Literary notes about effluence (AI summary)
Effluence is employed in literature as a multifaceted metaphor that conveys an outpouring of intangible energy—be it divine, creative, or emotional. Many authors invoke it to depict the radiant, almost sacred, manifestation of light and spirit, suggesting that life itself is imbued with an ever-flowing vitality [1]. In more philosophical writings, effluence is linked to sensory perception and the transformative qualities of art and thought, as when Plato’s dialogue transforms color into an emanation of form [2]. At times it describes the luminous glow of abstract ideals or the compelling presence of an individual, capturing the dynamic interplay between inner essence and outward expression [3] [4]. Whether drawn from the realm of the divine or the depths of human creativity, effluence enriches prose and poetry with a sense of transcendence and ceaseless motion [5].
- Thy primal effluence, hallow'd be thy name: Join each created being to extol Thy might, for worthy humblest thanks and praise Is thy blest Spirit.
— from The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Purgatory, Volume 3 by Dante Alighieri - at length Socrates is induced to reply, 'that colour is the effluence of form, sensible, and in due proportion to the sight.'
— from Meno by Plato - For the tertiary values, the emotions attached to a given image, the moral effluence emanating from it, pervade the whole present world.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - From the genius of the past “an effluence breathes upon us.”
— from On the Sublime by active 1st century Longinus - O naught is great without thy effluence!
— from At Minas Basin, and Other Poems by Theodore H. (Theodore Harding) Rand
