Literary notes about Over (AI summary)
The word “over” exhibits remarkable flexibility in literary usage, serving functions that range from denoting spatial distribution and direction to indicating process, repetition, or finality. Authors employ it to describe physical locations or extents, as seen in phrases like “all over India” [1] or “over the door” [2], evoking an image of thorough coverage. At the same time, “over” marks the completion of events or states—as in “it’s over” [3] and “it is all over then” [4]—or signifies revisitation, with characters turning thoughts “over and over” [5] or reconsidering matters by “thinking it over” [6, 7]. Additionally, the word can imply oversight, control, or even dominance, evident in its use to illustrate guardianship [8] or authority, as when one “presides over the art” [9]. This variety of functions not only enriches narrative texture but also allows authors to convey complex relationships between space, time, and emotion.
- in the possession of Brahmans all over India.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell - You'll see a pair of large horns over the door.
— from She Stoops to Conquer; Or, The Mistakes of a Night: A Comedy by Oliver Goldsmith - “So was I too, but I feel it more now that it’s over.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - It is all over then.
— from Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen - When they saw him they took him up and turned him over and over, looking very learned all the time, especially one, who was a boy.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. Andersen - He grew very grave; and, after thinking the matter over for a while asked me to take him to Renfield.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - “I must think it over, come to a decision, and put it out of my mind,” he said aloud.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - Still, with all these misfortunes, Providence watched over us in a signal manner.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie - What other answer could there be but that he presides over the art which makes men eloquent?
— from Protagoras by Plato
