Literary notes about Evenfall (AI summary)
The term “evenfall” is frequently employed to evoke the liminal space where day transitions to night—a moment imbued with both reflective calm and mounting mystery. In verse and narrative alike, it marks a definitive temporal threshold, whether capturing the poetic imagery of nature’s soft glow at dusk [1][2] or signaling the onset of significant events, as when subtle changes in mood or circumstance are unveiled in the quiet of the evening [3][4][5]. Moreover, its use often imbues scenes with a nostalgic quality or bittersweet melancholy, as seen when characters contemplate loss or transformation amid the approaching gloom [6][7][8]. This layered word thus becomes a versatile literary device, enhancing both the atmosphere and symbolic texture of the text.
- The colour must have come from the sun's rays, which at evenfall shed a glow over everything.
— from Pan Tadeusz; or, The last foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz - Yon little clouds are washed of care That climb the blue New England air, And almost merrily withal The tree-frog plays at evenfall
— from The Martyrs' Idyl, and Shorter Poems by Louise Imogen Guiney - These things were swiftly done; and after evenfall Messer Pietro was bidden to grave business in his neighbour's palace.
— from New Italian sketches by John Addington Symonds - Having sufficiently rested they proceeded on their way at evenfall.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - He knew they were in each other's arms, the morning heaven blessing them; but with him it was spiritual darkness, and bitter evenfall.
— from Lovers' Saint Ruth's, and Three Other Tales by Louise Imogen Guiney - When at evenfall ’Gin the winds to call, List’ning to the sound, Gather then around All my faithful sheep, Bloody tears to weep.
— from The Land Beyond the Forest: Facts, Figures, and Fancies from Transylvania by E. (Emily) Gerard - The day will pass of torment, The evenfall be sweet When I shall wear for garment The nakedness of defeat.
— from Happy Ending: The Collected Lyrics of Louise Imogen Guiney by Louise Imogen Guiney - The song of moonlight all That trembles as aspens shake, The thrush sang it at the evenfall To the listening swan on the blue lake.
— from Contemporary Belgian PoetrySelected and Translated by Jethro Bithell
