Literary notes about beleaguered (AI summary)
Literary works employ "beleaguered" to evoke a powerful image of entities—be they cities, armies, or individuals—pressured by relentless external forces or internal despair. The word frequently conveys the idea of something under siege, as with a well-protected yet surrounded force ([1]) or a city that, long oppressed, turns inward and betrays itself ([2]). It equally captures the plight of isolated groups and leaders burdened by overwhelming odds ([3], [4], [5]), while also lending a metaphorical depth to portray states of emotional exhaustion or societal decline ([6], [7], [8]). This dual use, both literal and figurative, enriches narratives by underlining themes of struggle, endurance, and the desperate search for relief in the face of adversity ([9], [10], [11]).
- The beleaguered force, as we have seen, was well protected.
— from Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia by William Gilmore Simms - So cities, long beleaguered, take defeat— Unto themselves half traitors.
— from The Song of Hugh Glass by John G. Neihardt - A fierce fight in the dark was ended after dawn in favour of Montfort by a timely sally of the beleaguered garrison.
— from The History of EnglandFrom the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) by T. F. (Thomas Frederick) Tout - Meanwhile, the lord of the beleaguered and endangered castle lay upon a bed of bodily pain and mental agony.
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - But the beleaguered little garrison, though a small band, were true to themselves.
— from Los GringosOr, An Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia by H. A. (Henry Augustus) Wise - Armies are marshalled; battles ensue; Washington itself is beleaguered; the Republic trembles with peril.
— from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 16 (of 20) by Charles Sumner - Every day there was a panic of some kind in the beleaguered city,—some rumor, true or false, to stir men's souls.
— from France in the Nineteenth Century by Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer - Time wore on, and the beleaguered camp became again a prey to gloom.
— from The Forest Runners: A Story of the Great War Trail in Early Kentucky by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler - The governor and garrison took refuge in a convent, where for three months they were closely beleaguered.
— from The Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole - The demands of the beleaguered garrison, however, upon the States and upon Leicester were most pressing.
— from History of the United Netherlands, 1587c by John Lothrop Motley - Scamander, beleaguered by Achilles, 3. 391 B .
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato