Literary notes about Intensely (AI summary)
In literature, "intensely" functions as a powerful adverb that magnifies emotional states, physical sensations, and character traits. It is used to deepen the reader’s experience—for instance, it heightens depression by conveying the crushing effect of a melody on a man's spirit [1] and underscores the severity of a cold night [2]. Authors also employ the term to express profound romantic feelings [3] or desperate longing [4], while it can simultaneously add dramatic flair to atmospheric descriptions, such as when the world appears awash in raw, naked vibrancy [5] or when a dramatic announcement produces a potent shift in mood [6]. Overall, "intensely" enhances the narrative by infusing ordinary descriptions with extraordinary emotional or sensory force.
- He was intensely depressed by the girls' songs, which, as the drinking went on, gradually became coarse and more reckless.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - She spoke at Ft. Wayne on February 25, an intensely cold night.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper - “I love you intensely, Isabel,” said Miss Stackpole with feeling.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James - How intensely I then longed to lie down beside her, to gaze till death should gather me to the same repose.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Everything glowed intensely about them, the world had put off its clothes and was awful, with new, primal nakedness.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - It is difficult to describe the intensely dramatic effect that announcement had upon Oak at such a moment.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
