Literary notes about cadence (AI summary)
The term "cadence" in literature is used to capture the rhythm and flow not only of language but also of emotion and setting. It can describe the mechanical, almost monotonous rhythm in speech as seen when critiquing the speeches of inefficient orators ([1]), while at other times it conveys a rich musical quality, as in the lyrical flow of a gifted voice ([2], [3]). Cadence also appears in more structured contexts, indicating the measured ending of a sentence or verse that links together lines in poetry through regular beat and pause ([4], [5]), or even marking the solemn toll of a bell that enhances the mood of a scene ([6], [7]). Moreover, authors use cadence to underscore the modulation of a speaker's tone—whether it is reflective of deep introspection ([8]), the weight of finality ([9]), or the ceremonial pace of ritualistic recitation ([10], [11])—thus enriching the aesthetic resonance of the narrative.
- You have listened to the ranting, mechanical cadence of inefficient actors, lawyers and preachers.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - Her rich young voice flowed on and on, In silvery cadence earnest, clear and strong,
— from Love or Fame; and Other Poems by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick - She sang, and her voice flowed in a rich cadence, swelling or dying away like a nightingale of the woods.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - These two verses being so closely allied and having the same cadence, are often found mixed in the same stanza.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell - Here are only numbers ratified; but, for the elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy, caret.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - CHAPTER X THE HOUSE OF THE SILENT SORROW A bell tolled mournfully with a slow, swinging cadence like a passing bell.
— from The Crimson Blind by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White - The cathedral has a sweet chime of bells, whose soft, liquid notes came to us across the water of the bay with touching cadence at the Angelus hour.
— from Equatorial America Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America by Maturin Murray Ballou - His own soul, subdued to softness and gentleness by his inner reflection, sang itself in musical cadence.
— from Makers and Romance of Alabama History by B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) Riley - But his voice broke on the last cadence, do what he might.
— from It Never Can Happen Again by William De Morgan - JOHNSON. 'Sir William Temple was the first writer who gave cadence to English prose.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson by James Boswell - "They have to take water here," said Potter, from a constricted throat, and in mournful cadence as one announcing death.
— from The Open Boat and Other Stories by Stephen Crane
