Literary notes about devour (AI summary)
The word “devour” emerges in literature as a potent image that encapsulates both literal and metaphorical consumption. Its use spans from hyperbolic expressions of personal anguish, as when one claims they could even “devour my own boots” [1], to dramatic portrayals of destructive force witnessed in nature or warfare, where fire or wild beasts consume their targets [2], [3]. In other instances, “devour” vividly represents an insatiable desire or the relentless passage of time, as seen when time’s “hungry teeth” pursue every moment [4]. Moreover, the term often carries moral or spiritual weight, symbolizing the corrupting influence that “devours” the innocent or heralds divine retribution [5], [6]. Through such diverse applications, “devour” amplifies the text’s emotional intensity and underscores themes of inevitable consumption and destruction.
- “I believe I could devour my own boots now,” said the one Official.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strong holds of Benadad.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - But he escapes, and eventually “he slays all the three heroes, and flings their bodies on the plain for wild beasts to devour.”
— from Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore - what else had I a boy to do,— For the hungry teeth of time devour, and the silent-footed years pursue.
— from Poems, with The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde - It may be intended to show that Satan, who is ever going about seeking whom he may devour, can see both before and behind.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The rich devour the poor, and the devil devours the rich, and so both are devoured.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs
