Literary notes about drifter (AI summary)
In literature, the word “drifter” works on multiple levels, simultaneously evoking the image of a person who lives a restless, unsettled life and designating various types of vessels that navigate uncertain, shifting waters. On one hand, characters who self-identify as drifters express a way of life marked by aimlessness and noncommitment, suggesting a broader commentary on freedom and instability [1][2][3]. On the other hand, “drifter” is used quite literally to name or describe seafaring crafts—whether a modest fishing boat, an agile hydroplane, or a larger, mechanically driven ship—that drift along the waterways, often carrying undertones of danger, pursuit, or adventure [4][5][6][7]. This dual usage enriches narratives by linking the themes of mobility and unpredictability in both human life and maritime exploration [8][9].
- As I look back on it, it strikes me I always have been more or less of a drifter.
— from J. Poindexter, Colored by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb - I have been from my youth up an easy-going man, a drifter, a dawdler, always willing to put off work for play.
— from Love, the Fiddler by Lloyd Osbourne - In civil life, the man who flits from job to job is soon regarded as a drifter and unstable.
— from The Armed Forces OfficerDepartment of the Army Pamphlet 600-2 by United States. Department of Defense - On December 2 I said "good-bye" to the staff of the China and embarked in a drifter for the beach.
— from From Snotty to Sub by Wolston B. C. W. (Wolston Beaumont Charles Weld) Forester - A steam drifter can travel at from 11 to 12 knots, and both steamers and sailers carry a fishing crew of seven men and a boy.
— from The Fishing Industry by William E. (William Edward) Gibbs - It was some light part of the rotary engined aero-hydroplane, the Drifter, cutting the water like a knife.
— from Dave Dashaway and His Hydroplane; Or, Daring Adventures over the Great Lake by Roy Rockwood - Two boatloads of net and fish followed, and finally the drifter herself was beached.
— from A Poor Man's House by Stephen Sydney Reynolds - CHAPTER III.— "The Wreck." CHAPTER IV.— "The Drifter".
— from The Trail of the Tramp By A-No. 1, the Famous Tramp, Written by Himself from Actual Experiences of His Own Life by A-No. 1 - Thus the official message reporting the loss, March 31, 1917, of the drifter Forward III. , of 89 tons, read, " Forward III.
— from The Harwich Naval Forces: Their Part in the Great War by E. F. (Edward Frederick) Knight
