Literary notes about Plume (AI summary)
In literature, "plume" carries a remarkably diverse set of meanings that enrich both physical description and metaphorical nuance. The term is often used to evoke visual imagery—ranging from a trail of smoke rising from a chimney or volcano ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]) to the decorative feathers on a hat, helmet, or heraldic device that symbolize gallantry and status ([6], [7], [8], [9], [10]). At the same time, authors deploy "plume" in more abstract, figurative ways; characters may "plume themselves" as a show of pride or vanity, suggesting an ostentatious display of one’s qualities ([11], [12], [13], [14]). Additionally, the word surfaces in the context of literary pseudonyms—“nom de plume”—hinting at the close ties between the written word and the identity of its creator ([15], [16], [17], [18]). This multiplicity of uses underscores the term’s enduring appeal in evoking both vivid, tangible imagery and layered symbolic meaning.
- The white steam was ascending like a plume of feathers from the black chimney.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - The summit of the volcano, with its plume of vapor, could be seen by occasional flashes.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - Long John Fanning blew a plume of smoke from his lips.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - From over a distant rise there floated a gray plume of smoke.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - Suddenly the roof fell in and the burning carcass of the dwelling hurled a great plume of sparks into the air, amid a cloud of smoke.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - He wore now a sort of helmet with a plume of feathers in it, and a slashed dress; and he knelt down and opened the mouth of the sack.
— from Little Folks (September 1884) by Various - Yashoda would dress up her darling every morning in his yellow garment with a peacock plume in his hair.
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore - Upon his head he clapped a steel cap, and this he covered by one of soft white leather, in which stood a nodding cock's plume.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - The old legend as to the acquisition of the plume of ostrich feathers by the Black Prince no doubt largely accounts for the idea.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies - Crest: a plume of feathers sable, the tips or.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies - All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - We even plume ourselves upon our firmness in clinging to our conceptions in spite of the way in which they work out.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - We are ashamed to own we are jealous, and yet we plume ourselves in having been and being able to be so.
— from Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims by François duc de La Rochefoucauld - They only plume themselves on knowing the one thing they do not know.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal - It was recited to me by a story-teller of the other sex who rejoices in the nom de plume “An Inmate of the Calcutta Lunatic Asylum.”
— from Folk-Tales of Bengal by Lal Behari Day - “Porlock, Watson, is a nom-de-plume, a mere identification mark; but behind it lies a shifty and evasive personality.
— from The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle - He ought to have explained that he was the author, and not merely a nom de plume for another man to hide behind.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain - [11] — Julián Martel , nom de plume of José Miró ( Argentino )
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson
