Literary notes about line (AI summary)
The term "line" in literature wears many hats, symbolizing both clear, physical demarcations and abstract concepts. It can denote a literal geometric or drawn line—as noted in discussions of precision and form in art and mathematics [1, 2]—or serve as a measure of textual organization, marking the end of a verse or the formal beginning of a piece [3, 4, 5]. The word gains further significance when used to indicate ancestry or succession, evoking a sense of continuity or legacy in narratives about noble descent and family heritage [6, 7, 8]. In battle scenes or strategic descriptions, it lays out the arrangement of troops or the front of an advancing force [9, 10], while in more evocative passages, a line may contour natural boundaries, subtly drawing the reader’s eye to the interplay of land and sea [11]. Thus, "line" operates on multiple levels, bridging the gap between concrete structure and metaphorical insight.
- A line of equal thickness is a very dead and inexpressive thing compared with one varied and stressed at certain points.
— from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed - — solution The line A B in the following diagram represents the side of a square having the same area as the cross.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - The last line of this poem is a little obscured by transposition.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb - Albert opened the letter with fear, uttered a shriek on reading the first line, and seized the paper.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - A similar verse underneath those portraits forms the concluding line of each page.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - He was the fifth lord of his line who died in combat with the infidels.
— from The Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole - Also he added, that the son to be born of her was of his own line, and that he wished him to be named Ubbe.
— from The Danish History, Books I-IX by Grammaticus Saxo - Thomas Arnold says: ‘That Sceaf, Scyld, and Beaw were among the legendary ancestors of the West Saxon line of kings no one disputes.
— from The Story of Beowulf, Translated from Anglo-Saxon into Modern English Prose - It numbered seven ships-of-the-line and six frigates, besides smaller vessels, and carried twenty-eight hundred troops.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. Mahan - If guns can be so placed as to enfilade a line of troops, a most powerful effect is produced.
— from The Art of War by baron de Antoine Henri Jomini - Sometimes, too, was seen a sail so distant, that it served only to mark the line of separation between the sky and the waves.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe
