What is a crying spell

Understanding Depression Disguises

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

Many people think of depression as an intolerable sadness or a deep gloom that just won't go away. Yet depression can also be sneaky, disguised in symptoms that can be hard to identify. If you've had unexplained aches or pains, often feel irritable or angry for no reason, or cry at the drop of a hat -- you could be depressed.

Fortunately, you can be proactive with depression. Learn how these less obvious symptoms can reveal themselves and when you should seek out depression treatment.

Common Depression Symptoms

Common symptoms of depression include feeling sad, hopeless, empty, or having lost interest in the things that previously gave you pleasure. But other, less obvious symptoms also may signal depression, including:

Anger, irritability, and impatience. You may feel irritated and angry at family, friends, or co-workers, or overreact to small things.
Sleep problems. You may have trouble sleeping, or you may wake up very early in the morning. Or you may sleep too much and find it hard to get up in the morning.
Anxiety. You may have symptoms such as anxiety, worry, restlessness, and tension. Anxiety and depression often occur together, even though they are two separate problems.
Crying. Crying spells, crying over nothing at all, or crying about small things that normally wouldn't bother you may be signs of depression.
Inability to concentrate. If you are depressed, you may be forgetful, have trouble making decisions, or find it hard to concentrate.
Pain. If you have aches and pains that don't respond to treatment, including joint pain, back pain, limb pain, or stomach pain, they could be signs of depression. Many people with depression go to their doctor because of these types of physical symptoms, and don't even realize that they are depressed.
Substance abuse. Having a drug or alcohol problem may hide an underlying problem with depression, or may also be causing the symptoms of depression. Substance abuse and depression often go hand in hand.
Appetite changes. You may have no desire to eat, or you may overeat in an effort to feel better.
Isolation. You may feel withdrawn from friends and family -- right when you need their support the most.

Depression Symptoms: Men and Women May Differ

Not everyone has the same signs and symptoms of depression. In fact, men and women may experience depression differently. Women more often describe feeling sad, guilty, or worthless when they are depressed.

Men are more likely to feel tired, angry, irritable, and frustrated, and they often have more sleep problems. A man may feel less interested in hobbies, activities, and even sex. They may focus excessively on work in order to avoid talking with friends and family about how they feel. Men also may be more likely to behave recklessly and use drugs or alcohol to deal with depression. Some men with depression can become abusive. More women attempt suicide than men do, but men are more likely to complete the act -- almost four times as many men die from suicide as do women.

Many men do not acknowledge feelings or symptoms of depression. They don't want to admit that something may be wrong or talk about their feelings. But men and women can both get better with treatment.

Depression Symptoms: When to Seek Treatment

It can be hard to admit to yourself that you may be depressed, let alone ask for help. Here are two good reasons why you should consider depression treatment:

Treatment works. Even people with severe depression can find relief, and so can you.
Early treatment is better. As with many other health problems, getting treatment early on can ease symptoms more quickly. If you wait to get help, your depression can become more severe and harder to treat.

Talk to someone. There are many people willing to help you overcome depression, but the first step you have to take on your own is to let someone know how you are feeling. It may help to start by talking to a close friend or family member. Ask them for support in finding depression treatment. The sooner you get treatment, the sooner you will start to feel better. Don't hesitate -- call your primary care doctor or a medical health professional if:

You think you may be depressed.
You notice symptoms of depression such as sadness, hopelessness, or emptiness, or if you have less obvious symptoms such as trouble sleeping or vague aches and pains.
Depression symptoms make it hard to function.

If you have thoughts about dying or committing suicide, seek immediate medical help. You may feel hopeless now, but treatment will give you hope -- and help you see that life is worth living.

Depression Treatment: Give it Time to Work

Certain medications and medical conditions such as thyroid problems can cause symptoms of depression, so your doctor may want to rule them out. If your doctor thinks you may be depressed, they may treat your depression and help you manage your symptoms, or might refer you to a mental health professional.

Depression treatment involves either antidepressant medication, psychotherapy, or both. People with mild to moderate depression can benefit from therapy alone. Aerobic exercise is also sometimes recommended as an effective treatment for mild to moderate forms of depression. People with more severe depression usually do better with medication and therapy. Note that once you start treatment, you may notice improvements in symptoms such as sleep or appetite before you begin to feel less depressed.

