Literary notes about pose (AI summary)
In literature, the word "pose" carries a dual significance that enriches both description and dialogue. It often denotes a deliberate physical stance or artistic arrangement, as seen when figures are arranged in a particular posture for a portrait or a scenic moment ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At the same time, "pose" appears in its colloquial, contracted form—“s’pose”—to mean “I suppose,” lending a casual, sometimes rustic tone to characters’ speech ([5], [6], [7]). Moreover, the term extends to imply an act of pretense or assumption, whether it is about imitating moral virtue or taking on a false role, as when someone is said to pose as a judge or even a goddess ([8], [9], [10], [11]). This versatility enables authors to seamlessly blend physical description with subtle commentary on character and social roles.
- My companions and I pose before the "dream in marble," the Taj Mahal at Agra.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - The pose of the head is a characteristic feature about people that is not always given enough attention in portraits.
— from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed - Now to the low leaves they cling, Each with coy fantastic pose, Each a petal of a rose Straining at a gossamer string.
— from Poems, with The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde - I went back to my easel and motioned the model to resume her pose.
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers - “I s’pose you’ll be scooping up all the honors that are lying round loose at Redmond.”
— from Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery - "Oh, you're going to do great things, I s'pose!" The loud soldier blew a thoughtful cloud of smoke from his pipe.
— from The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War by Stephen Crane - “Well, Tom, wot's to hinder you from goin'?” “Mam's goin' to Brown's store at sun-up, and I s'pose I've got to pack her and the baby again.”
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - And what sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves?
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - —As soon as some one who is no connoisseur begins to pose as a judge we should remonstrate, whether it is a male or female whipper-snapper.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - The god took on humanity for them; they were careful to pose as goddesses before him.
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet and Louis Guimbaud - Such a pose is nearer akin to hypocrisy than to generosity or moral goodness.
— from De Officiis by Marcus Tullius Cicero
