Literary notes about dusky (AI summary)
The term "dusky" is used in literature to evoke an atmosphere imbued with subtle gradations of light and shadow, lending both physical and emotional depth to a scene. Writers employ it to depict environments where the fading light creates a mysterious, sometimes foreboding aura, as when twilight blends with the somber hues of a haunted wood or dim corridors [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, "dusky" describes aspects of character and mood—a flush of dusky red on a face or the shadowed relief of an expression—that hints at inner turmoil or quiet melancholy [4, 5]. In this way, the adjective becomes a versatile tool for crafting settings that are steeped in nuance and for suggesting an interplay between external ambiance and internal sentiment [6, 7, 8].
- As it descended, its dusky rays crossed the brilliant ones of the sun, and deadened or distorted them.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - In a low-arched and dusky passage, by which he endeavoured to work his way to the hall of the castle, he was interrupted by a female form.
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - Here the full daylight of a December noon only produced a dusky twilight.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - His father's face, dusky red, twitching as if he were going to cry, and words breaking out that seemed rent from him by some spasm in his soul.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy - His dark brows knitted and his face flushed to a dusky red as he spoke.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - All benches are crowded; in the dusky galleries, duskier with unwashed heads, is a strange 'coruscation,'—of impromptu billhooks.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - She closed her eyes as she sat in one of the dusky corners of the quiet parlour; but it was not with a desire for dozing forgetfulness.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James - For nine long nights, through all the dusky air, The pyres, thick-flaming, shot a dismal glare.
— from The Iliad by Homer
