Literary notes about fearful (AI summary)
The word "fearful" in literature is used to evoke a spectrum of emotions, from raw terror to profound introspection. It appears in vivid descriptions of chaotic battles and natural phenomena, as when a clash is portrayed as "the most parlous and fierce and fearful battle" ([1]) or a storm is simply "a fearful thunder" ([2]). At the same time, authors employ it to illustrate internal states of anxiety and unease—the soul being "tested" by uncertainty ([3]) and the mind haunted by unsettling visions ([4]). Moreover, the term extends to the realm of metaphors and symbolism, encompassing both the literal dread of monstrous beings ([5]) and the allegorical weight of free choice or the burden of knowledge ([6], [7]). In these varied contexts, "fearful" serves as a bridge between the tangible horrors of the external world and the intangible anxieties that reside within the human psyche.
- You must know that it was the most parlous and fierce and fearful battle that ever has been fought in our day.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano - It was a fearful thunder; but, as we know, it ended.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - Uncertainty is a fearful test, when it comes to the soul of a man of great and energetic purpose.
— from The Heart-Cry of Jesus by Byron J. Rees - The hideous and agonisingly fearful sensation he had felt then began to come back more and more vividly.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - It was the nightingale, and not the lark, That pierc'd the fearful hollow of thine ear.
— from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - But didst Thou not know that he would at last reject even Thy image and Thy truth, if he is weighed down with the fearful burden of free choice?
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - A fearful thing is knowledge, when to know Helpeth no end.
— from Oedipus King of Thebes by Sophocles
