In literature the color “ruby” is often used not merely to describe a hue but to evoke passion, intensity, and a sense of rare beauty. Authors describe a “ruby eye color” that dazzles with deep, captivating red tones, suggesting both allure and hidden depth [1, 2]. Fabric and ornamentation acquire a luxurious quality when rendered in “ruby velveteen” or a “ruby cross” that glows vividly against contrasting white, heightening the dramatic effect [3, 4, 5]. Nature, too, is enlivened by this color: a “Ruby-throated Hummingbird” or even a “ruby tide” serves as a metaphor for natural brilliance and emotional aspiration [6, 7, 8, 9]. Even a small detail like a “ruby-clasp” becomes a powerful emblem of elegance, demonstrating the versatility with which the color ruby enriches literary imagery [10].
- Ruby eye color might be here represented—if the eyes in the figure were colored.
— from A Critique of the Theory of Evolution by Thomas Hunt Morgan
- Ruby eyes glared arrogantly under ebon brows.
— from Zero Data by Charles Saphro
- While I was arguing with her, she had dragged out her ruby velveteen and was trying to fasten it with her trembling fingers.
— from Uncle Max by Rosa Nouchette Carey
- In the sunshine her hair glowed like a halo round her head; on the bosom of her white dress glowed her ruby cross.
— from Anxious Audrey by Mabel Quiller-Couch
- "This may be of service," she said, sweetly, placing the ruby-tinted bottle in Jessie's hand.
— from Wives and Widows; or, The Broken Life by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens
- Lilium speciosum rubrum —spotted with ruby-red.
— from The Garden, You, and I by Mabel Osgood Wright
- The "Bird of the Musical Wing" 103 Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
— from Upon The Tree-Tops by Olive Thorne Miller
- Let the ruby tide aspire, and all ruby aspirations with it!
— from The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
- “But the ruby-crowned sometimes favors me with a song, and as it is a little long, he usually is quiet till done.
— from Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 2, No. 3
September 1897 by Various
- How they told, Those alabaster shoulders and bare breasts, On which the pearls, drowned out of sight in milk, Were lost, excepting for the ruby-clasp!
— from Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning