Literary notes about Allure (AI summary)
In literature, "allure" emerges as a multifaceted term that conveys both a seductive charm and a compelling draw towards an object or idea. Authors use the word to depict everything from the irresistible appeal of a lover's smile or the tempting nature of forbidden desire, as seen in the delicate balance of emotion and rhetoric in works like those of Dostoyevsky [1] and Kafka [2], to the broader metaphoric attraction of ideas, lands, or virtues, as noted by Nietzsche and Milton [3, 4]. Its application ranges from the literal—inviting physical actions like fishing [5] or guiding followers through spiritual or moral persuasion [6, 7]—to the figurative, where subtle persuasion and the interplay of beauty and seduction are at work [8, 9]. In this way, "allure" not only seduces the senses but also captures the deeper currents of human ambition and emotion across a wide literary spectrum.
- But we shall keep the secret, and for their happiness we shall allure them with the reward of heaven and eternity.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - He really was attracted to the woman, and even after thinking hard about it could find no good reason why he should not give in to her allure.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - It seeketh to allure by means of you, the many-too-many!
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - Well mightst thou scorn thy Readers to allure With tinkling Rhime, of thy own sense secure; While the Town-Bayes writes all the while and spells,
— from The Poetical Works of John Milton by John Milton - The natural or artificial charge of a hook, to allure fish.
— from The Sailor's Word-Book
An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by W. H. (William Henry) Smyth - He shall not have many wives, that may allure his mind, nor immense sums of silver and gold.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - , the more must you allure the senses to it.
— from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - She is proud of having found at last one of those great commotions of the soul, which used to [Pg 70] allure her imagination.
— from On Love by Stendhal - [Pg 565] with a little air of languor that only added to her allure.
— from The Dop Doctor by Richard Dehan