Literary notes about twinkle (AI summary)
In literature, “twinkle” emerges as a versatile device that both illuminates characters’ inner lives and enlivens the natural world. It is frequently used to indicate a playful or knowing gleam in a character’s eye, as when subtle humor or secret complicity is revealed through a “merry twinkle” ([1]) or a mischief-filled look ([2], [3]). Beyond character details, “twinkle” also vividly captures the ephemeral shimmer of the night sky, lending a lyrical, almost magical quality to the description of stars and distant lights ([4], [5], [6]). At times it bridges private emotion with nature’s splendor, suggesting an almost invisible, fleeting moment of insight or hope that enhances both intimate dialogue and grand, sweeping imagery ([7], [8], [9]).
- “To be sure, Tommy,” said East demurely, but with a merry twinkle in his eye.
— from Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes - “What’s up, then?” asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - This IS luck," he declared; and she caught a twinkle of amused curiosity between his screwed-up lids.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices.
— from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson - "Twinkle, twinkle, little star: How I wonder what you are, Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky!"
— from The Nursery, February 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 2A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers by Various - [284] Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!
— from Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes - In a twinkle, another year and more slipped by, and when least expected, the mother of his ward, née Chia, was carried away after a short illness.
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao - Father, twinkle not thy stedfast sight; Kingdoms lapse, and climates change, and races die; Honour comes with mystery; Hoarded wisdom brings delight.
— from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson - I fear thy poor bones are mightily sore," quoth Little John soberly, but with a sly twinkle in his eyes.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
