Literary notes about Rift (AI summary)
In literature, "rift" is a versatile term that conveys both palpable physical breaks and more abstract emotional or societal separations. It frequently describes natural openings or chasms—whether as a dramatic split along a mountain range or a sudden break in the cloud cover that lets in light ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5])—evoking wonder or foreboding. At the same time, "rift" is employed metaphorically to depict divisions between people, as in estranged relationships or ideological breaches that widen over time ([6], [7], [8], [9]). The word can even stretch into the realm of creative imagery, such as a delicate discontinuity within music itself, suggesting an inherent flaw that ultimately mutes the harmony ([10], [11]).
- Overhead, as he looked up through this rift in the wood, shone great golden stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations.
— from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce - From the top of the sheer rise we looked back for the last time over the wonderful panorama of the Rift Valley.
— from African Camp Fires by Stewart Edward White - The moon appeared through a rift in the clouds, and filled the drawing-room with its bright white light.
— from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc - Taking advantage of this rift in the clouds, the chief officer took the orb's altitude.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - Then a gust of wind sweeps down a side gulch and, making a rift in the clouds, reveals the blue heavens, and a stream of sunlight pours in.
— from Canyons of the Colorado by John Wesley Powell - Despondent thoughts were thronging through his brain, for the rift between himself and his son was only too evident.
— from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - "The rift between Tuppy Glossop and my cousin Angela would appear to be serious."
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - "She's broken-hearted about this rift, Tuppy."
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - The news of this rift or rupture of Angela's and Tuppy's had disturbed me greatly.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - "It is the little rift within the lute, That by and by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all.
— from Idylls of the King by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson - It is the little rift within the lute That by and by will make the music mute, And, ever widening, slowly silence all.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden
