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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]).
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. "And you'll take this as a token from me.
    — from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
  7. Let us take, for example, the proposition, “Everything that happens has a cause.”
    — from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
  8. 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
  9. 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

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