Literary notes about lower (AI summary)
The word "lower" in literature frequently carries both literal and figurative meanings, marking physical location as well as differences in quality or status. It is used to denote spatial positioning, as when an author describes the lower edge of a woven tapestry [1] or details garments adorning the lower extremities [2]. At the same time, "lower" distinguishes hierarchical levels in abstract or social contexts—for instance, a lowering of credit to elevate military prestige [3], or a distinction between basic sensory particulars and higher ideals [4]. Authors also employ it to evoke subtle shifts in tone or stature, whether indicating an actual descent in physical placement, such as a lower deck [5] or lower strata in nature [6], or suggesting a diminished aspect of existence in metaphorical contrasts between worlds [7] or different realms of life [8].
- On the lower-most edge was inwoven the Greek letter
— from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius - Nankeen trousers, displaying more white fancy-work over the ankles, and purple morocco slippers, adorned his lower extremities.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - The principle that has guided them has been, first, to lower the credit of infantry so that they might increase their own.
— from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli - But he is speaking of courage in the lower sense of the term, not as including loyalty or temperance.
— from Laws by Plato - Now there was a gleam of white on the lower deck—the cook's apron or the stewardess perhaps.
— from The Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield - Through the open window we stared at the lower strata of this southernmost ocean.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - There are many such virtuous people in this lower world; some day they will be in the world above.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - To the gods, man is a being in a lower kingdom of evolution.
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz
