Literary notes about Intricacy (AI summary)
In literature, the word "intricacy" is employed to capture a sense of elaborate detail and multifaceted complexity, whether in the depiction of natural scenery, the structure of a narrative, or the subtleties of human emotion. Writers often invoke the term to describe the delicate, interwoven elements of a landscape, as in the detailed mountain outlines that evoke nature’s hidden depths ([1]), while also using it to underscore the formidable complexity of intellectual or abstract problems ([2]). It appears in descriptions of both physical forms—such as the geometric precision of carvings ([3]) and the elaborate construction of manuscript initials ([4], [5])—and metaphorical constructs, like the convoluted patterns found within the inner life ([6]) or organizational structures ([7]). This careful layering of meaning lends a richly textured quality to literary works, inviting readers to explore the interplay between order and the inherent entanglement of life’s details.
- What is beautiful in the landscape of that northern watershed is the subtlety, delicacy, variety, and intricacy of the mountain outlines.
— from Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series by John Addington Symonds - Stated in its mathematical aspect, and without having its intricacy abated by any modifying circumstances, the problem is one that defies solution.
— from The Story of the Heavens by Robert S. (Robert Stawell) Ball - [pg 58] The delicacy of the carving and the apparent intricacy of the geometrical arrangement are very remarkable.
— from Ancient and Modern Furniture and Woodwork by John Hungerford Pollen - The initial letters are of gigantic size, and of extreme intricacy, and are generally surrounded with rows of minute red dots.
— from International Weekly Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science — Volume 1, No. 3, July 15, 1850 by Various - The smaller ornaments and initial letters throughout the manuscript display great intricacy of design.
— from Bibliomania in the Middle Ages by F. Somner (Frederick Somner) Merryweather - Who can hope after this to disentangle the infinite intricacy of our inner life?
— from Unconscious Memory by Samuel Butler - That is an instance of the complications of the modern railroad—the vast intricacy of organization.
— from The Modern Railroad by Edward Hungerford