Literary notes about coppice (AI summary)
In literature, "coppice" is often invoked to evoke a multifaceted landscape that is both practical and atmospheric. It appears as a mysterious, shadowy enclave imbued with nocturnal enchantment—moonlight creeping through its depths as in [1]—and as a compact stand of trees that both shelters and conceals hidden actions, as when a huge dog bursts out from within it in [2] or malignant eyes glimmer unexpectedly in [3]. The term also carries a subtle functional resonance, referring at times to a managed forest for wood production, as noted in [4] and [5]. Moreover, the coppice frequently serves as a transitional space where human drama intertwines with the natural world, whether in secretive tracks leading away from a dead body ([6]) or in moments of reflective solitude as one navigates its winding paths ([7]). In this way, "coppice" enriches literary landscapes by balancing elements of foreboding mystery with the pastoral rhythms of rural life ([8], [9]).
- Into that coppice the moon-light would have crept; there would be shadows, and those shadows would be the only things awake.
— from Five Tales by John Galsworthy - She ran back towards Martin; but, ere she could get to him, suddenly a huge dog burst out of the coppice, and stood erect a moment.
— from The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade - Out of the blackness of the coppice the two gleaming eyes which the brothers had seen before shone like malignant stars.
— from Mr. Poskitt's Nightcaps: Stories of a Yorkshire Farmer by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher - It is frequently planted for coppice-wood, the shoots being well adapted for poles, and for hoops, and the bark being in demand by tanners.
— from Woodland Gleanings: Being an Account of British Forest-Trees by Robert Tyas - Coppice bark from young trees is preferred by tanners, as it is free from ross and generally contains more tannin than the rough bark.
— from Leather: From the Raw Material to the Finished Product by K. J. Adcock - Especially, my mind kept reverting to the tracks which we had discovered leading from the dead man’s body into the coppice.
— from The Haunting of Low Fennel by Sax Rohmer - He looked at his watch before entering the coppice—only a quarter past, twenty-five minutes to wait!
— from Five Tales by John Galsworthy - By the way, I did not hear the sound of your carriage; you have left it yonder, behind the coppice at the fork of the roads, no doubt.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - He sprang upon them as a lion fastens on the neck of some cow or heifer when the herd is feeding in a coppice.
— from The Iliad by Homer
