Literary notes about fringe (AI summary)
In literature, "fringe" is celebrated for its flexibility, serving both as a concrete detail and a metaphorical device. It is used to portray tangible features—for instance, the delicate strands of hair framing a face ([1], [2]) or the ornamental tassels on fabrics and rugs that lend texture and character to objects ([3], [4]). Simultaneously, the term evokes the margins of physical spaces, from the soft border where night gives way to dawn ([5]) to the remote outskirts of towns and natural landscapes ([6], [7]). Beyond the literal, "fringe" extends into the figurative realm, marking the boundaries between central ideas and the peripheral, whether in the realm of thought or in the social sphere ([8], [9]).
- She had a fringe of curly false hair, which gave her a juvenile look, that contrasted strongly with the ripeness of her figure.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - Her face, too, was long and narrow and exhausted-looking; even her fair curled fringe looked burnt out and withered.
— from The Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield - The fringe is further ornamented by large knotted tassels, introduced between the scallops, for which, a large knotted berry, fig.
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Note that with few exceptions the fringe and selvedge on a rug were not made for beauty but for protection.
— from The Oriental Rug by William De Lancey Ellwanger - Outside the window, over the thick foliage of the jack-fruit tree, appeared the first pale red of the dawn at the fringe of the night.
— from The Hungry Stones, and Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore - Cato's half-obliterated cellar-hole still remains, though known to few, being concealed from the traveller by a fringe of pines.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau - Then if you are lucky you will get seats in the last row and lodgings in the fringe of the town.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain - The 'fringe,' which lets us believe in the one, lets us believe in the other too.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - Leaders of the anti-war movement denounced us as fringe elements.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
