Literary notes about bend (AI summary)
The term "bend" is used in literature with a remarkable versatility, capturing both the physical act of curving and the figurative act of yielding or adapting. In dramatic works, it can portray emotional submission or strategic resolve—for instance, Shakespeare’s characters bend their thoughts and wits in deference ([1], [2]) while figures in other texts staunchly refuse to yield under pressure ([3], [4]). In narrative descriptions, "bend" depicts physical motion or the shape of the world—the mast that resists the force of the wind ([5]) or a river curving its way through the landscape ([6]). It even finds a precise role in heraldry, designating a diagonal charge on a shield ([7], [8]), and in directions or physical instructions, as when one is told to bend forward in movement ([9]). This multiplicity of meanings highlights the word’s enduring ability to bridge concrete imagery and abstract conceptions in literature.
- Yet now I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France, And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon.
— from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare - Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth, And start so often when thou sitt’st alone?
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I have declared my resolution to you, and I am no coward to bend beneath words.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Towards him they bend With awful reverence prone, and as a God Extol him equal to the Highest in Heaven.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton - But the breeze, far from lessening its force, blew as if to bend the mast, which, however, the metallic lashings held firmly.
— from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne - It then makes a bend towards the gulf in the direction of Persia.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) by Strabo - The "barre sinistre" is merely the French translation of bend sinister, the French word "barre" meaning a bend .
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies - A bend will usually be found between two charges.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies - Exercise 8b Movement: Bend forward as far as possible, without bending knees, and return.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America
