Literary notes about fledgling (AI summary)
The term "fledgling" in literature carries a dual significance, operating both as a literal image of a young bird and as a metaphor for nascent or inexperienced stages in life or endeavors. It vividly captures the vulnerability of youthful beginnings, as when a delicate bird is depicted still confined to its nest and teetering on the verge of flight ([1], [2]), or when a young person is portrayed as raw and callow, struggling to find their footing in a challenging world ([3], [4]). Additionally, it extends to non-biological contexts, such as representing an emerging industry or a beginner in a professional field ([5], [6]). This layered usage enriches the text by imbuing the subject with an inherent sense of potential and fragility, as well as the promise of eventual maturity and independence ([7], [8]).
- They knew that to get it the young fledgling birds must starve in their nests.
— from Beautiful Birds by Edmund Selous - "Take thy fledgling, poor mother dove, under thy trembling wings, back to its nest and the father bird's care.
— from What Happened to Me by La Salle Corbell Pickett - It was astonishing; he had gone away a pimply, overgrown boy, raw and callow as a fledgling, constrained in society, diffident, awkward.
— from Vandover and the Brute by Frank Norris - Hilaire was in Japan, and I—a callow fledgling from the nest—was very sick and sorry for myself.
— from Olive in Italy by Moray Dalton - When its fledgling steel industry began, they set up a high tariff to protect it against British competition.
— from Ultima Thule by Mack Reynolds - A bank clerk in Canada is a kind of young nobleman at the beginning of what may be a striking career, after the manner of a fledgling in diplomacy.
— from The Empty Sack by Basil King - Now, among his Virginia acquaintances was a young minister, a Mr. Rising, “the fragile, gentle new fledgling” of the Buck Fanshaw episode.
— from Mark Twain: A Biography. Complete by Albert Bigelow Paine - He held himself aloft, wavered this way and that, with the wind, and at last, like a great fledgling, he learned to fly.
— from The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10) Stories from the Classics
