Literary notes about dwell (AI summary)
The word “dwell” takes on a variety of shades in literature, serving as a versatile term that conveys both physical habitation and deep emotional or intellectual focus. In epic and sacred texts, it often signifies a promised or ordained state of being—as when the divine is said to dwell in a cloud ([1]) or when people are set apart to dwell in an allotted homeland ([2], [3]). In poetic and narrative contexts, it may evoke intimacy or inner resonance, suggesting a deliberate act of lingering over thoughts or feelings ([4], [5]), whereas in dramatic works it can hint at isolation or even exile ([6], [7]). Additionally, ancient texts use “dwell” to denote the very act of taking up residence, whether it be in a city, a tent, or a wild region ([8], [9]). This multiplicity of uses enriches the language, allowing “dwell” to capture moments of physical presence as well as contemplative or spiritual states.
- Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell in a cloud. 6:2.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - But I will employ only one more illustration, and dwell no longer on this topic.
— from Plutarch's Morals by Plutarch - If I could dwell Where Israfel Hath dwelt, and he where I, He might not sing so wildly well
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - I must not dwell upon the fearful repast which immediately ensued.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem by the sword, and by famine and by pestilence.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - With him there came forty ships of the Locrians who dwell beyond Euboea.
— from The Iliad by Homer - "Two of us in the church-yard lie, "My sister and my brother, "And in the church-yard cottage, I "Dwell near them with my mother."
— from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth