Literary notes about dam (AI summary)
The word “dam” plays a strikingly versatile role in literature, its meanings shifting according to context and time. In some texts it vividly represents a natural structure, whether in “trapping the beaver in his dam” [1] or describing how water is controlled and directed by a barrier [2], [3]. In other instances, it serves as shorthand for a maternal figure, echoing traditional terms for “mother” [4], [5]. Authors like Shakespeare also exploit its potential for wordplay and expletive force, coining phrases such as “the devil’s dam” to underscore a character’s brusque attitude [6], [7]. This multifaceted usage demonstrates how a single word can cater to diverse literary needs, from the literal construction of nature to the symbolic representation of nurturing and even the colorful edge of colloquial speech.
- Child of the forest, here he roamed, Nor spoke nor thought of fear, As he trapped the beaver in his dam, And chased the bounding deer.
— from Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding - In the night, Han Hsin ordered his men to take some ten thousand sacks filled with sand and construct a dam higher up.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - When they have got this quantity, the dam is full, and the whole stream which flows in afterwards must run over.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - motherhood, maternity; mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias[Lat], grandmother.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - THE LAMB I T jumped the chequered wall, The bleating little lamb, And snatched a bunch of grass To feed its hungry dam.
— from Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes - Why, she’s a devil, a devil, the devil’s dam.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Why, then she is the devil's dam; A joyful issue.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
