Literary notes about Plumage (AI summary)
In literature, "plumage" is often employed to paint vivid pictures of natural beauty and visual splendor while also contributing to symbolic meaning. Its use spans from direct, picturesque descriptions—such as the raven’s dark adornment compared to flowing tresses [1] or the dazzling, iridescent display in wondrous birds [2]—to metaphorical applications where it reflects status, vanity, or the transformative nature of change, as seen in references to magnificent peacocks or the shedding of feathers as punishment [3, 4]. Authors skillfully use the term both in its literal sense to evoke the texture, color, and lively movement of bird feathers and in its figurative sense to mirror human emotions and societal traits, thereby enriching narrative imagery and deepening thematic layers [5, 6].
- The tresses of this lady were shining and black, like the plumage of the raven.
— from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper - “I saw bronze rivers lapping marble shores, and great birds that soared through the air, parti-colored birds with iridescent plumage.
— from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald - And life arose in our paths; for the tall flamingo, hitherto unseen, with all gay glowing birds, flaunted his scarlet plumage before us.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - " "Well, I won't," said Mrs. Vincy, roused by this appeal and adjusting herself with a little shake as of a bird which lays down its ruffled plumage.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - The bird of golden plumage had a sonorous voice and majestic bearing.
— from Myths and Legends of China by E. T. C. Werner - 'Cease, then, your envious complaint; Or I, instead of making up your lack, Will take your boasted plumage from your back.'
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine