Literary notes about HALO (AI summary)
The term "halo" in literature oscillates between the concrete and the symbolic, serving as a vivid visual descriptor as well as a metaphor for divine influence or inner virtue. It appears as a literal phenomenon—the luminous ring around the moon or lamps in a dark landscape [1, 2, 3, 4]—while also suggesting an aura of sanctity, beauty, or even melancholy, encircling characters or moments with an almost sacred quality [5, 6, 7, 8]. At times, it imbues figures with an ethereal charm that transcends the mundane, whether it is an actual glow of celestial light or the symbolic radiance of moral excellence or tragic isolation [9, 10, 11, 12]. This multiplicity of meanings enables authors to enrich their narratives with layers of both physical and metaphorical illumination, inviting the reader to explore the interplay between light, symbolism, and human experience [13, 14, 15].
- The car clanged forward again; and soon the halo about its colored lamp faded away in the murky distance.
— from Vignettes of Manhattan; Outlines in Local Color by Brander Matthews - At the same time there appear'd a Halo about 22 Degrees 35´ distant from the center of the Moon.
— from Opticks : by Isaac Newton - [Pg 281] 22d.—Halo around the moon this evening at 40´ past 6—ascertained its diameter to be 45° 8´.
— from James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 4 by Thomas Say - The Halo at the distance of 22-1/2 Degrees from the Moon is of another sort.
— from Opticks : by Isaac Newton - You are beautiful and proud as a God; you are seeking nothing for yourself, with the halo of a victim round you, ‘in hiding.’
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The sun gleamed with brighter refulgence Unwonted, his face in a halo of golden flame shining.”
— from The Satyricon — Complete by Petronius Arbiter - She wore a white gown, and an amber necklace and bracelet; and my informant says that she had “a halo of sweetness and purity all around her.”
— from Mrs Peixada by Henry Harland - Everything else appeared in its normal dimensions, although each was enclosed in a halo of mellow light-white, blue, and pastel rainbow hues.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - She is surrounded by the brilliant halo of her excellent conduct and of all her social virtues.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - In the centre Ctesippus could discern the all-powerful son of Cronos surrounded by a halo.
— from Best Russian Short Stories - We maintain not that woman should lose any of that refinement and delicacy of spirit which, as a celestial halo, ever encircles the pure in heart.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe.
— from The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx - "The halo was already there," I corrected, but not so staunchly as my conscience made me feel that I should have done.
— from At the Age of Eve by Kate Trimble Sharber - The Russian Revolution will go down in history with no such false halo of romance around it.
— from The International Jew : The World's Foremost Problem by Anonymous - The first day, in spite of the corduroy ruckabuck jouncing, I felt a sort of halo of joy hovering around me.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper
