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.
- Here he left, for hurt to all, Four heads of his border-foes!
— from The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge - In historical times they inhabited the country on the northern border of Macedonia.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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