Literary notes about nectar (AI summary)
Across literary works, the term "nectar" has been used with remarkable versatility, serving as both a literal substance and a metaphor for divine sustenance or exquisite pleasure. In some texts, it evokes the food of the gods—a celestial, life-bestowing elixir that bestows immortality, as seen in myth-inspired passages where nectar is equated with ambrosia and the very essence of divinity ([1], [2], [3]). In other contexts, authors draw upon its natural imagery, comparing the act of bees gathering nectar from flowers to the delicate process of nurturing wisdom or beauty ([4], [5], [6]). Meanwhile, in works that touch upon everyday life, "nectar" shifts in meaning to describe exquisite or transformational beverages that elevate common experiences, echoing both delight and a sense of ritual ([7], [8], [9]). This layered usage—from divine and otherworldly sustenance to the embodiment of refined earthly pleasures—reflects how writers have long embraced "nectar" as a rich, multi-dimensional symbol in literature ([10], [11]).
- She ate nothing but celestial ambrosia, and drank nothing but divine nectar.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - [FN#18] The nectar of immortality.
— from The Song Celestial; Or, Bhagavad-Gîtâ (from the Mahâbhârata) - Ambro′sia, in Greek mythology the food of the gods, as nectar was their drink.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its colour or scent, so let a sage dwell in his village.
— from Dhammapada, a Collection of Verses; Being One of the Canonical Books of the Buddhists - Humble bees alone visit red clover, as other bees cannot reach the nectar.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - Insects in seeking the nectar would get dusted with pollen, and would often transport it from one flower to another.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - Arthur, especially shrank from the ruby nectar as if in terror and disgust, and was ready to cry when urged to take it.
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë - " Captain Jim's tea proved to be nectar.
— from Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery - Nectar of all men.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - Nectar imagine it drinking electricity: gods’ food.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - Quaffing nectar at mess with gods golden dishes, all ambrosial.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce