This can sometimes make for poignant tragic irony - it is often clear to the readers, but not to Mary, that other characters do not mean well.

But with pressed lips she managed to keep the bitter, poignant irony bottled inside, without uttering a sound.

It is a poignant irony that a scholar trained in political science found more appreciation among members of the historical profession than among his own colleagues.

The phenomenon of Classic Rock carries poignant ironies.

The poignant irony of tonight's "Cats" party is that it has already been upstaged by the "Hercules" party thrown in New York over the weekend.

Though dancers in the foreground are the subjects, the architectural backdrop now gives a poignant irony to an otherwise innocuous genre scene.

There is poignant irony about this quest to integrate his grave, to dignify, reclaim, allow, belong - and thus literally to bury the past.

He smiled slowly, thinking to himself that life was full of poignant ironies.

To the Editor: It is a poignant irony that democratic elections in India coincided with a military coup in Pakistan (front page, Oct. 13).

Had he looked inside, he would have discovered a particularly poignant irony.