Literary notes about elysium (AI summary)
The word “elysium” is used in literature to evoke a range of paradisiacal images—from the mythic afterlife to a state of sublime fulfillment on earth. Some authors use it in the classical sense, as a destined abode of the blessed in the netherworld ([1], [2]) while others extend its meaning to represent an ideal state of sensory or emotional delight, suggesting a realm where every sense or desire is gratified ([3], [4]). In various works, elysium becomes a versatile metaphor: it can denote the ultimate reward awaiting a soul, a carefully constructed state of bliss in the midst of mundane existence, or even a bittersweet, elusive promise of perfection ([5], [6], [7]). This multifarious use of the term allows writers to simultaneously invoke ancient mythological imagery and comment on the human longing for an unattainable paradise.
- Elysium was afterwards placed in the netherworld, as by Virgil.
— from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson - ELYSIUM Virgil, we have seen, places his Elysium under the earth, and assigns it for a residence to the spirits of the blessed.
— from The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch - I revelled in a sensuous elysium, which was perfect, because no sense was left ungratified.
— from The Lands of the SaracenPictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain by Bayard Taylor - She was in Elysium—with but one drawback upon her felicity.
— from Alone by Marion Harland - In the days when the inner apartments were as yet far away from me, they were the elysium of my imagination.
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore - With thee life would be an Elysium; without thee 'tis a perpetual blank; a dismal future looms in the distance like the shades of stygian darkness.
— from Fern Vale; or, the Queensland Squatter. Volume 3 by Colin Munro - It was Elysium—the perfection of material enjoyment.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872 A Monthly Magazine by Various
