Literary notes about Cynosure (AI summary)
In literature, cynosure is used to denote something or someone that irresistibly attracts attention and functions as a focal point in a scene. Authors often employ the term to describe a character’s magnetic allure or the captivating nature of an object or idea. For instance, a narrator might lament being the cynosure of all eyes, as seen in [1] or [2], while other works liken a heroine’s presence to a guiding star, much like the imagery suggested in [3] and [4]. The word is also used metaphorically to evoke grandeur and significance, whether in describing an imperial figure in [5] and [6] or in capturing the symbolic brightness of a celestial reference in [7] and [8]. Across genres, cynosure thus enriches descriptions by highlighting the central, irresistible quality of its subject.
- Here I was very unhappy, being, as the editor of the Green River Gazette would say, “the cynosure of all eyes.”
— from Remarks by Bill Nye - The upshot of it is that I am the cynosure of all eyes, and though hidden to sight, I am eminent.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - In the midst of all this beauty and grandeur, she was the cynosure of eye and heart.
— from The Memories of Fifty YearsContaining Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the Southwest by W. H. (William Henry) Sparks - Christine was usually present, radiant, brilliant, the cynosure of all eyes, but ever coolly self-possessed.
— from Barriers Burned Away by Edward Payson Roe - His august Majesty, the Emperor Aurelius, occupied the imperial box, and was the cynosure of all eyes.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain - The first figure of the growing capital of St. Louis, the new Governor was also the central figure of all social activities, the cynosure of all eyes.
— from The Magnificent Adventure
Being the Story of the World's Greatest Exploration and the Romance of a Very Gallant Gentleman by Emerson Hough - In the northwest turned the Great Dipper with its pointers round the Cynosure.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - The last star in the tail of the Little Bear is the Pole-star, called also the Cynosure.
— from Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch