Literary notes about centre (AI summary)
In literature, "centre" is a versatile term that can denote both a literal physical position and an abstract core of meaning. In many texts, it marks a precise spatial location—a city’s heart where streets meet ([1]), the geometrical midpoint in technical descriptions ([2]), or even the physical pivot of a ship or structure ([3], [4]). At the same time, authors imbue "centre" with symbolic significance, designating the essential core of life or thought, such as the emotional nucleus of a person’s existence ([5]) or the strategic focal point in military or political conflicts ([6], [7]). From the metaphysical portrayal in myth and poetry ([8], [9]) to the detailed architectural and technical representations ([10], [11]), the word "centre" emerges as an essential motif that underlines both concrete realities and the inner essence of ideas in literature.
- The emperor's palace is in the centre of the city, where the two great streets meet.
— from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World by Jonathan Swift - The distance from the centre of the shaft to the centre of the crank pin is called the crank's throw , which is half of the piston's stroke .
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - I followed Captain Nemo through the waist, and arrived at the centre of the boat.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - In the centre line of the deck ran, the whole length of the vessel, a raised gangway called the corsia , for passage clear of the oars.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano - It is the centre of my life, and all other things about it are subordinate or altogether vain.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - “Being removed from the centre of the 5th Division, it charged and routed a column of the enemy.
— from The Waterloo Roll Call by Charles Dalton - The battle may therefore be regarded as War concentrated, as the centre of effort of the whole War or campaign.
— from On War by Carl von Clausewitz - And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning, Nowhere a centre!
— from The Song Celestial; Or, Bhagavad-Gîtâ (from the Mahâbhârata) - Horus Apollo not knowing the meaning of this has made Egypt the centre of the earth:
— from A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume 1 (of 6) by Jacob Bryant - A cross quarter-pierced (Fig. 176) has the field visible at the centre.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies - The sides of the square will appear to bow towards the centre: this is pin-cushion distortion.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams
