Literary notes about mephitic (AI summary)
The term "mephitic" has been employed in literature to evoke sensations of pervasive, unwelcome decay and to hint at underlying corruption, both physical and moral. In one instance, Walt Whitman uses it metaphorically to suggest an almost sneaky, lingering odor that infuses modern literature and social interactions, adding a subtle layer of disquiet to everyday modernity (example [1]). Alexandre Dumas, on the other hand, applies the term in a more literal, oppressive sense to describe the thick, contaminated air within a prison, reinforcing the claustrophobic and toxic environment (example [2]). Nathaniel Hawthorne employs "mephitic" to illustrate the intoxicating influence of noxious gases on the human mind, linking physical pollution directly to mental disorientation (example [3]).
- Its scent, as of something sneaking, furtive, mephitic, seems to lingeringly pervade all modern literature, conversation, and manners.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - The air he inhaled was no longer pure, but thick and mephitic,—he was in prison.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - The mephitic gases of that region intoxicate the brain.
— from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne
