Literary notes about SPUR (AI summary)
The word "spur" is employed with remarkable versatility in literature, functioning both as a physical and a figurative device. On one hand, it designates tangible features such as rocky projections or narrow ridges—seen in phrases describing steep mountain spurs ([1], [2], [3]) or rugged outcrops that shape landscapes ([4], [5]). On the other hand, it serves as a metaphor for impulsive actions and motivational forces, capturing moments when characters act decisively or are driven by sudden inspiration ([6], [7], [8]). In equestrian contexts, "spur" alludes to instruments that prompt movement or aggression, reflecting themes of control and urgency ([9], [10]). This dual usage enriches the imagery and emotional resonance of literary texts by connecting the physical with the metaphorical.
- It was a narrow mountain spur (9) overhanging the descent into the plain.
— from Anabasis by Xenophon - But it was temporarily hidden by a rocky spur of the isle.
— from The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville - Tripolis was a flourishing port on a headland which is a spur of Lebanon.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian - Some few miles off he could see a gleam of the Hudson river, and above it a spur of those rugged cliffs scatter'd along its western shores.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - The transverse valley thus formed by the Mamloo spur, is full of orange groves, whose brilliant green is particularly conspicuous from above.
— from The Fables of Aesop by Aesop - " I was quite unprepared for this abrupt request, and answered her on the spur of the moment: "Good words I neither give nor receive.
— from The Hungry Stones, and Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore - It was a dashed tricky thing, of course, to have to decide on the spur of the moment.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - I shall think of you always; and it will spur me on to work hard and try to do right.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. Jacobs - Titinius is enclosed round about With horsemen, that make to him on the spur, Yet he spurs on.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I needed no whip, no spur, for I was as eager as my rider; he saw it, and giving me a free rein, and leaning a little forward, we dashed after them.
— from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
