Literary notes about ruddy (AI summary)
The term “ruddy” is used in literature to evoke a rich, vibrant red or reddish hue that conveys both physical health and a dynamic natural or emotional quality. In descriptions of nature, authors depict landscapes and skies imbued with “ruddy” tones to intensify the visual impact of sunsets, dawns, or steeped cliffs ([1], [2], [3]). Meanwhile, “ruddy” often characterizes characters’ physical appearance, suggesting robust vitality or a flush of emotion—as seen in depictions of healthy, cheerful faces or robust countenances ([4], [5], [6], [7]). At times, the word also metaphorically lends a glow to abstract concepts like memory or passion, enhancing the literary atmosphere with its warm, radiant connotations ([8], [9], [10]).
- And always two long black shadows flitted before us or followed after, dark spots on the ruddy grass.
— from My Ántonia by Willa Cather - A thin green line of vegetation fringed the summit of the ruddy cliff.
— from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle - Lo! through the frozen windows play Aurora's ruddy rays of light— The door flew open—Olga came, More blooming than the Boreal flame
— from Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin - The mother in linen swathed the ruddy redhead: its eyes twinkled.
— from The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson by Sæmundur fróði - For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely countenance.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - His face ruddy and full, his broad chest, his wide shoulders announced the robust man, the laborer-schoolmaster, the peasant-thinker.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - I knew the swaying round forms, the bright hard eyes, the white teeth, the ruddy colour, the voluptuous lips.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - The note of Swinburne, of all poets, the white death and the ruddy birth.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - Methinks now this coined sun wears a ruddy face; but see!
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - With ruddy streams each limb was dyed From gaping wounds in breast and side, Showing the hero like the sun 'Mid crimson clouds ere day is done.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki
