Literary notes about take (AI summary)
The word "take" in literature is remarkably versatile, employed in a range of literal and figurative ways. It can denote a physical action, such as seizing, removing, or transferring objects or people, as seen when a guard takes a rod of iron to punish the guilty ([1]) or when someone is instructed to take away an item for safekeeping ([2], [3]). It also conveys the idea of assuming responsibility or embracing opportunity, for instance, when a character takes on a task or care for another ([4], [5]). Additionally, "take" is used to introduce examples or conditions, highlighting choices and consequences in narrative discourse, as when a speaker asks one to take something—whether it be a token of affection, a duty, or even a moment—as significant ([6], [7]). This multifaceted usage enriches the language by allowing the same word to animate both concrete actions and abstract conceptualizations simultaneously ([8], [9]).
- I then saw one infernal guard take a long rod of iron, heat it red-hot, and put out the eyes of the guilty ones.
— from Korean folk tales : by Pang Im and Yuk Yi - And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him saying Take away the filthy garments from him.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot - Take this little key, which unlocks the third hen-house, where the Old Boy keeps the spirits who serve him.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - I take the boy upon me, require him at my hand: unless I bring him again, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against thee for ever.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - I take a great pride in my work; I take it down now and then and dust it.
— from Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome - "And you'll take this as a token from me.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - Let us take, for example, the proposition, “Everything that happens has a cause.”
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - If man was wise, he would take the true value of every thing according as it was useful and proper to his life.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne - Take an axe, and strike off the head of the white-headed calf with a heavy blow, and then split the skull in two with a second stroke.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson