Literary notes about Monument (AI summary)
Literary uses of the word "monument" span a broad spectrum—from concrete, physical memorials to abstract symbols of legacy and character. In several works, it denotes an actual stone marker or structure honoring a life or deed, as when a grave is marked by a massive granite memorial [1] or when an altar serves as a commemorative marker at a cemetery [2]. In other instances, the term is employed metaphorically to signify a lasting testament to personal pride, infamy, or achievement—as when an individual unwittingly becomes his own lasting emblem [3] or when a person's notorious reputation is destined to be their sole memorial [4]. Authors also use the term to evoke the permanence and weight of history and culture, suggesting that each generation contributes its own layer to the enduring monument of human memory [5] [6].
- Judge Selden has passed to his eternal rest and lies beneath a massive monument of granite in beautiful Mount Hope cemetery.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper - In Kensal Green Cemetery is a handsome altar monument to the memory of Sir De Lacy Evans, his wife, and his brother, Maj.-Gen.
— from The Waterloo Roll Call by Charles Dalton - He doesn’t suspect that it is his monument.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain - And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Spectator , Steele-and-Addison's Spectator , is a monument befitting the most memorable friendship in our history.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Such, then, was the Friendship of which the Spectator is the abiding Monument.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
