Literary notes about harrowing (AI summary)
The word “harrowing” is employed in literature to intensify the emotional landscape of a narrative, evoking sensations of profound distress, inner turmoil, or even physical strain. Authors use it to describe experiences that range from the soul-stirring depiction of wartime agony [1] and the inevitable confrontation with one’s inner corruption [2] to the literal intensity of labor, as seen in descriptions of vigorous agricultural practices [3, 4]. It also surfaces in portrayals of eerie sounds and ghostly encounters that unsettle the reader [5, 6], as well as in rendering the anxiety of economic or social disparities [7]. In all these contexts, “harrowing” functions as a versatile device that deepens the reader’s sense of the psychological, physical, or spiritual impact of a moment.
- Of all harrowing experiences, none is greater than that of the days following a heavy battle.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - This intensity of spiritual vision was frequently combined with a harrowing sense of his own corruption.
— from Hours in a Library, Volume 1 by Leslie Stephen - The ploughland was in splendid condition; in a couple of days it would be fit for harrowing and sowing.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - Carrying manure for the land, ploughing, harrowing, sowing, reaping, thrashing, and grinding; and all by the same machine, however large the estate."
— from Life of Richard Trevithick, with an Account of His Inventions. Volume 2 (of 2) by Francis Trevithick - The sound came again—louder, more harrowing.
— from They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming by Upton Sinclair - I was awake until one last night, reading a harrowing ghost story.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - Of course there was always present the harrowing consciousness of the difference in economic condition between ourselves and our neighbors.
— from Twenty Years at Hull House; with Autobiographical Notes by Jane Addams
