Literary notes about sylph (AI summary)
The term “sylph” appears in literature with a dual life: on one hand, it designates sleek, agile ships or vessels that play active roles in naval adventures and battles, as seen with the vessel named Sylph speeding through turbulent seas [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] and undergoing repairs or tactical maneuvers in wartime scenarios [8], [9], [10]. On the other hand, it evokes images of ethereal, delicate beings, often with graceful, almost fairy-like qualities—embodying refined beauty or nimbleness in both physical form and character [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16]. This flexible use of “sylph” enriches literary expression by merging the tangible and the mythical, as noted when it describes streamlined shapes in objects or persons alike [17], [18], [19].
- They began to see why they had been invited to go on board of the Sylph.
— from All Taut; or, Rigging the boat by Oliver Optic - "Full speed ahead!" came the command on the Sylph.
— from The Boy Allies under Two Flags by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - Circumstances place them on board the British cruiser “The Sylph” and from there on, they share adventures with the sailors of the Allies.
— from The Boy Allies on the North Sea Patrol
Or, Striking the First Blow at the German Fleet by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - In fact, the Sylph was ready to give battle, regardless of the number of her enemies.
— from The Boy Allies under Two Flags by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - The port light of the Sylph was still in sight, but in a few minutes it disappeared.
— from All Adrift; Or, The Goldwing Club by Oliver Optic - The relative positions of the two vessels remained the same, except that in the light of day the Sylph put more distance between her and her quarry.
— from The Boy Allies under Two Flags by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - “A second later,” continued Lord Hastings, “there was a single shot from the Sylph .
— from The Boy Allies on the North Sea Patrol
Or, Striking the First Blow at the German Fleet by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - The Sylph had been quickly stripped for action, for Lord Hastings had determined to give battle should the submarine prove to be an enemy.
— from The Boy Allies under Two Flags by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - The Sylph kept just far enough in the rear of the Emden to be out of range.
— from The Boy Allies under Two Flags by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes - The former was now standing off the shore, while the Sylph came close in to protect the boats should the French seamen venture to attack us.
— from Will Weatherhelm: The Yarn of an Old Sailor by William Henry Giles Kingston - She is a tall, slender brunette, with brilliant eyes and complexion and a sylph-like figure.
— from The Capitals of Spanish America by William Eleroy Curtis - Before the young man could take a step, Paulita had leaped to the ground with sylph-like agility and smiled at him with a smile full of conciliation.
— from The Reign of Greed by José Rizal - Not that Rosamond was in the least like a kitten: she was a sylph caught young and educated at Mrs. Lemon's.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - We always think of fat people as heavy, but he could have danced against a sylph.
— from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton - She looked so very sylph-like as she sat there, bending her graceful head.
— from Halcyone by Elinor Glyn - Lucetta, light as a sylph, ran forward and seized his hands, whereupon Farfrae duly kissed her.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - In the mirage of his artist's enthusiasm her sweetness, her grace, her beauty, made her at first appear to him a sylph, a muse, an angel.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 08, October, 1868, to March, 1869. by Various - “But think, Madame, of the sylph’s form that it will give you!” replied Clotilde, in respectably good English.
— from Aurora the Magnificent by Gertrude Hall Brownell - You compare her with your Englishwomen who wolf down from three to five meat meals a day; and naturally you find her a sylph.
— from John Bull's Other Island by Bernard Shaw