The term "lagoon" in literature is used to evoke a sense of both mystery and enchantment as well as serving a practical role in mapping physical and cultural landscapes. It often carries a dual character: on one hand, it is portrayed as quiet and even ominous—a setting where silence or ghostly atmospheres hint at hidden dangers or quiet introspection ([1], [2]); on the other hand, it becomes a stage for playful wonder and adventure, as when magical mermaids frolic in its waters, inviting characters into realms of myth and youthful escapade ([3], [4], [5]). In other narratives, lagoons are described in the context of geographic and cultural significance, serving to demarcate boundaries between civilization and the natural world or to mark traditional locales with distinct local features ([6], [7], [8]). Through these varied depictions, the lagoon is a versatile symbol that both comforts with its familiar allure and challenges with its mysterious depths.
- When their voices died away there came cold silence over the lagoon, and then a feeble cry.
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
- The sky had still the pallor of dawn, and there was a ghostly silence on the lagoon.
— from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
- The children often spent long summer days on this lagoon, swimming or floating most of the time, playing the mermaid games in the water, and so forth.
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
- “Spirit that haunts this dark lagoon to-night,” he cried, “dost hear me?”
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
- She was often at the lagoon, however, on sunny days after rain, when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers to play with their bubbles.
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
- The kaloma then ‘stand up’ ( itolise ) that is start from their original coral outcrop ( vatu ) and come into the Lagoon of Sinaketa.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronislaw Malinowski
- Note 42 ( return ) [ — Theara de kai ton chaena kai taen dorkada, Kai ton lagoon, kai to ton tauron genos.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Private ownership in coral outcrops exists in the Northern villages of the Lagoon, that is in Kavataria, and the villages on the island of Kayleula.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronislaw Malinowski