Literary notes about Form (AI summary)
In literature, "form" assumes a multifaceted role that spans the physical, abstract, and structural realms of expression. It often denotes a tangible shape or visage, as when a beloved figure’s physical presence is hinted at despite being unseen ([1], [2], [3]), or when objects and beings are described by their external appearance ([4], [5]). At the same time, "form" encapsulates structures of thought and organization: it may designate frameworks in language and narrative—whether in the grammatical rules underlying communication ([6], [7]) or in the conventional frameworks of government and poetry ([8], [9]). Authors also deploy the term to capture the process of manifestation, be it the formation of ideas derived from experience ([10]) or the concrete embodiment of spiritual truths ([11], [12]). This versatility highlights how "form" bridges the gap between the corporeal and the conceptual in literary discourse.
- But welcome now the solemn night, When watchful stars are gleaming high, For though thy form eludes my sight, I know thy gentle spirit's nigh.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie - Her hair was threaded now with grey, her face grew older in form without changing in expression.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - The shadows of the solemn evening closed round them deeper and deeper, as St. Clare sat silently holding the little frail form to his bosom.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - A man’s character greatly takes its hue and shape from the form and color of things about him.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass - It exists in the form of irregular, semitransparent pieces, of a brownish-red color.
— from The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by T. H. Pardo de Tavera - An exclamatory sentence in the form of an indirect question is followed by an exclamation point; as,—“How absolute the knave is!”
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - A complex sentence , in its most elementary form, consists of one simple independent (main) clause and one simple subordinate clause.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - The duty of Congress at this moment is to declare what shall be the basis of representation in a republican form of government.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper - All this suggests that this is a very early and common form of narrative.
— from English Fairy Tales - We cannot form to ourselves a just idea of the taste of a pine apple, without having actually tasted it.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - It was MEMORY—RETROSPECTION—wrought into visible, tangible form.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain - “I will put my question in another form.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
