Literary notes about affright (AI summary)
Across many works, affright is deployed as a striking descriptor for sudden, overwhelming terror that colors both epic battles and intimate moments of horror. In classical epics, its use vividly captures the shock of warriors and gods alike, as when a hero is frozen by the sight of a formidable opponent [1] or when vast armies react to an ominous threat [2]. In more personal or domestic contexts, authors evoke a palpable emotional disturbance—whether a spirit filled with sudden dread [3] or a character caught off guard by an unexpected menace [4]. Even in expressions of bravado, like a challenge against fear itself [5], affright enriches the narrative’s atmosphere by intensifying both the physical and psychological dimensions of terror [6][7][8].
- His well-known face when great Achilles eyed, (The helm and visor he had cast aside With wild affright, and dropp'd upon the field
— from The Iliad by Homer - O the very casques That did affright the air at Agincourt?
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I weet not who he is: the sight Has filled my spirit with affright.”
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - The guests shrank in affright, And the priest beside the altar there, Did cross himself with muttered prayer.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - “Oh, difficulties do not affright me,” said d’Artagnan.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - It was the affright of the priest in the presence of a new agent, the printing press.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - I asked, for her eyes were round with affright.
— from Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls; Conscience is but a word that cowards use, Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
