Can someone please explain me the difference between touched by pity and touched with pity along-with reference sentences.
This search shows that both forms are used, but I couldn't make out the difference between the usage of the two phrases.
For example:
Usage of touched by pity:
Then the knight is in a predicament, as he thinks and ponders over the question: whether to present to her the head she asks him to cut off, or whether he shall allow himself to be touched by pity for him.
The apostle, touched by pity in the man's voice, and the plight of his handicap, looked straight at him
Usage of touched with pity:
A stone seeing this was touched with pity, and, wishing to help the cock, he laid himself across the stream.
who still remembered how much his countrymen were indebted to Columbus ; and was touched with pity for the man who had performed such great actions.
Best Answer
There is a contextual difference.
Touched By Pity:
Here pity is kind of personified. It touches you. Can be used when you are giving importance to the emotion 'pity' over the situation. ie. where 'pity is the main subject and not the ones affected'.
The reader is being diverted to the 'pity' in the man's voice over the man.
Touched With pity:
This indicates an emotion that is stirred from some events occurring. It shows the circumstances, the emotions of the players involved. ie. It depicts a reaction to a scene.
This is just one way of viewing it. As the context changes, so does the meaning.