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Literary notes about adjuration (AI summary)

In literature, the term "adjuration" is employed to convey the force of a solemn appeal or command that blends emotional intensity with a sense of ritual or authority. Writers use it to highlight moments of profound supplication or imperious demand—ranging from matters of personal morality and familial duty to magical invocations and religious oaths [1, 2, 3]. Its usage can intensify a character's inner turmoil or emphasize the gravity of a farewell or warning, thereby deepening the reader’s engagement with the text [4, 5, 6]. Moreover, the word’s versatility allows authors to straddle the line between the corporeal and the transcendent, giving their language an almost incantatory quality that both compels and inspires [7, 8].
  1. And so I turn to you, with a request and adjuration which you cannot set aside.
    — from Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 3 Essays on Literature, Biography, and Antiquities by F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller
  2. So in like manner is part of a magical adjuration in the account of a Sabbath in Sheol.
    — from Devil-Worship in France; or, The Question of Lucifer by Arthur Edward Waite
  3. The Jews' oath is an adjuration by the judge to the witness: "In the name of God, I ask you."
    — from Specimens of the Table Talk of Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  4. He exhausted every adjuration, her child's welfare and his own.
    — from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  5. But the knight again stretched forth his trembling arm from the bed, and repeated his adjuration solemnly, using the same words.
    — from Sidonia, the Sorceress : the Supposed Destroyer of the Whole Reigning Ducal House of Pomerania — Volume 2 by Wilhelm Meinhold
  6. At all events, I adjure him, if there be any power in the adjuration of a dying man, to burn it.”
    — from Melmoth the Wanderer, Vol. 1 (of 4) by Charles Robert Maturin
  7. It is not nearly so strong as Paul's adjuration, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
    — from The Destiny of the Soul: A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by William Rounseville Alger
  8. I wonder what poor devil is trembling at this hour under that disconcerting adjuration.
    — from In Partnership: Studies in story-telling by Brander Matthews

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