Literary notes about drone (AI summary)
Authors have employed the term "drone" in multifaceted ways, using it to evoke both literal and metaphorical qualities. In some works it captures the continuous, low hum of sound, whether that be the somber, nearly hypnotic note of bagpipes [1, 2], the steady whir of helicopter blades or machinery [3, 4, 5], or even the dull murmur of ambient conversation [6, 7]. At times the word takes on a biological slant—referring to bees or insects—and serves as a metaphor for monotony or unthinking labor within society [8, 9, 10]. The versatility of "drone" thus lends itself to creating atmospheres marked by persistence, desolation, or the mundane heartbeat of nature, enriching the narrative textures across diverse literary traditions [11, 12].
- Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. PRINCE.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - [63] Drone : the largest tube of a bag-pipe, giving forth a dull heavy tone.
— from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World by Jonathan Swift - The drone of the helicopters sank to a sullen murmur; and down below, waves began combing angrily over the gallery.
— from The Flying Legion by George Allan England - The high-pitched drone of the helicopters told that the crippled engines were doing their best; but even that best was not quite enough.
— from The Flying Legion by George Allan England - It passed slowly out of sight; but still he heard in his ears the laborious drone of the engine reiterating the syllables of her name.
— from Dubliners by James Joyce - One could hear the drone of conversation along the carriages, and, scarcely less loud, the drone of the bumblebees in the wallflowers up the bank.
— from The Day's Work - Volume 1 by Rudyard Kipling - As for sounds, there was the steady drone of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering or pecking that I could in no way account for.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Dr. Bevan says, "the great laying of drone eggs usually commences about the end of April."
— from Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained by M. (Moses) Quinby - How, then, can it be right for a man who is a thinking being to remain a drone?”
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - “A drone is one who does not labour,” said the stranger; “whether he wear a cowl or a coronet, ‘tis the same to me.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Earl of Beaconsfield Benjamin Disraeli - And yet the cottage was not deserted, for a low sound came to our ears—a kind of drone of misery and despair which was indescribably melancholy.
— from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - There was a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a cooing of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
