Literary notes about Refulgent (AI summary)
Writers use "refulgent" to evoke a sense of brilliant, almost otherworldly light that often carries symbolic meaning. It appears in descriptions of natural radiance—such as the sun’s or moon’s glow that transforms landscapes and imbues a scene with a sacred sheen ([1], [2])—as well as in depictions of heroic figures and divine artifacts whose brilliance elevates them beyond mortal qualities ([3], [4], [5]). The adjective frequently marks moments of transformation or revelation, whether highlighting the luminous aura of a smile or the radiant splendor of an entire celestial or terrestrial setting ([6], [7]). In classical texts, its use not only describes physical brightness but also suggests an inner, metaphorical light that signifies nobility, hope, or destiny ([8], [9]). Overall, "refulgent" enriches literary language by blending sensory vividness with a deeper, almost spiritual intensity.
- That wheels around the sun's refulgent throne.
— from The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer
With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes by James Beattie - The bright May moon shed a shower of silvery glory over the cottage, and bathed them in its refulgent light.
— from Sharing Her Crime: A Novel by May Agnes Fleming - ; Four brazen helmets, eight refulgent spears, And four broad bucklers to his sire he bears: At once in brazen panoply they shone.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - Refulgent arms his mighty limbs infold, Immortal arms of adamant and gold.
— from The Iliad by Homer - This beautiful figure, clad in refulgent heavenly armour, is one of the noblest and loveliest that Mantegna ever painted.
— from ParisGrant Allen's Historical Guides by Grant Allen - He wore a smile that was fairly refulgent.
— from Officer 666 by Barton Wood Currie - Standing near the gate was pretty Cherrie, and a refulgent smile greeted him from the rosy lips.
— from A Changed Heart: A Novel by May Agnes Fleming - No: let my Greeks, unmoved by vain alarms, Once more refulgent shine in brazen arms.
— from The Iliad by Homer - Thus having said, she turn’d, and made appear Her neck refulgent, and dishevel’d hair, Which, flowing from her shoulders, reach’d the ground.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil