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Literary notes about Inaudible (AI summary)

In literature, the word "inaudible" frequently signifies more than just a lack of sound—it evokes a sense of subtlety, introspection, and the inherent limits of human expression. Authors like George Eliot [1] use it to describe the deeply personal nature of internal dialogue, suggesting that even our own reflections may remain unutterable. In historical and religious contexts, such as John Foxe’s narrative [2], the inaudible quality of a psalm underscores the desperate, often futile attempts to console and reach an audience beyond the clamor of reality. At the same time, authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson [3] imply that even our most solitary voices can be ephemeral as we merge with the world, while H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens [4, 5] use it to capture moments of obscured communication or reflection that hint at larger, unseen forces. Through these diverse examples, "inaudible" emerges as a literary device that encapsulates both the literal quietness of sound and the metaphorical silence of thought and emotion.
  1. Private prayer is inaudible speech, and speech is representative: who can represent himself just as he is, even in his own reflections?
    — from Middlemarch by George Eliot
  2. The voice of the pastors who endeavoured to console their flock, was inaudible; they attempted in vain to sing the 42d psalm.
    — from Fox's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe
  3. These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.
    — from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson
  4. ‘Whatever step you take, sir,’ he said, in a voice inaudible beyond themselves, ‘I shall keep a strict account of.
    — from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
  5. For a moment Holroyd was inaudible, and then Azuma-zi heard: "Kill a hundred men.
    — from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells

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