A teal teardrop suspended above a glass bowl of water on a dark ledge.

Original artwork, not a still

Alexander's Feast

John Dryden

For pity melts the mind to love.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The line says compassion has a softening effect on the mind, and that this tenderness can turn into love. Seeing another's suffering loosens hardness and opens the heart, so that pity becomes a doorway into affection rather than remaining detached sorrow.

Context reviewed

Share this quote