Literary notes about skeleton (AI summary)
Writers employ "skeleton" in a variety of ways to evoke both tangible and symbolic meanings. In some works it denotes the literal remains of a human or creature—conjuring vivid, often macabre images such as a figure clutching gold in a long-forgotten Pompeian burial [1] or the grim visage of a lover’s demise [2]—while in others it suggests an underlying structure or framework. The word can capture the essential, stripped-down form of things, as when it functions metaphorically to represent the bare structure of law or society [3] or even serves as a descriptor in anatomical and scientific contexts [4, 5]. This rich versatility enhances narrative depth, inviting readers to contemplate themes of decay, resilience, and the hidden framework underlying existence.
- In excavating Pompeii a skeleton was found with the fingers clenched round a quantity of gold.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - [ There swings the horrible skeleton of a poor lover who hung himself.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - To pick the lock of the Law he needed a skeleton key.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - In the lowest Vertebrate, the Amphioxus, it retains this simple form throughout life, and permanently represents the whole internal skeleton (Fig.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton - But this unsegmented primary axial skeleton is soon replaced by the segmented secondary axial skeleton, which we know as the vertebral column.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton
