§354. Verbs of Feeling

Many verbs of feeling take the Genitive of the object which excites the feeling.

a. Verbs of pity, as misereor and miserēscō, take the genitive:—

• miserēminī familiae, iūdicēs, miserēminī patris, miserēminī fīlī (Flacc. 106), have pity on the family, etc.
• miserēre animī nōn dīgna ferentis (Aen. 2.144), pity a soul that endures unworthy things.
• miserēscite rēgis (id. 8.573), pity the king. [Poetical.]

b. As impersonals, miseret, paenitet, piget, pudet, taedet (or pertaesum est), take the genitive of the cause of the feeling and the accusative of the person affected:—

• quōs īnfāmiae suae neque pudet neque taedet (Verr. 1.35), who are neither ashamed nor weary of their dishonor.
• mē miseret parietum ipsōrum (Phil. 2.69), I pity the very walls.
• mē cīvitātis mōrum piget taedetque (Iug. 4), I am sick and tired of the ways of the state.
• decemvirōrum vōs pertaesum est (Liv. 3.67), you became tired of the decemvirs.

c. With miseret, paenitet, etc., the cause of the feeling may be expressed by an infinitive or a clause:—

• neque mē paenitet mortālīs inimīcitiās habēre (Rab. Post. 32), nor am I sorry to have deadly enmities.
• nōn dedisse istunc pudet; mē quia nōn accēpī piget (Pl. Pseud. 282), he is ashamed not to have given; I am sorry because I have not received.