Literary notes about anchor (AI summary)
In literature, "anchor" serves both as a practical nautical term and as a powerful symbol of stability and transition. It is often used to evoke the imagery of ships setting sail or coming to rest, as seen when characters weigh anchor before embarking on transformative journeys [1] or when a vessel returns to its former moorings [2]. Beyond its literal maritime function, the term frequently appears in structural markers—chapter titles or headings—that signal pivotal shifts in narrative or thematic content, lending a visual and symbolic weight to the work’s organization [3] [4]. This dual usage enriches the text, grounding its narrative in both physical and metaphoric buoyancy.
- It might have been fancied that she had weighed anchor, thinking that she had to deal with her match, and had left the coast.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - It requires some seamanship to do it, and come to at your former moorings, without letting go another anchor.
— from Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana - H2 anchor PART TWO H2 anchor Chapter VIII:
— from A Room with a View by E. M. Forster - By the great anchor, what a harpoon he’s got there!
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville
