Literary notes about bridge (AI summary)
The word "bridge" in literature is a multifaceted symbol that often serves both literal and figurative purposes. It frequently denotes a physical structure connecting disparate spaces—a passage over a river, chasm, or other obstacles, as in accounts of crossing landscapes that evoke moments of transition or introspection ([1], [2], [3], [4]). Concurrently, it serves as a metaphor for overcoming divides, whether those are gaps in understanding, emotional distance, or the leap from thought to action ([5], [6], [7]). The term also finds its place in cultural and social contexts, representing the linking of communities or ideas, even extending to the realm of leisure where it names a game played at social gatherings ([8], [9], [10]). Thus, its layered use across different texts—from epic adventures and historical narratives to introspective reflections and symbolic gestures—attests to its rich versatility as a literary device ([11], [12], [13]).
- I passed the bridge of Pélissier, where the ravine, which the river forms, opened before me, and I began to ascend the mountain that overhangs it.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - That little girl is watching it too; she has been standing on just the same spot at the edge of the water ever since I paused on the bridge.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - Presently I came to a bridge, below which a clear slow stream flowed between snowy beds of water-buttercups.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - He stopped suddenly, on coming out on the bank of the Little Neva, near the bridge to Vassilyevsky Ostrov.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - This fact encourages me to persevere, to try and bridge the gap between the eye and the hand.
— from The World I Live In by Helen Keller - One philosopher only has pretended to throw a logical bridge over this chasm.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James - Touch cannot bridge distance,—it is fit only for the contact of surfaces,—but thought leaps the chasm.
— from The World I Live In by Helen Keller - Mrs. Jones will play bridge, with pleasure at four o'clock."
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - The formula is the same, whether the invitation is to dine or lunch, or play bridge or tennis, or golf, or motor, or go on a picnic.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - The rule that you should not appoint yourself mentor holds good in golf as well as in bridge and every other game.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - I know of but one bridge that will carry us over safe, a bridge founded upon justice and built of human hearts.
— from How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York by Jacob A. Riis - Then the great bridge of wondrous strength Was built, a hundred leagues in length.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - how should I forget?—the deep midnight, the Bridge of Sighs, the beauty of woman, and the Genius of Romance that stalked up and down the narrow canal.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
