In literature the term “veil” is often painted in specific hues that imbue it with layered meaning beyond its literal function as a garment. Authors employ colored veils to evoke moods and symbols—for instance, the recurrent use of black veils in several texts ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]) frequently underscores themes of mourning, mystery, or the obscuring of truth, while white veils ([8], [9], [10], [11]) hint at purity, innocence, or renewal. Other colors further expand the metaphorical palette: the “veil of snow” in one example ([12]) transforms the image into a wintry shroud of beauty, a dusky touch in another ([13]) suggests an indeterminate twilight, and even a red veil ([14]) marks a celebration or a passionate accent. In these varied incarnations, the colored veil becomes a rich, multifaceted symbol that both conceals and reveals deeper emotional and thematic undercurrents within the narrative.
- Ideas glided like fairies through my mind, lifting the black veil which had hidden till then the glorious future.
— from The Works of Balzac: A linked index to all Project Gutenberg editions by Honoré de Balzac
- [144] four days she allowed me to have the novice’s veil, and promised that I might take the black veil in six months’ time.
— from Nunnery life in the Church of England; or, Seventeen years with Father Ignatius by Mary Agnes, Sister, O.S.B.
- It was as if a black veil had been drawn away from it.
— from The Forsaken Inn: A Novel by Anna Katharine Green
- What seemed most unusual was a black veil that covered his face, leav
— from Captured by the Arabs by James H. Foster
- Then came a soft black veil that hid the glimmering sun and the wide desert reaches.
— from Jim Waring of Sonora-Town; Or, Tang of Life by Henry Herbert Knibbs
- The Black Veil , as I have reason to know, lies at the bottom of Thomas' ancient trunk.
— from The Voice in the Fog by Harold MacGrath
- Her veil was black.
— from Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein
- O my Beloved, under the white Eucharistic Veil Thou dost indeed appear to me Meek and Humble of Heart!
— from The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. Thérèse by Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint
- Her pale yellow hair was drawn away under a white veil.
— from The Viper of Milan: A Romance of Lombardy by Marjorie Bowen
- At the movement of his head she turned her own, and in the piquant face above the big white bow of the veil he saw real sympathy.
— from King Spruce, A Novel by Holman Day
- A veil had fallen, concealing it: a veil, pure, white, impenetrable.
— from Instead of the Thorn: A Novel by Clara Louise Burnham
- The virgin Future lifts her veil of snow — Looks westward, and an arch of splendor bridges The gulf of Long Ago.
— from Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXVI, No. 5, May 1850 by Various
- dusky veil o'er nature's face."
— from Faith and Unfaith: A Novel by Duchess
- The bride, veiled in a red veil, was led in by two maid-servants.
— from The Chinese Fairy Book