Literary notes about unfathomable (AI summary)
The word “unfathomable” often serves as a powerful metaphor in literature, signifying depths that escape measurement or complete understanding. Writers employ it both in a literal sense—to evoke the immeasurable expanse of the ocean or sky, as in descriptions of vast seas and celestial realms ([1], [2], [3])—and in a figurative sense, where it intensifies the mystery of human emotions or the enigma of a character’s inner life ([4], [5], [6]). This dual usage taps into universal notions of boundlessness and the unknown, inviting readers to ponder the limits of perception and the complexity of existence.
- 640 “ Βαθέα Ponti;” Aristotle refers to this as one of those parts where the sea is unfathomable; Meteor. i. 13.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny - It was a dim, sliver-like rim, alone, as it rushed down the unfathomable ocean.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe - And they saw that it was vast, and wide as the expanse of space, unfathomable, and limitless, and the grand reservoir of water.’
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - And how much that is great, mysterious and unfathomable there is in it!
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The unfathomable eyes gazed ironically and insolently at him.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - And into the unfathomable have I again seemed to sink.
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
