Literary notes about quivering (AI summary)
The term "quivering" functions as a versatile literary device that vividly conveys both physical motion and inner emotional turbulence. It is often used to describe subtle, involuntary movements—such as trembling lips, shaking shoulders, or fingers that display excitement or fear [1, 2, 3]—and to evoke natural imagery, capturing the delicate shimmer of light or the undulating motion of landscapes [4, 5, 6]. At other times, the word heightens the physical intensity of a scene, emphasizing the visceral impact of rage, terror, or agony through descriptions of quivering limbs and pulsating sensations [7, 8, 9]. In each occurrence, "quivering" bridges physical sensation with internal experience, enriching the narrative by imbuing it with a layer of dynamic, sensory detail.
- "Oh, I promise!" answered Yulia Sergeyevna, and her lips and eyelids began quivering too.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - she would sometimes say, with quivering lips.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë - “I’ll come to-morrow, Olga,” he repeated in a quivering voice.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - At night the bottom of the valley looks like water, and the lamps in the little town lying along it like quivering reflections of the stars.
— from In the Mountains by Elizabeth Von Arnim - Breezes blow into the night, and the white moonshine speeds them on; the sea glitters in her quivering radiance.
— from The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil - A drop of sunlight fell into her hands and lay there, warm and quivering.
— from Bliss, and other stories by Katherine Mansfield - The fury was carried so far, that the conquerors tore and devoured the quivering limbs of the conquered.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - All my inside is quivering with anger, and I can’t even breathe....
— from Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - “Excuse me, sir,” said Luzhin, quivering with fury.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
