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Literary notes about Multiform (AI summary)

The term "multiform" is used across literature to accentuate variety and complexity, often evoking images that range from physical to metaphorical diversity. In works by Poe, for instance, it appears to depict both tangible forms and elusive facets of thought, as seen when describing phenomena that are "manifold but multiform" and even in the portrayal of the earth’s “wretchedness” ([1], [2], [3], [4]). In classical texts, Plato employs "multiform" to criticize excesses, likening them to a monstrous, ever-changing presence ([5], [6]). Beyond these, the term also frames discussions of natural beauty—a spectrum of “multiform and multicolor” found in nature ([7], [8])—and extends to characterize human activity, both physical and intellectual, in sociological contexts ([9], [10]). This diverse usage underscores literature’s recurring reliance on "multiform" to express a dynamic interplay of varied elements within both the world and the human mind.
  1. These are not only manifold but multiform, and lie frequently among recesses of thought altogether inaccessible to the ordinary understanding.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  2. The wretchedness of earth is multiform.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  3. These are not only manifold but multiform, and lie frequently among recesses of thought altogether inaccessible to the ordinary understanding.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe
  4. The wretchedness of earth is multiform.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
  5. Has not the intemperate been censured of old, because in 304 him the huge multiform monster is allowed to be too much at large?
    — from The Republic of Plato by Plato
  6. Has not the intemperate been censured of old, because in him the huge multiform monster is allowed to be too much at large?
    — from The Republic by Plato
  7. In the multiform and multicolor of the flowers and the trees, he recognised the most direct and energetic efforts of Nature at physical loveliness.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
  8. In the multiform and multicolor of the flowers and the trees, he recognised the most direct and energetic efforts of Nature at physical loveliness.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  9. The instinct of multiform physical activity.
    — from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
  10. 2. The instinct of multiform mental activity.
    — from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park

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