Literary notes about ground (AI summary)
The word ground emerges in literature with a remarkable range of meanings that shift between the tangible and the symbolic. In many narratives, it denotes literal earth—a battlefield marked by hazel branches ([1]), the level foundation of a grand castle’s garden ([2]), or the rugged soil upon which characters fall and rise, symbolizing both defeat and renewal ([3], [4], [5]). At the same time, ground functions metaphorically to denote bases for ideas, strategies, or emotional states, as when it serves as the firm basis for classification and argument ([6], [7]). Through these varied uses, writers transform the word into a versatile element that anchors both physical action and abstract thought across their work.
- Hakon came to the land with his ships, marked out a battle-field with hazel branches for King Ragnfred, and took ground for his own men in it.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson - [and the Castle with its Garden of Paradise was levelled with the ground].
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano - Of a sudden she grew deadly white, and fell to the ground as if she were dead.
— from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang - His eyes rolled upwards, his features writhed in agony, and with a suppressed groan he dropped on his face upon the ground.
— from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - Now the ground was covered with a thin powdering of snow.
— from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne - It is but too easily forgotten that if we speak of Aryan and Semitic families, the ground of classification is language, and language only.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Thus you will at once act for the benefit of your soldiers and utilize the natural advantages of the ground. 14.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi
