Our sweetest songs are those that tell of the saddest thought

In this statement quoted from a poem of the English poet Shelley, we come to know how sad and pathetic thoughts in poems and other literary creations affect us. Many incidents happening in the world are pathetic and not rarely tragic. If we are directly involved in such incidents or witness them, or are informed of them we feel sad. This is due to a variety of factors such as our sympathy with the victim of tragedy or our own incapacity to tide over such disasters. But when these sad incidents are depicted in art, literature, music, and painting they certainly create a feeling of sadness. In the imaginative world of art and literature a sad incident invokes pity and sympathy in us by stirring our corresponding emotions. This is not only a kind of sympathy but identification with the victim of the tragedy. This reveals to us the inscruable mystery of life. This recognition is in itself a pleasure.