Literary notes about Vesper (AI summary)
The term "vesper" appears in literature with a rich spectrum of meanings, functioning both as a marker of time and as an evocative symbol. Some authors employ it literally to indicate the early evening hours, when bells toll in churches or cathedrals and when quiet hymns imbue the surroundings with a reflective serenity ([1], [2], [3], [4]). In other works the word takes on a more personified role, serving as a character’s name whose presence or actions lend an enigmatic quality to the narrative ([5], [6], [7]). Additionally, "vesper" is used metaphorically to represent the transition from day to night or to suggest a mood imbued with melancholy and contemplative peace ([8], [9], [10]).
- From the cathedral tower the vesper bell was beginning to sound.
— from Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 15 - The church bell rang with slow, ominous strokes, far different from its gentle vesper peal of yesterday.
— from The Crossing by Winston Churchill - The end came on Sunday, just at sunset, while the bells were tolling for the vesper service.
— from The Master's Violin by Myrtle Reed - Together past the praying cells And past the wattle-woven dome Whence rang the tremulous vesper bells St. Colum brought the stranger home.
— from Christmas in Legend and StoryA Book for Boys and Girls by Elva Sophronia Smith - [Pg 223] Vesper went down-stairs, his eyes running before him for the sweet presence of Rose.
— from Rose à Charlitte by Marshall Saunders - [Pg 189] "You are very kind to be so much interested in this search of mine," said Vesper, in a low voice.
— from Rose à Charlitte by Marshall Saunders - "Can you let me have a room?" pursued Vesper.
— from Rose à Charlitte by Marshall Saunders - In true sequence, as decreed, Daily morn and eve succeed; Vesper brings the shades of night, Lucifer the morning light.
— from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius - Ere long, with melancholy rise and swell, The evening chimes, the convent’s vesper bell, Struck on mine ears amid the amorous flowers.
— from Poems, with The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde - On the contrary, when it shines in the west, it is named Vesper, as prolonging the light, and performing the office of the moon.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny