Literary notes about lay (AI summary)
In literature, “lay” is a multifaceted term that enriches narrative texture by conveying both physical position and a state of being. It can denote the literal act of reclining or resting—as when a character rests gently in another's arms [1] or lies still in deep contemplation [2, 3]—while also evoking the tranquil, static quality of a scene, such as lands or harbors spread out quietly under the sky [4, 5]. Moreover, “lay” is often used figuratively to suggest the burden or pervasive atmosphere that settles over a character or situation, exemplified by a melancholy silence weighing upon a heart [6]. Whether marking the placement of objects or the condition of a mood, the term enriches descriptive language by seamlessly linking the tangible with the emotional.
- He was younger than that young thoughtless fellow in whose arms she lay.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - “I did not rise from my bed, and I don’t know how long I lay with my eyes open, thinking.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till she fell fast asleep.
— from English Fairy Tales - Swift as an arrow from a bow, Speeding o'er lands that lay below, Sublime in air his course he took O'er wood and rock and lake and brook.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - It was a serene summer night; the harbour lay like a darkened mirror at their feet.
— from Dubliners by James Joyce - And his silence and apparent estrangement lay upon Janetta's heart like lead.
— from A True Friend: A Novel by Adeline Sergeant
