Literary notes about spate (AI summary)
The term “spate” is employed with remarkable versatility, frequently evoking the image of water in uncontrolled, rush-like flow, yet also extending metaphorically to bursts of activity or emotion. Authors use it to describe literal phenomena, such as a river’s torrential surge that overwhelms landscapes ([1], [2], [3]), and to convey figurative torrents—a sudden flood of events, conversations, or creative outputs that sweep over individuals or societies ([4], [5], [6]). Moreover, its usage ranges from natural settings where the force of water defines the scene ([7], [8]) to depicting the overwhelming momentum in military and social contexts ([9], [10]), thereby enriching the narrative texture with vivid and dynamic imagery.
- In the winter of 1914-15 the Wadi el Arish was twice in spate, and left extensive pools of water behind.
— from A History of Sinai by Lina Eckenstein - The stream was in spate, and would be boiling black, with livid clots of foam flung here and there on the dripping heather overhanging the torrent.
— from Tragic Romances Re-issue of the Shorter Stories of Fiona Macleod; Rearranged, with Additional Tales by William Sharp - Why, the river was yesterday in spate, and she is fresh run from the sea.
— from The Odd Volume; Or, Book of Variety - This spate of laws, ordinances and regulations wrought havoc with the ownership of land in the country.
— from The Accumulation of Capital by Rosa Luxemburg - The last decade witnessed a spate of films, all concerned with the confusion between life and the imitations of life, the media.
— from Moral Deliberations in Modern Cinema by Samuel Vaknin - As I moved up and down my platoon, the usual profane but humorous grousing was in full spate.
— from 500 of the Best Cockney War Stories by Various - Almost before we realised it, a mighty spate swept into the valley, literally filling it.
— from Raiders of the SarhadBeing an Account of the Campaign of Arms and Bluff Against the Brigands of the Persian-Baluchi Border during the Great War by R. E. H. (Reginald Edward Harry) Dyer - “She went away, to the church at Kilbrennan, at sunrise: and the water’s in spate all down Strathgorm.
— from Tragic Romances Re-issue of the Shorter Stories of Fiona Macleod; Rearranged, with Additional Tales by William Sharp - Three lines of trench were taken, and the Londoners and the Scots went forward again in a spate toward Loos.
— from Now It Can Be Told by Philip Gibbs - The national movement grew like a river in spate; it swept forward the lethargic Catholics and engulfed Parliament.
— from The Framework of Home Rule by Erskine Childers
