Literary notes about pit (AI summary)
In literature, the word "pit" is employed both as a tangible void and a powerful metaphor. It can signify a literal chasm or abyss, as seen in depictions of frozen underworlds and bottomless pits that serve as gateways to evil or despair ([1], [2], [3]), while in other contexts it represents an emotional or moral low, where characters feel lost or trapped in their own inner darkness ([4], [5]). At times, the term takes on a whimsical or even ironic tone, personifying the void itself or referencing mundane settings like a theater's orchestra pit ([6], [7]). Moreover, "pit" is widely used to evoke foreboding or fatalistic outcomes in both sacred texts and adventure narratives, underscoring its versatility as a literary device ([8], [9]).
- A bank slopes from where the giants stand inside the wall down to the pit which is filled with the frozen Cocytus.
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri - And he opened the bottomless pit: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit...
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - When I seen—” He paused, open-mouthed, on the verge of the pit of his own depravity and utter worthlessness to breathe the same air she did.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - It is sticking here in the pit of my stomach, eating into me like a corrosive acid.
— from An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen - “You’re drunk,” exclaimed the pit to a man.)
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - platea , f. , that section of the theater called “pit” in England and “orchestra” in the U. S. platillos , m. pl. , bosses ( metal work ).
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson - An enemy speaketh sweetly with his lips, but in his heart he lieth in wait, to throw thee into a pit.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete