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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.
  1. Your head is all I could ask, for that white bonnet with the rose is quite ravishing.
    — from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  2. And she really has a ravishing smile, and perfect teeth also.
    — from A Daughter of Fife by Amelia E. Barr
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. "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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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

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