Literary notes about gloom (AI summary)
The word “gloom” functions in literature as a versatile symbol both for literal darkness and for emotional desolation. It can describe the physical absence of light that cloaks landscapes and interiors, as when mist, fog, or nightfall renders a scene murky and foreboding ([1], [2], [3]), while simultaneously evoking a profound inner melancholy or sense of impending doom in characters ([4], [5], [6]). At times, “gloom” even hints at an oppressive atmosphere that shadows entire communities or historical epochs ([7], [8]), or subtly reflects the internal conflicts of individuals on the brink of transformation ([9], [10]). This dual quality of gloom—as both an environmental condition and a manifestation of psychological state—enriches narrative tone and deepens the reader’s engagement with the text ([11], [12]).
- In the church he found the gloom and silence of a cavern.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo - As we sat round the dull light of a lamp, in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, everyone had his tale of shipwreck and disaster.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving - Anything more suggestive of gloom and of regions of nether darkness I never beheld.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - His countenance instantly assumed an aspect of the deepest gloom; and he replied, "To seek one who fled from me."
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - This solemn, this awful tragedy has cast a gloom over my whole life.
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson - The Meeting A fter Mercédès had left Monte Cristo, he fell into profound gloom.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - The gloom of popery had overshadowed Ireland from its first establishment there till the reign of Henry VIII.
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe - The heavens change every moment, and reflect their glory or gloom on the plains beneath.
— from Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Then the words: Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thou me on.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - I smiled, eager to lift the gloom plainly visible on her face, in contrast to her usual calm and cheerful expression.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all.
— from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe - I was alone; none were near me to dissipate the gloom, and relieve me from the sickening oppression of the most terrible reveries.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