Antidepressantswork by affecting brain chemicals called neurotransmitters and nerve cell pathways or circuits in the brain that regulate mood. Antidepressants effectively treat depression in many people who take them. However, they can take four to six weeks to notice an effect, so it's important to be patient. Antidepressants sometimes can also have side effects, including weight gain and sexual problems. It may take some time to find the right medication that works best for you with the fewest side effects. Sometimes, if a first antidepressant isn't fully successful, your doctor might add a second medicine to boost its effect, or change the medication to another that may be more effective.

Psychotherapy treats depression by helping you:

Learn new, more positive ways of thinking
Change habits or behaviors that may make your depression worse
Work through relationship problems at home or work
Help you see things in a more realistic way and face your fears
Help you feel hopeful, positive, and more in control of your life

It can take time to break old patterns of thinking and behavior, so give therapy some time to work.

Depression Treatment: How to Help Yourself

In addition to the help and support you get from your therapist and/or doctor, there are a few things you can do on your own that will help you feel better:

Stay physically active. Exercise helps boost your mood, and research has shown that it may also help ease depression.
Get a good night's sleep. Sleep helps us heal from many health problems, including depression. Getting the right amount of sleep, but not too much, helps you have more energy. Try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day. Make your bedroom a comfortable place for sleeping and sex only -- banish TV and use curtains to keep out bright outdoor light.
Stay connected. Spending time with supportive friends or family will make you feel better -- even if you don't feel like it will. It may help to choose low-key ways to connect. Go to a light-hearted movie, meet for a coffee and some people-watching, or take a walk in a nearby park. The contact you get from others, along with depression treatment, can help bring you out of the dark and back into the light.

Crying Spells: Underlying Causes

Crying is a universal experience. People can get teary for almost any reason and at any time. There’s a lot we still don’t know about crying but some scientists believe emotional tears — versus the everyday tears that protect your eyes — are also beneficial for your health.

Sometimes you might find yourself crying a lot more often than you’d like to or without an apparent cause.

There’s no official standard for a healthy amount of crying because everyone is different. It’s helpful to pay attention to your crying habits and how you feel about it.

Sometimes you may not know why you’re crying or why you can’t stop crying. Other times, you might not realize how upset you are until you step back and notice how much you’ve been crying lately.

Where you measure up in terms of average amount of crying may not be as important as noticing increases in your personal pattern of crying.

Uncontrollable crying may feel like tears well up too easily or they’re hard to soothe and stop.

Read on to learn about possible causes of uncontrollable crying as well as how to take care of yourself and seek help.

There’s still a lot that we don’t know about crying, who cries more, and why. Even large studies on crying and its effects rely on people to self-report, which makes results less consistent.

Crying is a tool to communicate an emotional response. It shows people around you that you’re feeling something. You may cry more or less, depending on how sensitive you are to stimuli and how comfortable you feel openly showing your emotions.

Many scientists have worked to find out if “a good cry” that leaves you feeling refreshed is actually possible. Overall, the research is split. It may also depend a lot on how supportive your environment is to showing emotion.

A large study of men and women from around the world found that people report crying one to 10 times per month. In the United States, women reported crying 3.5 times and men reported crying 1.9 times.

This is higher than the global averages, which were 2.7 times for women and 1 time for men. These are just averages and other studies have found different results.

Hormones

Since women commonly report crying more than men, it’s a solid theory that hormones affect crying differences among people. Testosterone, a hormone higher in men, may prohibit crying, while prolactin, which is higher in women, may promote crying.

Hormones dictate much of how your body functions and their levels can cause a wide array of symptoms. If anything has been affecting your hormones, such as sleep, stress, or medications, it can likely affect how much you cry.

Crying in pregnancy

Being pregnant is a lot of work and crying more is a common occurrence. Both happy and sad feelings can trigger a lot of tears if you’re pregnant.

Reasons you might have uncontrollable crying in pregnancy are:

major hormonal changes in your body
exhaustion from physical changes in your body
feeling overwhelmed with all of the preparations to have a baby
increased occurrence of depression

Crying spells with anxiety and stress

Stress is a normal reaction to some of life’s everyday events. Stress makes your body and mind alert to what’s going on. However, constant stress can be the sign of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety can prevent you from doing the things you want to do and living life as you desire.

A 2016 study looked at crying tendencies in adults and how it related to their sense of attachment, safety, and connection to others. People with anxiety were more likely to say that crying feels helpful but uncontrollable. If you have anxiety, you might cry often or uncontrollably.

