Literary notes about maelstrom (AI summary)
The word "maelstrom" in literature often encapsulates both literal and figurative turbulence, serving as a powerful metaphor for chaos and uncontrollable force. In some works, it vividly describes physical phenomena—a terrifying whirlpool that embodies the relentlessness of nature and the danger of the unknown ([1], [2], [3])—while in others, it illustrates the swirling inner conflicts of the mind or the tumult of social and political life ([4], [5], [6], [7]). This duality allows authors to bridge the gap between the external maelstroms of the natural world and the internal maelstroms that define human experience, drawing readers into narratives charged with inexorable motion and change ([8], [9]).
- I much wished to approach the celebrated whirlpool, called the Maelstrom , but I could find nobody willing to venture near it.
— from Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 2 by Carl von Linné - Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - Did it resist the pressure of the maelstrom?
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - My mind was a maelstrom, in which hopes, regrets, fear, and delight were mingled in an indistinguishable whirlpool.
— from A Dash for a Throne by Arthur W. Marchmont - He strove to think what he should do, his emotions and his will surging in a troubled maelstrom about his heart.
— from The Lilac Sunbonnet: A Love Story by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett - In consequence, the Federal clergy found themselves drawn farther and farther into the maelstrom of political discussion.
— from New England and the Bavarian Illuminati by Vernon Stauffer - Our Representatives in Congress pointed to the maelstrom to which they were driving the ship, but they refused to see it.
— from Following the Flag, from August 1861 to November 1862, with the Army of the Potomac by Charles Carleton Coffin - I declare to you that I distrust the power of any woman, even of myself, to withstand the mighty matrimonial maelstrom!
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper - Suddenly the Ichthyosaurus and the Plesiosaurus disappeared beneath the waves, leaving behind them a maelstrom in the midst of the sea.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
