Literary notes about Pluck (AI summary)
The term "pluck" appears in literature with a delightful versatility, operating both in literal and figurative registers. In many instances, it denotes the literal act of removing something—for example, plucking a flower from its stem ([1], [2], [3]) or even extracting feathers for ritual or adornment ([4], [5]). Simultaneously, authors employ "pluck" to signify courage or spirited resolve, urging characters to "pluck up" their heart or spirit in the face of adversity ([6], [7], [8]). Interestingly, in a few works the word even assumes the role of a character's name, as seen in Dickens’s texts ([9], [10], [11], [12]), which adds a playful, personifying twist to its usage. Thus, across diverse literary genres—from poetic meditations to robust narrative dialogues—the word "pluck" enriches the text with its capacity to capture both physical actions and abstract emotional qualities.
- He deserved it all—all labour, all devotion, all sacrifice; I would have toiled up a scaleless Alp, to pluck a flower that would please him.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - She smelt of the flowers, but showed no desire to pluck them; and, when I gathered a few for her, she refused to have them pinned on her dress.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - " "Nay, pluck it," answered Aylmer,—"pluck it, and inhale its brief perfume while you may.
— from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne - The ladies pluck a hair or two from his fur, to keep it as a sacred relic.
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle - Acting on this sage calculation, the Indians pluck feathers from the breast of the bird and strew them at intervals along the track.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - Pluck up your courage, and make an effort.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - But Beth, though yearning for the grand piano, could not pluck up courage to go to the "Mansion of Bliss," as Meg called it.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - Why did not Little-Faith pluck up a greater heart?
— from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan - Pyke asked Pluck whether it was not an infernal shame, and Pluck asked Pyke; but neither answered. ‘Isn’t it the truth?’ demanded Verisopht.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - I was only cured at last by a remedy that I don’t know whether you ever happened to hear of, Mr. Pluck.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - ‘Of little consequence!’ exclaimed Mr. Pluck.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - ‘Pluck,’ said Pyke, imitating the baronet’s action, and turning the lie over to his friend, ‘where’s Ralph Nickleby?’
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
