Literary notes about resonance (AI summary)
In literature, “resonance” operates on both tangible and metaphorical levels to evoke lingering sounds and deep emotional echoes. Authors utilize the term to describe not only the physical quality of sound—as when Hardy details the somber, far-off tolls of a tower [1]—but also to symbolize the enduring impact of words and voices, infusing scenes with an almost mystical emotional depth [2]. At times, it measures the interplay of musical tone and acoustic precision, as seen when a ballroom’s vibrant energy is captured by the term [3], while in other contexts it hints at the profound, almost spectral memory of sound that continues to affect the listener long after the note has faded [4].
- Then followed the dull and remote resonance of the twelve heavy strokes in the tower above.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - His voice had the ring, the resonance of a deep bell, as he said aloud, "To the French Legation!"
— from The Breath of the Gods by Sidney McCall - Having finished her morning tea she went to the ballroom, which she particularly liked for its loud resonance, and began singing her solfeggio.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Thud, thud, thud, came the drum with a vibrating resonance, and for the moment I did not notice two urchins stopping at the railings by me.
— from The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H. G. Wells