Other signs of anxiety include:

racing thoughts
excess fear and worry
sweaty palms and increased heart rate
panic
trouble sleeping
tense muscles
being easily distracted
digestion issues

Exhaustion

A lot of people report being quicker to cry when they’re really tired. If you’ve been crying a lot more lately and you know you’re not getting enough sleep, you should get more rest. It can take a long time to come back from sleep deficit.

Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Sleeping at unusual times also doesn’t help because your natural hormones make your brain tired and need sleep over the course of the night.

Anxiety and stress can make you more tired, so these might go together for you. But it’s certainly possible to be exhausted without having an underlying mental health condition.

To start making up for your loss of sleep, cancel your weekend plans and sleep in at least three hours. Then, go to bed an hour or two early every night for the rest of the week. If it’s hard to change this habit, make it a point to be in bed and reading something calm with your phone and email turned off. Shutting down like this can help you settle in and you might fall asleep easier.

Depression crying spells

Depression is a medical condition that often looks like sadness, exhaustion, or anger. It looks different in everyone. While it’s normal to be sad sometimes, people with depression have an unexplained heaviness for two weeks or more.

Depression is a mental health condition with many potential treatments. Unexplained crying can be a sign of depression.

Other symptoms include:

significant change in eating and sleeping patterns and weight
anxiety
irritability
pessimism or apathy
exhaustion or lethargy
feelings of guilt
inability to focus
lack of desire for social engagement
loss of interest in things you used to enjoy
recurring thoughts of death or suicide

Depression can look vastly different from person to person. It can happen to anyone, though it’s more common in women and usually occurs between ages 25 to 44.

Working with a doctor can help you figure out what you’re experiencing and how to treat it. In about 80 percent of all cases of depression, people who seek treatment will see significant improvement of their symptoms.

Bipolar crying spells

Bipolar disorder is a common cause of uncontrollable crying. Also called manic-depression, bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme changes in mood from high to low feelings. It affects more than 2 million adults in the United States.

The depressive states of bipolar disorder can look like depression, but it’s otherwise a very different condition. People with bipolar disorder will also experience times of manic excitement and energy.

Other symptoms include:

extreme and unpredictable mood swings
irritability
impulsiveness
racing speech and thoughts
need for less sleep without getting fatigue
delusions of grandeur
hallucinations

Bipolar disorder can occur in anyone of any age and ethnicity, and it’s commonly passed down in families. A doctor can offer many options to treat it.

Pseudobulbar affect

Uncontrollable crying can be caused by pseudobulbar affect, also called emotional lability. There have been reports of this uncontrollable laughing or crying since the 19th century.

Pseudobulbar affect is marked by laughing or crying that seems inappropriate to the environment or stimuli. It’s believed to be caused by damage to the brain, though more research is needed to fully understand this condition.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently approved one of the first forms of treatment for pseudobulbar affect. If you have uncontrollable crying at unexpected times and no other symptoms, speak with a doctor.

You shouldn’t feel pressure to stop yourself from crying unless you personally decide you want to. While crying can be very helpful in relieving stress, that’s not always the case. Depending on each situation, you can decide if you’d rather cry and move on, or avoid it completely.

However, if you find yourself constantly trying to avoid crying, there may be more going on in your health that needs attention.

Research shows that culture and social norms can affect your experience of crying. If you’re crying, it may be best to have a supportive friend with you and to let yourself cry without shame or embarrassment. In these cases, you’re a lot more likely to feel better after crying.

“Happy tears” resulting from positive situations may also leave you feeling better than shedding sad tears prompted by something negative.

Of course, there are some times when you really don’t want to cry. In those cases, try these tips:

Slow your breath.
Loosen your facial muscles and throat where you can get that lump.
Try smiling. People report this physical change affects their emotions or distracts the body and prevents tears.
Push your tongue into the roof of your mouth.
Drink water.
Think of something mundane like a poem or recipe you know by heart to distract yourself.
Look at something soothing.

People with mental health issues may feel a variety of hurdles — physical, emotional, and social — in getting help. However, many report improvement after treatment. It’s very important that you get help for your safety and quality of life.

Here are some resources if you need help:

Call 911 or go to an emergency room if there’s immediate danger.
Crisis Text Line is available 24 hours every day to text with trained crisis counselors: Text HOME to 741741.
The National Suicide Prevention hotline is available 24 hours every day at 800-273-8255.
Search online for local crisis centers that may be able to provide long-term support.
Confide in a trusted friend and ask them to help you get treatment.

