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Literary notes about unspeakable (AI summary)

The term “unspeakable” has long served as a literary device to evoke sensations and states that transcend ordinary description. In some texts, it conjures images of horrifying, ineffable terror—as seen in H. G. Wells’s portrayal of indescribable monstrosities [1] and the grim degradation of humanity [2]—while in others it celebrates transcendent positive experiences, such as the ecstatic joy of battle [3] or the ineffable bliss in moments of farewell [4, 5]. Authors like Thomas Carlyle [6, 7] and Edgar Allan Poe [8, 9] harness the word to articulate extreme emotions that defy easy encapsulation, whether those are passions of rapture or depths of despair. Overall, “unspeakable” is deployed with a remarkable flexibility, highlighting both sublime wonder and abject horror, and lending a sense of boundlessness to experiences that cannot be confined by mere words.
  1. He stared before him at unspeakable things.
    — from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells
  2. All our interest, however, is centered on the Yahoos, a frightful race, having the form and appearance of men, but living in unspeakable degradation.
    — from English Literature by William J. Long
  3. And thus the first battle ended to the unspeakable joy of all the spectators.
    — from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
  4. But an hour later he saw something which filled his heart with bliss unspeakable.
    — from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte
  5. The two lovers gazed at each other's faces in unspeakable bliss.
    — from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte
  6. Nature seemed to this man also divine; unspeakable, deep as Tophet, high as Heaven; "We are such stuff as Dreams are made of!"
    — from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle
  7. As in flame and lightning, it stands written there; awful, unspeakable, ever present to him.
    — from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle
  8. And think of me!—think of my trusting love And confidence—his vows—my ruin—think—think Of my unspeakable misery!—begone!
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  9. But why shall I minutely detail the unspeakable horrors of that night?
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe

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