Literary notes about divine (AI summary)
The word “divine” in literature carries a multifaceted resonance, ranging from the sacred and supernatural to expressions of aesthetic perfection and intuitive insight. In many classical and religious texts, it signifies a direct connection to the gods or a manifestation of higher authority, as when an altar is dedicated to Jupiter ([1]) or when divine intercession is invoked ([2]). Poets and novelists often use “divine” to evoke ineffable beauty or moral grandeur, as seen in references that celebrate a being or quality as transcendent and noble ([3], [4], [5]). Moreover, “divine” can also describe the process of intuitively perceiving hidden truths or the inner workings of the human soul, a usage that underlines its metaphoric versatility in literature ([6], [7]).
- [Pg 29] To elicit such knowledge from the divine mind, he dedicated an altar on the Aventine to Jupiter
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - One evening I paid a visit to Lahiri Mahasaya and pleaded for his divine intercession.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - A sudden gleam divine, precipitating, bursting all these bubbles, fashions, wealth?
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman - "It was here I found her, and she is divine beyond all living things.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - Adieu, belle et bonne , quite unequalled, quite divine.
— from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I - At one time they grasp and divine in a moment our most secret thoughts, at another they cannot understand the clearest hints...
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov - Even in the absence of detailed specifications, the experienced practitioner will be able to divine correct proportions, by intuition.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
