Literary notes about Describe (AI summary)
In literature, the word "describe" operates as a versatile tool that bridges the gap between experience and language. It is used to evoke vivid sensory images and deep emotional states, as when a writer laments that no pen can describe a scene of marvellous horror [1] or when one struggles to put into words personal suffering [2]. At the same time, it functions as a directive for articulating details and structures—whether outlining architectural features [3] or instructing on the grammatical role of a sentence [4]. Moreover, "describe" is employed to forecast events and elucidate abstract ideas, demonstrating its range from the concrete to the philosophical [5]. This multiplicity of functions enriches narrative voice and invites the reader to engage closely with both the seen and the unseen.
- What pen can describe this scene of marvellous horror; what pencil can portray it?
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - I can hardly describe what I suffered during that time; it seemed as if this delay would completely ruin my work.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - I shall next describe those that Nature has distributed to the left of the east and in the southern regions.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - In analyzing, describe each sentence as declarative, interrogative, etc.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - I shall describe what will happen, what must necessarily happen: the triumph of Nihilism.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche
