Literary notes about SOUGHT (AI summary)
The term "sought" in literature often conveys a determined or even desperate pursuit, whether of an object, ideal, or person. It can denote both a tangible search for something concrete, as when a character seeks out a lost loved one or elusive prize ([1], [2]), and an abstract quest for truth, guidance, or inner fulfillment ([3], [4], [5]). Authors employ the word not only to indicate physical action—as in the careful pursuit of a target or enemy ([6], [7])—but also to evoke a deeper emotional or philosophical yearning, as when characters pursue elusive ideals like eternal youth, divine support, or destiny ([8], [9], [10]). The versatility of "sought" allows writers to infuse a scene with urgency, determination, or even melancholy, enhancing the narrative with layers of meaning drawn from the character’s inner life and broader cultural contexts ([11], [12]).
- I sought out Dejah Thoris in the throng of departing chariots.
— from A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - He was not deceived; it was she whom he sought.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - But he was a man of such gravity that he despised glory, and sought only for truth.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius - I live not by my fault: I strove to have deserv’d the death I sought.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - In the days of my trouble I sought God, with my hands lifted up to him in the night, and I was not deceived.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - When he had reached the fence, still without finding those he sought, he stopped and looked about him.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Rostóv reined in his horse, and his eyes sought his foe to see whom he had vanquished.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - But that gold watch he sought was the innermost life of the fish.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - And [Pg 316] hence it is obvious that peace is the end sought for by war.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - Lastly, Calderon was so deeply impressed with this view of life that he sought to embody it in a kind of metaphysical drama— “Life a Dream.”
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - She sought further into things than other girls in her position ever did, and her mother groaned as she felt she could not aid in the search.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - Each man sought his neighbor’s eye, but found in it no ray of hope, no encouragement.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain