Literary notes about heavy (AI summary)
The word "heavy" in literature often serves as a dual metaphor, referring both to tangible mass and to intangible burdens. It describes physical properties—such as the "heavy silken curtains" that drape a room [1] or a "heavy hand" used to smite an enemy [2]—while also conveying emotional weight, as seen when a character laments a debt that "lies heavy on my mind" [3] or endures a "heavy heart" in moments of sorrow [4], [5], [6]. Additionally, it paints atmospheres charged with density and tension, whether in a storm with "heavy rain" [7], oppressive mists [8], or even in military contexts where massed troops or formidable forces are marked as "heavy" [9], [10]. This layered usage enriches narrative textures by merging the physical with the emotional.
- Tom sat up in bed and gazed out from the heavy silken curtains upon this fine company.
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain - The foe's left arm that held him broke, And Ráma too, as swift to smite, Smashed with his heavy hand the right.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - I said, “This debt lies heavy on my mind.”
— from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain - But come, my lord; and with a heavy heart, Thinking on them, go I unto the Tower.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - My heart has been heavy since we parted.'
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - But her heart was very heavy, she longed to be at home, and every day looked wistfully across the lake, waiting for Laurie to come and comfort her.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - The rain was so heavy that, until a plank was found, Napoleon sat in a tent with his feet in water (Savary, vol.
— from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I - Thanks to certain heavy mists, we couldn't see from one end of the platform to the other.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - In a battle with them his heavy infantry was worsted but his cavalry conquered.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 by Cassius Dio Cocceianus - There were seventeen heavy guns in the fort.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
