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Literary notes about Distill (AI summary)

The word "distill" has been maneuvered with versatility in literature, oscillating between its literal and metaphorical senses. In some texts, such as the eighteenth-century etiquette guide [1], the term is employed in its literal sense, referring to the methodical extraction of essences from jessamine flowers to create rose-water and orange-water. In contrast, poets have expanded the term's connotation to symbolize the refined extraction of emotion and meaning. Victor Hugo, for instance, uses "distill'd" to suggest that his songs concentrate and purify feelings, much like a rare essence [2]. Shakespeare furthers this metaphor, portraying tears as a distillation of sorrow—a poignant alchemy wrought from grief and moans [3]. Even Homer employs the term to transform a natural phenomenon into a more evocative image, underscoring the theme of refinement from raw material [4].
  1. "Distill two handfuls of jessamine flowers in a quart of rose-water and a quart of orange-water.
    — from The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness by Florence Hartley
  2. My hours with rapture fill'd, Which no suspicion wrongs; And all the blandishments distill'd From all my songs.
    — from Poems by Victor Hugo
  3. O woe, thy canopy is dust and stones, Which with sweet water nightly I will dew, Or wanting that, with tears distill’d by moans.
    — from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
  4. distill'd the streaming flood.
    — from The Iliad by Homer

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