Literary notes about Commence (AI summary)
The term "commence" is often used by authors to signal the formal beginning of an event, narrative, or process, imbuing the start with a sense of ceremony or inevitability. It frequently appears to mark narrative onsets—as seen when a storyteller promises to commence his tale at a later time ([1], [2])—or to introduce complex operations in historical or military contexts ([3], [4]). The word also conveys the natural unfolding of actions, whether indicating the onset of biological processes ([5]) or the initiation of a festive gathering ([6]). In some writings, its use adds gravitas to the commencement of journeys or creative endeavors, suggesting that what follows is both planned and momentous ([7], [8]). Overall, "commence" serves as a versatile literary device that flags transitions into new phases with deliberate precision ([9], [10]).
- He then told me, that he would commence his narrative the next day when I should be at leisure.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - But how shall I commence this undertaking?
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny - Troubridge was intrusted to commence the operations against the French in the bay of Naples.
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey - To draw attention from this, the real point of attack, I gave instructions to commence the attack at the flanks.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman - Blushes are said sometimes to commence on the forehead, but more commonly on the cheeks, afterward spreading to the ears and neck.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - The stentorian tones of the auctioneer, calling out to clear the way, now announced that the sale was about to commence.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - “Do so, madame, do so, and that at once; for within an hour the ballet will commence.”
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - Life is only just about to commence for me in earnest.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - at the distance of fifteen miles from the river and on the Eastern border of this plain the Rocky Mountains commence and present us with winter it
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis - The attack was ordered to commence on all parts of the line at ten o'clock A.M. on the 22d with a furious cannonade from every battery in position.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
