Writers employ "mist" to evoke atmospheres of mystery, transition, and ambiguity. It often cloaks landscapes or figures, creating blurred boundaries between reality and the unseen, as when a lone figure vanishes behind a drifting cloud [1] or when the terrain is shrouded, transforming familiar scenes into realms of uncertainty [2]. Sometimes, mist assumes a symbolic role—embodying divine presence or the ephemeral nature of life [3], [4]—while at other times it serves as a natural veil that both hides and reveals, setting a tone of eerie suspension or wistful melancholy [5], [6]. Across these varied contexts, the mist emerges as a versatile literary device, seamlessly blending the physical with the metaphoric.
- Then I saw them no more in their place, but a mist or cloud came between and hid them from my sight.
— from The Argonautica by Rhodius Apollonius
- But all I saw was the deep blue sky above, with one solitary star, and the white mist spreading wide and low beneath.
— from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
- And this mist is surely the goddess herself, and in another place also in the poem he says,) ἠέρα δ᾽
— from The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1 by Emperor of Rome Julian
- To aid her, swift the winged Iris flew, Wrapt in a mist above the warring crew.
— from The Iliad by Homer
- There’s a little flower up yonder, the last bud from the multitude of bluebells that clouded those turf steps in July with a lilac mist.
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- Thus we learned their name, and we stood watching them go, till their white tunic was lost in the blue mist.
— from Anthem by Ayn Rand