Literary notes about thousand (AI summary)
The word “thousand” in literature is a versatile numeral, employed both as a precise quantity and as a hyperbolic device to evoke wonder, magnitude, or intensity. Poets and playwrights, such as Shakespeare in his poetic lines [1] or in expressions like “I beg a thousand pardons” [2], use it to suggest innumerable variations in emotion or effort. In epic narratives and classical texts, “thousand” amplifies the scale of events—be it the countless eyes in a mythic creature [3] or the thousand pieces of shattered objects symbolizing ruin [4]—while in more prosaic contexts it quantifies wealth or forces, as seen in financial sums [5, 6] or army numbers [7]. Thus, whether emphasizing time, abundance, or dramatic intensity, “thousand” functions as a powerful literary tool that bridges literal count and symbolic enormity.
- Yours this way: Heavens lend A thousand differing waies to one sure end.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - “I beg a thousand pardons,” Ralph murmured.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James - Thou hast a thousand feet, a hundred heads, and a thousand eyes.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - But hurled at Vritra’s head it broke in a thousand pieces.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - “At the present rate of exchange it amounts to considerably over two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.”
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - A visit to the bank, where several thousand pounds were found to be lying to the murderer's credit, completed his gratification.
— from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - My total force was then about thirty-three thousand men.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
