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Literary notes about burnished (AI summary)

The term "burnished" is frequently employed to evoke a sense of polished brilliance and refined luster, often in reference to metal, light, or natural imagery. Writers deploy it to transform ordinary objects and settings into vivid, almost tactile experiences—whether illustrating the gleam of a meticulously polished artifact, such as in the depiction of a face aglow like burnished gold ([1]) or transforming the sky into a tapestry of burnished hues ([2]). It also conveys an aging yet enduring beauty, lending a metallic shimmer to subjects ranging from armor and architecture to the very essence of character, as seen in portrayals of copper or silver surfaces ([3], [4]). In these diverse contexts, "burnished" enriches the narrative with both visual intensity and a metaphorical depth that bridges the physical with the symbolic.
  1. All the while his face glowed like burnished gold upon which a sunbeam rested.
    — from The Flower of the Flock, Volume 1 (of 3) by Pierce Egan
  2. And musing on the marvel of thy fame I watched the day, till marked with wounds of flame The turquoise sky to burnished gold was turned.
    — from Poems, with The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde
  3. Carbuncles stud his face; dark studs on a ground of burnished copper.
    — from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle
  4. Dazzling was the sheen of their gleaming helmets, their fresh-burnished breastplates, and glittering shields as they joined battle with one another.
    — from The Iliad by Homer

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