Literary notes about low (AI summary)
The word “low” serves as a multifaceted descriptor in literature, functioning both as an indicator of physical position and as a marker of tone, mood, or social status. It can denote a specific placement, as in landscapes or structures that lie near the ground ([1], [2]), or characterize the quality of sound—often suggesting a hushed, intimate, or somber tone through portrayals of low voices or murmurs ([3], [4], [5]). Additionally, “low” can convey emotional or moral sentiments, whether expressing low spirits ([6], [7]), hinting at inferiority or low status ([8], [9]), or even alluding to economic modesty and simplicity ([10], [11], [12]). Thus, authors use “low” to evoke precise sensory images and to subtly infuse narratives with layered meanings.
- The islets of Westman appeared to leap from the ocean, being so low in the water as scarcely to be seen until you were right upon them.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - He was thirty or forty miles away, in reality, but he only seemed removed a little beyond the low ridge at our right.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without closing the trap—but I made him no reply.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - “Aye, he knows thee,” said Dickon in his low voice again.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - ‘How do you like the Queen?’ said the Cat in a low voice.
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Raoul returned to the inn feeling very weary, very low-spirited and very sad.
— from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - The symptoms of Natásha’s illness were that she ate little, slept little, coughed, and was always low-spirited.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - But thou hast said he was low-caste and discourteous.' 'Low-caste I did not say, for how can that be which is not?
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - “I think such low creatures ought not to be allowed to go round to genteel families,” said Miss Jane.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - Members can call in to buy at very low prices.
— from The Online World by Odd De Presno - It is because high or low wages and profit must be paid, in order to bring a particular commodity to market, that its price is high or low.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - Mi aĉetis kafon po malalta prezo , I bought coffee at a low price .
— from A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman Reed
