Literary notes about rash (AI summary)
Across the literary spectrum, "rash" has been employed as a versatile adjective describing impulsive, impetuous, and sometimes foolhardy actions. In many works, it denotes the youthful and brash impetuosity that authors warn against—as in the admonitions of Pope and Dickens ([1], [2], [3])—while also characterizing bold, reckless military or political decisions, evident in historical narratives and epic poetry ([4], [5], [6]). At times the term extends beyond human behavior to capture natural phenomena and animalistic impulses, like Melville’s simile of a "rash, restive horse" ([7]). Moreover, "rash" is often juxtaposed with prudence and careful deliberation, serving as a cautionary marker in advice and moral meditation across genres, from Emerson’s reflective essays ([8], [9]) to the intimate domestic concerns voiced in novels by Alcott and Forster ([10], [11], [12]). This layered usage underscores the enduring literary preoccupation with the tension between spontaneous action and measured restraint.
- Ah cease, rash youth!
— from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope - Young men are rash, very rash.’
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - My goodness me!’ exclaimed Mrs Nickleby, with a half-simper, ‘suppose he was to go doing anything rash to himself.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - He was a bold man, one of those who had carried out, on the morning of the 24th February, the rash surprise of the Hôtel de Ville.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - Rash, impious man!
— from The Iliad by Homer - The Sabines were routed in every quarter, and even when fighting no longer were cut down by the Romans, their rash confidence proving ruinous to them.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch - In fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is said to feel his oats, so Turkey felt his coat.
— from Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street by Herman Melville - Why insist on rash personal relations with your friend?
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - If the hive be disturbed by rash and stupid hands, instead of honey it will yield us bees.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - I won't be rash, but I think I'll try it,"
— from Work: A Story of Experience by Louisa May Alcott - “But you won’t do anything rash, Margaret?”
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - Be patient, Jo, don't get despondent or do rash things; write to me often, and be my brave girl, ready to help and cheer us all.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott