Literary notes about alchemy (AI summary)
Literature employs the term “alchemy” in a rich and multifaceted way, often transcending its literal sense as a proto-scientific practice to embody themes of transformation, mystery, and the transmutation of both matter and spirit. Writers use it to evoke processes of personal and metaphysical change—from the literal search for gold and the secrets of nature, as seen when traditional alchemy is discussed alongside astronomy ([1], [2], [3]), to metaphorical journeys where love or art transfigures life, as noted in depictions of inner emotional transformation ([4], [5], [6]). In some works, alchemy even becomes a symbol for the hidden or occult dimensions of knowledge, merging historical science with magical realism and spiritual quests ([7], [8], [9]). This layered usage highlights alchemy's role as both a historical curiosity and a versatile metaphor in literary explorations of change and enlightenment.
- His science became merged in alchemy, his astronomical learning was forced into the service of Astrology.
— from Famous Impostors by Bram Stoker - It is very interesting to trace the feeble beginnings of modern science in alchemy
— from History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume II (of 2)Revised Edition by John William Draper - At a later period chemistry and alchemy were cultivated among the Arabians, and by them the pursuit was introduced into Europe.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - But with the alchemy of love in her veins she began to see things in a new light.
— from The Reclaimers by Margaret Hill McCarter - He did not dream how ardent and masculine his gaze was, nor that the warm flame of it was affecting the alchemy of her spirit.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - I should lack the alchemy by which I now infuse into my world light, colour, and the Protean spark.
— from The World I Live In by Helen Keller - I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books: as I have sought gold in alchemy.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - And that which would appear offence in us, His countenance, like richest alchemy, Will change to virtue and to worthiness.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - “Alchemy.” Coictier exclaimed, “Pardieu, Dom Claude, alchemy has its use, no doubt, but why blaspheme medicine and astrology?”
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
