Literary notes about gold (AI summary)
Throughout literature, the word "gold" is used to evoke a sense of opulence and deeper symbolic meaning. It appears as a literal marker of wealth and beauty in vibrant landscapes and royal settings, where objects and even nature itself seem infused with precious splendor, as seen when birds feed on gold or majestic steeds are bedizened in it [1][2]. At the same time, gold frequently symbolizes inner virtue or transformation—a "heart of gold" hinting at moral worth and the promise of redemption [3]—while contrasting starkly with the mortal and transient, as noted in reflections on the nature of worldly riches versus spiritual values [4].
- Next they reached a country where the birds all fed on gold and silver and copper, and where the herbage grew as high as the pine-trees.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - " Thus she spoke, and Mars gave her his gold-bedizened steeds.
— from The Iliad by Homer - The King's a bawcock and a heart of gold, A lad of life, an imp of fame; Of parents good, of fist most valiant.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Health of the soul in holiness of justice, is better than all gold and silver: and a sound body, than immense revenues.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