Some people cry more easily or can’t stop crying once they’ve started. Crying is totally normal but you may want to cry less often or your crying might be due to a health condition.

If you’ve suddenly started crying more, talk to a doctor. There could be a medical cause and treatment can help.

The magic of the word

Publications of the Traditions section

The Slavs believed in the magical power of the word, in its ability to change the world around. Words were combined into small poetic works - conspiracies, with the help of which, according to popular beliefs, it was possible to cure an illness, achieve love or calm a baby crying in the night. Kultura.RF talks about magical texts in the culture of our ancestors.

Andrey Shishkin. Fairy tale (fragment). 2008. Image: a-shishkin.ru

In the old days, the conspiracy tradition was very strong in the daily life of a person: there were healing, love, trade, cattle-breeding and trade conspiracies. As a rule, they were very expressive and poetic. In pre-Christian traditional culture, the main images in conspiracies were associated with the forces of nature. The Slavs asked for help from the sun, the moon, rain, thunder and fire. After the Baptism of Russia, they turned to the Savior and the Mother of God, to the images of the saints.

In the settlements, the carriers of magical knowledge were self-taught healers who healed with traditional medicine. But some miraculous words were also known to ordinary villagers: there were conspiracies of hunters and shepherds, military and economic. The researcher of Russian literature Leonid Maikov in the 19th century in the book "Great Russian Spells" published a conspiracy that was read before a long journey. A thief appears in it - this is how thieves, swindlers and robbers were called in the old days.

Conspiracy when setting off.
Yegoriy the Brave rides on a white horse, adorns himself with a golden crown, props himself up with a damask spear, meets with a tat at night, and bickers with him: “Where are you going, thief of the night?” "I'm going to kill people, get merchants passing by." But Egoriy was daring, he didn’t give him a road, he defends the Orthodox, saves him along the way.

The reading of magic words accompanied the rite. It was also very important to pronounce the text exactly, without changes, because otherwise it might not work. "White" conspiracies got rid of evil and protected, "black" - caused harm. It was believed that "black" conspiracies were used by sorcerers in their practice, sending damage and illness.

In different Slavic territories, the texts of conspiracies had a similar structure: they preceded the narration of the beginnings, then came the main part, in which the desire or ritual action was formulated, and at the end - fixed. The beginning was often used: “I will get up, a servant of God, blessed, wash myself with water, dew, dry myself with a woven handkerchief, go crossing myself, from the hut to the door, from gate to gate, to the east ...” “Be my words strong and molding forever; there is no negotiation and non-contract with my words; be you, my sentence, stronger than stone and iron" .

Healing spells

Grigory Myasoedov. Witch Doctor (detail). 1860. Saratov State Art Museum named after A.N. Radishcheva, Saratov

Traditionally, healers were engaged in healing in the settlements. They treated with traditional medicine and magic words. It was believed that people who had been on the verge of life and death after serious illnesses or injuries became healers. Their activities were not associated with evil spirits, unlike the magic of sorcerers.

... The peasant's home medicine is largely superstitious. The first place among them is occupied by superstitious prophylactic remedies, which for the most part are very simple and uncomplicated. In order to enjoy good health and not get sick, it is sometimes enough just to put on your right foot every day ahead of your left ... A kind of wonderful talisman that insures against illness and misfortune is considered a mammoth bone, a cross from a dead person or a pin or needle stuck somewhere, received from "heretics" .

One of the healer's ways to determine the disease was "pouring" on wax: melted wax was poured into cold water and, based on the resulting figures, it was determined what the cause of the disease was and who sent the damage. Read about unusual funeral rites in Russia in this article The action of healing magical texts was aimed not only at the aching tooth, but also at getting rid of the accompanying headache and soreness of the gums. The reading of the plot was accompanied by ritual and magical actions: it was pronounced, peering into the patient's mouth, and the tooth was baptized.

Known spells for hernia, fever, scrofula, barley and walleye and many other ailments. Texts from fever or shaking were distributed - an illness in the form of a woman.

Conspiracy against fever.
I, the servant of God N, will get up, blessed, I will cross myself from door to door, from gate to gate, along the path to the blue ocean-sea. By this ocean-sea stands a carcolist tree; on this karcolist tree hang: Cosmas and Demyan, Luka and Pavel, great helpers. I resort to you, servant of God N, I ask you, great helpers, to tell me: for what reason do women with bare hair come out of the sea, ocean, why do they go around the world, beat off sleep, from food, suck blood, pull veins like a worm grind black liver, saw yellow bones and joints with saws? Here you do not have a dwelling place, not a cool place; you go into swamps, into deep lakes, over fast rivers and dark forests: there for you boarded beds, downy feather beds, and downy pillows are set; there are sugary dishes, honey drinks; there will be a dwelling place for you, a cool place - to this hour, to this day, my word, a servant of God N, strong, strong, strong.

