Literary notes about array (AI summary)
The word "array" in literature is remarkably versatile, often used to suggest an orderly or splendid arrangement that amplifies the text’s visual and emotional impact. Poets use it to evoke exquisite imagery, as when beauty is "array'd" in majestic pride ([1]) or when a figure dresses in an "evening array" that enhances their character ([2]). Beyond the realm of beauty, authors deploy the term to depict military formations and strategic alignments, thereby underscoring readiness and valor, as in descriptions of warriors set in battle array ([3], [4], [5]). Even in more mundane settings, "array" is employed to denote the careful placement of goods or objects, inviting the reader to visualize an immaculate, well-ordered display ([6], [7]). This rich, layered usage makes "array" a powerful tool for blending aesthetics with themes of order, conflict, and preparedness.
- They flourish like the morning flow'r, In beauty's pride array'd;
— from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns - On the stairs I met my aunt, already in evening array, and looking hungry.
— from The King James Version of the Bible - To second these, in close array combined, The squadrons spread their sable wings behind.
— from The Iliad by Homer - Aeneas sees, Thro’ smoking fields, his hast’ning enemies; And Turnus views the Trojans in array, And hears th’ approaching horses proudly neigh.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - The battle was now in array and they stood face to face with one another, Agamemnon ever pressing forward in his eagerness to be ahead of all others.
— from The Iliad by Homer - The shop was a popular greengrocer and fruiterer’s, an array of goods set out in the open air and plainly ticketed with their names and prices.
— from The innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - On the right of the fireplace an open cupboard displayed a formidable array of labelled bottles.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
