Literary notes about glaucous (AI summary)
The term "glaucous" in literature is often used to evoke a cool, muted tone—a bluish-green or gray shade that lends a sense of mystery and melancholy to a scene. Authors describe natural elements imbued with this subtle color, from water portrayed as a "queer glaucous green" that captivates the eye [1] to landscapes and vegetation marked by pale, reflective hues [2]. In more evocative passages, the color enriches character or atmosphere, as seen in the description of a figure dressed in "glaucous blue velvet" that hints at an enigmatic mood [3] or even in the portrayal of eyes that gleam with a reserved, distant light [4]. Thus, "glaucous" functions not merely as a color detail but as a literary device that enhances visual imagery and deepens the emotional resonance of a text.
- The water is of a queer glaucous green, olive-coloured, or rather like the tint made when you wash out a box of water-colour paints.
— from Angling Sketches by Andrew Lang - They are a pale glaucous hue, and closely grown on the stems; they greatly add to the rich effect of the flowers.
— from Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers Describing the Most Desirable Plants, for Borders, Rockeries, and Shrubberies. by J. G. (John George) Wood - The two women stood watching the figure in the mushroom-white hat and the glaucous blue velvet that idled forlornly along the pavement.
— from Gray youth: The story of a very modern courtship and a very modern marriage by Oliver Onions - Her glaucous eyes, which gleam beneath her vizor, gaze afar off, attentively.
— from The Temptation of St. Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
