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Literary notes about border (AI summary)

The use of "border" in literature is multifaceted, serving both as a literal demarcation and a metaphorical threshold. In historical and epic narratives, it often designates a physical frontier or territorial limit, as seen when it marks the boundary between opposing forces or regions [1], [2], [3], [4]. In contrast, in works that focus on decorative detail or design, the term highlights the ornamental edge of objects such as shields, garments, or artworks, where the border enhances aesthetic appeal [5], [6], [7]. Additionally, authors employ "border" metaphorically to evoke ideas of transition or separation—suggesting spaces between emotional or conceptual realms [8], [9]. Thus, across genres from historical texts to poetic descriptions, "border" enriches language by connoting separation, definition, and continuity all at once.
  1. Here he left, for hurt to all, Four heads of his border-foes!
    — from The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge
  2. In historical times they inhabited the country on the northern border of Macedonia.
    — from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian
  3. On coming near the border of the Cherokee country they met some hunters of that tribe to whom they told their purpose.
    — from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
  4. Now there is a certain town, Thryoessa, perched upon a rock on the river Alpheus, the border city of Pylus.
    — from The Iliad by Homer
  5. The crown of this cocoa-nut had been removed, and the edges at the top cut in such a way as to form a chevroned or ‘dog-tooth’ border.
    — from Malay Magic by Walter William Skeat
  6. As may be presumed from its likeness to our word border, the bordure is simply a border round the shield.
    — from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
  7. The Countess Ambrose’s dress was to be white satin with a rich border of Valenciennes lace.
    — from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
  8. I love you selflessly, as if I myself were already over the border.
    — from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet and Louis Guimbaud
  9. The poet stood on the border line between a vanishing generation and our own.
    — from Pan Tadeusz; or, The last foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz

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