Literary notes about phosphorescent (AI summary)
The term “phosphorescent” is employed in literature to evoke images of mysterious, gentle luminescence that emerges against the deep canvas of darkness. In some narratives, it lends an almost otherworldly beauty to vast oceans and eerie underwater realms, as seen with the glowing seas and creatures described in Jules Verne’s works [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. At the same time, the adjective is used more intimately to characterize fleeting, spectral details—whether in the glow of a pair of haunted eyes or in the soft radiance of fungi on damp walls—which adds a layer of both wonder and foreboding to the scene [7, 8, 9, 10]. In scientific contexts within literary texts, “phosphorescent” further bridges art and fact, meticulously describing chemical reactions or natural bio-luminescence [11, 12]. Through these varied uses, the word encapsulates both the enchanting and the uncanny qualities of light, enriching the reader’s experience with vivid, shimmering imagery.
- The Nautilus floated in the midst of a phosphorescent bed which, in this obscurity, became quite dazzling.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - It was ever nearing that phosphorescent light which showed the presence of the Nautilus.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - It drew nearer, always moving toward the phosphorescent glow that signaled the Nautilus's presence.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - Then it moved away two or three miles, leaving a phosphorescent track, like those volumes of steam that the express trains leave behind.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - This was no mere phosphorescent phenomenon, that much was unmistakable.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - They were blue sharks, dreadful man–eaters with enormous tails, dull, glassy stares, and phosphorescent matter oozing from holes around their snouts.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - And in a perfect darkness, such as could be produced by velvet wrapping, the crystal did undoubtedly appear very faintly phosphorescent.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - Their faces are phosphorescent, with darker streaks.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce - (He sticks out a flickering phosphorescent scorpion tongue, his hand on his fork.)
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - Against this background the furniture and occupants of the class-room, it seems, stood out like phosphorescent spectres, faint and impalpable.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - Addition of one part in a million of some heavy metal to pure CaS will confer phosphorescent properties on the latter.
— from The Nature of Animal Light by E. Newton (Edmund Newton) Harvey - Adj. self-luminous, glowing; phosphoric|!, phosphorescent, fluorescent; incandescent; luminescent, chemiluminescent; radiant &c. (light) 420.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget
