Literary notes about Precipice (AI summary)
Writers employ "precipice" both as a vivid depiction of a sheer physical edge and as a metaphor for critical, life-altering decisions. Its literal use paints scenes of rugged landscapes or dangerous cliffs—inviting the reader to envision the precarious steps along a rock face ([1],[2])—while its figurative use dramatizes moments when characters stand at the threshold of irreversible change or overwhelming danger, as when love, despair, or fate forces one to risk the fall into oblivion ([3],[4],[5]). This duality, merging tactile imagery with psychological tension, enriches narratives by capturing both the external beauty and inner turmoil of turning points in life ([6],[7]).
- hlið , st. n., cliff, precipice of a mountain : dat.
— from I. Beówulf: an Anglo-Saxon poem. II. The fight at Finnsburh: a fragment. - The precipice was approached by a narrow path between bushes, and fragments of rock formed the precarious steps of that natural staircase.
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov - He sees no way out, on one side the precipice, on the other the abyss; retreat and flight—both are impossible; he gives himself up as lost.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - I feel as if I were walking on the edge of a precipice, towards which thousands are crowding, and endeavouring to plunge me into the abyss.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - If we two stood now on the edge of a precipice, I would hold you tight and jump.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw - She turned round towards me and said, her eyes flashing with the fire of love, “My darling, we were on the brink of the precipice.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - The water is forty feet deep at the base of this precipice, which is washed by the waves.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie
