Literary notes about Reply (AI summary)
Throughout literature, "reply" functions as a versatile tool to signal both verbal retorts and moments of deliberate silence. In some works it denotes an immediate, sometimes impassioned response—such as when a character enthusiastically retorts with a grasped hand and muttered remark[1] or when ancient debates are punctuated by succinct counterstatements[2]. In other contexts, its absence can heighten tension or underscore resignation, as when a character offers no answer at all[3][4]. Whether used to advance dialogue in formal exchanges[5][6] or to capture the fleeting hesitation in a moment of introspection[7][8], "reply" enriches the narrative by conveying a range of emotional and psychological nuances in communication.
- " To which Robert would merely reply by grasping his uncle's hand vehemently, and muttering something about "a jolly old prince.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon - I hear some one saying that “wickedness is not easily concealed,” to which I reply that “nothing great is easy.”
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - His friend Neb called him, and for the first time Jup did not reply to his friend’s call.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - The gipsy made no reply of any kind, but, with drooping head and despondent mien, walked slowly to her tent, and, lifting the curtain, disappeared.
— from Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker - Accordingly, it would not be used in a formal invitation or reply, or in addressing a letter.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Dear Madam,—I have the honour to acknowledge your polite communication, to which I promptly reply.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - I mustered the presence of mind to reply.
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë - The indignant reply of the empress may be inscribed as an epitaph on his tomb, "You die, as you have lived—a Hypocrite!"
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