Conspiracies from children's crying

Vasily Perov. Sleeping children (detail). 1870. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

The Slavs believed that the world was inhabited by dark forces and mythical creatures. According to beliefs, representatives of lower demonology - kikimors, brownies, mermaids - could invade a person's daily life and do harm in every possible way. Children's nighttime crying and insomnia were often explained by the tricks of evil spirits, and in order to protect the child, they resorted to magic. Crying was also associated with light and natural phenomena. In conspiracies, they turned to the moon and the month with a request to return the child to sleep. The culprits of insomnia were considered to be the morning and evening dawn, which disturbed children and prevented them from sleeping. Magical texts were read at sunset or dawn, while the baby was taken out of the hut and shown to the sun.

Love spells

Mikhail Nesterov. For a love potion (fragment). 1888. Saratov Art Museum named after A.N. Radishcheva, Saratov

And here, read how the matchmaking went

Drying and drying out were widely known - conspiracies for love and for the fading of feelings. Married women wanted to regain their husband's love and attention with the help of magic, young girls wanted to become more attractive to their lover. The Russian writer and ethnographer Vladimir Dal in his book “The Tale of Beliefs, Superstitions and Prejudices of the Russian People” explained the appearance of love magic words not only as a fiction of idle imagination, but also as an attempt to interpret a strong feeling of love and passion that suddenly arose in a person. Outside observers explained the changes taking place with lovers by damage, charms, "dryness that must be let in."

A love spell or love spell, which is recited on the drink being served.
I will lie down, servant of God, after praying; I will go from door to door, from gate to gate, I will go out into the open field, into the green seaside. I’ll stand on the damp earth, I’ll look at the eastern side, as the red sun shone: it bakes moss swamps, black mud. So the servant of God N would run, dry about me, the servant of God N, eyes to eyes, heart to heart, thoughts to thoughts; she wouldn’t fall asleep, she wouldn’t go for a walk, amen to that word.

Often love "dryness" was perceived as a destructive supernatural force that brings evil and misfortune, as melancholy or fire, incinerating the soul. And the one who read the conspiracy to "dryness" demanded not a reciprocal bright feeling, but that the chosen girl's heart ached, that she suffered and grieved, "would she not sleep, she would not go for a walk" . The passion that was sent was more like a disease, like madness.

Military plots

Konstantin Savitsky. To the war. 1888. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

In the spell tradition, there were also amulets - protective magic words. Researchers are aware of numerous conspiracies from a mad dog, from a snake bite, from fire or fire. There were often different texts for the same occasion, but it was generally accepted that their power was the same - the main thing was to pronounce them correctly and observe the rite. The Slavs believed that words would be of use only if a person believed in a conspiracy.

Warriors constantly put their lives in danger, so amulets against bullets and enemy weapons were widespread. Literary critic and ethnographer Andrei Toporkov in the book “Conspiracies in the Russian Manuscript Tradition of the 15th–19th Centuries. History, symbolism, poetics" cites a conspiracy designed to influence enemy weapons:

You are forged brother,
you yourself are of tin,
and your heart is waxed,
your feet are stones
from earth to heaven,
do not bite me,
like a dog otai,
your brother,
then your heart will be afraid
my eyes of discretion,
you are waxed.

In the text, the sword is personified, it has its own body, and its blow is compared to the bite of a dog. There is a call for weapons to become made of wax and tin and not harm the warrior. The researcher of Russian literature Leonid Maikov at the end of the 19th century published a conspiracy of the Cossacks of the Don army: "...Fall, iron, into your mother earth! You, birch, to your mother earth, and you, feathers, to your feathered bird, and the bird - to the bond and to the son, and the fish in the sea - from me, r. B. (name), always, now ... " The iron weapon reading the conspiracy calls to return to the earth, like feathers to a bird, and avert danger.

