Literary notes about Citadel (AI summary)
The word "citadel" functions both as a concrete military stronghold and as a potent symbol in literature. It is often used to denote a fortified center of a city, as in historical narratives where armies besiege or take over these secure spots (see [1], [2], [3]). At the same time, authors employ the term metaphorically to represent the inner fortress of the human spirit or the core of tradition and memory, with evocative imagery in poetry and reflective prose (see [4], [5]). In classical writings, the citadel stands as an emblem of protection, authority, and even isolation, illustrating how its literal characteristics extend into a broader literary metaphor for strength and refuge (see [6], [7]).
- They captured the city when lying open to them; a small handful of men from the citadel and Capitol withstand them.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - As soon as the Athenians perceived it, they flocked in, one and all, from the country, and sat down, and laid siege to the citadel.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - 47 Whilst these things were going on at Veii, in the mean while the citadel and Capitol of Rome were in great danger.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - Softened by Time's consummate plush, How sleek the woe appears That threatened childhood's citadel And undermined the years!
— from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson - What other bodily being possesses such a citadel wherein to resist the assaults of Time?
— from The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville - Yet we urge it on, mindless and infatuate, and plant the ill-ominous thing in our hallowed citadel.
— from The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil - He may exhaust scepticism and withdraw into the citadel of immediate feeling, yielding bastion after bastion to the assaults of doubt.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
