Literary notes about interval (AI summary)
The word “interval” in literary works frequently denotes a span of time that can be concrete or ambiguous, serving as a means to demarcate shifts in narrative or mood. In historical and epic writings, for instance, it often marks long stretches between significant events, such as battles or political changes [1] [2] [3]. In other contexts, a short interval can heighten suspense or signal a brief pause in the action, creating moments of anticipation or reflection [4] [5] [6]. Authors also employ the term in a more metaphorical sense, using intervals to express transitions between emotional states or to represent the passage from one phase of life to another, thereby deepening thematic resonance [7] [8] [9].
- During the interval Whinyates served on the artillery staff, and was present at the battle of Busaco.
— from The Waterloo Roll Call by Charles Dalton - During this interval the Athenians succeeded in placing their empire on a firmer basis, and advanced their own home power to a very great height.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - A long interval of time must have been necessary for such transformations as these.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell - There was no moment of deliberation, no interval of repose between the thought and its fulfillment.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - After an interval of silence, “I think they might as well have staid for me,” said he.
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - After sunset, the sky darkened rapidly— there was a very brief twilight interval indeed—and the stars shone out.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - We became ephemera, to whom the interval between the rising and setting sun was as a long drawn year of common time.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Could I give words to the many thoughts which occupied me in endless succession during this interval, I should fill volumes.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Perhaps the interval gave me opportunity to indulge in certain reveries which I had hitherto sternly dismissed.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte
