Literary notes about ravishing (AI summary)
In literature, “ravishing” is employed as a versatile adjective to evoke a sense of overwhelming beauty and allure that transcends mere physical attractiveness. Authors use the term to describe not only a person’s stunning appearance—such as a beguiling smile or an exquisitely charming visage seen in [1], [2], and [3]—but also to capture the essence of sensory experiences, from the captivating strains of music in [4] and [5] to an enchanting fragrance or visual panorama as in [6] and [7]. It often carries an almost otherworldly, transcendent quality, implying that the subject—whether a person, a sound, or a scene—possesses an irresistible, almost magical charm, capable of inspiring deep emotional responses as noted in [8] and [9]. This rich connotation allows “ravishing” to bridge the tangible and the sublime within literary depictions.
- Your head is all I could ask, for that white bonnet with the rose is quite ravishing.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - And she really has a ravishing smile, and perfect teeth also.
— from A Daughter of Fife by Amelia E. Barr - I had not seen her for seventeen years, but she looked as beautiful and ravishing as ever as she came forward on the stage.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - And hath not he, that built the walls of Thebes With ravishing sound of his melodious harp, Made music with my Mephistophilis?
— from The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe - Her voice was enchantingly sweet, and she touched the lute with the most ravishing dexterity.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - "Ah," she cried, "how delicious must have been the liquid which has left behind so ravishing a smell."
— from Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Aesop - At once she was caught in a web of ravishing music and dazzled by a panorama of lights and colours.
— from The Four Million by O. Henry - Need I say what an ardent fire that ravishing sight sent coursing through my veins?
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - As he wept, daylight penetrated more and more clearly into his soul; an extraordinary light; a light at once ravishing and terrible.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo