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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].
  1. 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
  2. "Full speed ahead!" came the command on the Sylph.
    — from The Boy Allies under Two Flags by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. “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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. She looked so very sylph-like as she sat there, bending her graceful head.
    — from Halcyone by Elinor Glyn
  16. Lucetta, light as a sylph, ran forward and seized his hands, whereupon Farfrae duly kissed her.
    — from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
  17. 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
  18. “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
  19. 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

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