Literary notes about wallow (AI summary)
Wallow is a versatile term in literature, functioning both as a literal depiction of physical movement and as a metaphor for moral or emotional descent. It is often used to describe creatures or characters rolling, lying, or drifting in mud or other substances, as when the ground seems to swallow someone whole or when animals are seen lounging in puddles or depressions [1, 2, 3, 4]. At the same time, writers employ the word to evoke the image of a soul sinking into self-indulgence, disgrace, or even sin—whether it be wallowing in blood, ignorance, or unsavory delights [5, 6, 7, 8]. This layered usage enriches the text by blending tangible, physical descriptions with metaphorical undertones, thereby deepening the emotional and thematic impact of the narrative [9, 10].
- The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Gandy seemed to wallow forward as if the ground had given way beneath him.
— from Reube Dare's Shad Boat: A Tale of the Tide Country by Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir - The wallow was approximately 5 feet long, 3 feet deep and 4 feet wide.
— from Mammals of Washington, Volume 2University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History by Walter Woelber Dalquest - Both perched lightly upon the edge of the buffalo-wallow.
— from Red Hunters and the Animal People by Charles Alexander Eastman - "At a little distance, there was a buffalo wallow, with some filthy water in it.
— from The Story of the Outlaw: A Study of the Western Desperado by Emerson Hough - He ought to be required to wallow in the blood that there was drawn from the veins of Dr. Cronin!
— from The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin by Henry M. Hunt - Shall this blood be spent upon numbers of you, who have no respect to it, but would still wallow in your filthiness?
— from The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Hugh Binning - For from the merciful all these things shall be taken away, and they shall not wallow in sins.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - The same passion which may wallow in the mire is capable of rising to the loftiest heights—of penetrating the inmost secret of philosophy.
— from Symposium by Plato - He wanted to wallow in her, bury himself in her flesh, cover himself over with her flesh.]
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - But the corrupted nature, blindly excited by this vision of beauty, rushes on to enjoy, and would fain wallow like a brute beast in sensual pleasures.
— from Phaedrus by Plato