Cattle breeding conspiracies

Ivan Shishkin. Cows at a watering hole (detail). 1867. Private collection

Livestock plots were used to preserve livestock and increase its offspring. They could be sung, as, for example, some peoples of the Altai Republic sang to female animals if they refused to feed their newborns. Conspiracies were performed, as a rule, for sheep, goats and cows. Among the Eastern Buryats, conspiracies included special words-symbols persuading the female to accept the cub. In some regions of Russia, this tradition is still alive: elderly people who have worked as shepherds, veterinarians, and milkmaids for many years turn to cattle-breeding magic words.

Even more interesting materials about the traditions of different peoples of Russia

The texts of the conspiracies were carefully stored, rewritten and passed on by inheritance. As the ethnographer Andrei Toporov notes, the sphere of existence of magic words narrowed over time, they were forced out of urban life into rural life. In the 20th century, modern realities penetrated the texts: for example, photography began to be used for love spells. Gradually, conspiracies ceased to be magic, magic spells, and today their texts are no longer so widely known.

Author: Margarita Kovyneva

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BeliefsSlavic culturePublications of the Traditions section

Analysis of the episode Lament of Yaroslavna (The Tale of Igor's Campaign)

The genius of the author of the historical work "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is recognized by literary critics of different eras. Most of them analyzed the episode "Lament of Yaroslavna". Such a literary genre is extremely rare, it is closer to folk tales. Yaroslavna is, on the one hand, a symbol of a loving and faithful wife, on the other hand, this image shows the common people's grief. In her monologue, there is excitement over the outcome of the upcoming battle and the undying hope for the return of her husband.

The material was prepared jointly with the teacher of the highest category Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.

Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.

New genre

Literary critics found in Yaroslavna's lamentation similarities with several literary genres: song, incantation, lamentation, cry. Song motifs are confirmed by the lyricism of lamentation and repetition. Crying can be sung, it develops into a single plot, reminiscent of the usual songs of women in different ritual events. The spell is related to content. The heroine asks and demands at the same time. It is as if she is conjuring, standing upright, hoping to call all the forces of nature into her allies. The lament of a mother left alone and not knowing how her fate will turn out. Lamentation is grief, suffering, it is precisely this that underlies Yaroslavna's speech.

Tears of Yaroslavna - the cry of the soul. Each line has a special meaning. The sincere Russian soul of a woman is exposed and united with nature. The author proves that the connection with the elements underlies the Russian character. A strong forest, a lush river, a strong wind, a warm sun are the epithets of female love. She is strong, durable and unshakable. Love lives throughout life, changing its strength, it warms and waves dark clouds over the heads of its loved ones.

Access to the river

The analysis of "Yaroslavna's Lament" begins with the heroine's appeal to the elements of nature. In the "Word ..." crying occurs several times. Scientists have counted and listed all the laments used in the text: Yaroslavna, wives of Russian soldiers, mother of Rostislav, Kyiv, Chernigov, all Russia. There is an increase in the significance of crying. From the tears of one woman, the author moves on to the grief of wives, widows, mothers. Cities are crying. The strongest cry is the whole Russian land. Russia cries with the wind, rivers, the noise of trees, the chirping of birds.

Yaroslavna stands in the south, on the visor of the city fortress guarding Putivl; flies like a cuckoo over the Danube and asks for help from the river. The Danube is the native river for Yaroslavna, it flows through the principality of her father. The flight of the heroine is mental, figurative. She remembers the river, sees in it a huge force that should support her and help her husband.

Invocation to the wind

Yaroslavna is crying in the wind. Such an appeal is familiar to many from the tale of A.S. Pushkin. A mighty wind blows under the clouds, cherishes the ships, strokes the blue sea. The wind pierced the stone mountains. He passed easily through the Polovtsian lands. The good wind once helped Svyatoslav. Yaroslavna asks the element of nature why she changed her attitude and turned away from the Russian soldiers. Yaroslavna's analysis in The Tale of Igor's Campaign is interesting for the strength of the female soul. She, like a bird, is not afraid of the wind. He flutters her wings, spreads her thoughts, but there are no cruel impulses in him. Here the unity of the elements and the woman can be traced.

Addressing the sun

The sun gives everyone warmth. It is beautiful in the sky. All life on earth depends on it. Yaroslavna asks the sun why it burned the steppe, deprived it of water. Burning rays interfered with the Russian soldiers, tormented by thirst. The sun "bows twisted." Istoma "shut up" the quivers. It was hard for the army of the prince. Yaroslavna sings the power of the sun and cries for the dead. The described battle through landscape paintings in the speech of the heroine becomes even more significant. All the hardships of the battle become clearer and more visible.

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