduction.

  The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those who feel.

Horace Walpole (1717-1797): Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1770.