Literary notes about LUSTRE (AI summary)
Lustre in literature is often employed to evoke both tangible and abstract qualities, blending descriptions of physical brilliance with metaphorical radiance. It can depict the play of light on natural elements—a shadowy gleam over trees or shimmering water that imbues a serene atmosphere [1]—or signal a divine and almost supernatural brilliance, as when holy light imbues sacred figures or objects [2], [3]. At times, lustre underscores the transient nature of beauty or the inner glow of personality, enhancing characters or settings with a sense of ephemerality or moral splendor [4], [5]. Equally, it can be used to accentuate regality and nobility through vivid adornments like crowns or majestic robes [6], [7], thereby enriching the narrative with layers of both aesthetic and symbolic significance.
- There was the same bloom over the sky, the same shadowy lustre on the trees, the same sparkling brilliancy on the waters.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Earl of Beaconsfield Benjamin Disraeli - So falling first on Śiva's head, Thence rushing to their earthly bed, In ceaseless fall the waters streamed, And pure with holy lustre gleamed.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - Then countless celestials together with the sages went to Brahma, who was seated burning as it were in his (own) lustre.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - 274.—The beauty of novelty is to love as the flower to the fruit; it lends a lustre which is easily lost, but which never returns.
— from Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims by François duc de La Rochefoucauld - But there was both lustre and depth in her eyes.
— from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Near him is placed The crown with a refulgent lustre graced.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero - A dignity of dress adorns the great, And kings draw lustre from the robe of state.
— from The Odyssey by Homer
