Literary notes about halcyon (AI summary)
In literature, "halcyon" is often employed to evoke a sense of an idyllic, almost mythic period of calm and prosperity. Writers use the term to refer nostalgically to bygone eras marked by peace and simple pleasures, as in the depiction of "halcyon days" that recall moments of youthful innocence or a flourishing past [1][2][3]. At times, the word also conjures natural imagery, drawing on the ancient association of the kingfisher with placid weather and tranquil waters, thereby deepening the connection between nature’s serenity and human experiences [4][5]. Whether describing the golden glow of a summer day or contrasting turbulent periods with these blissful intervals, "halcyon" richly layers its narrative with the interplay of time, memory, and the sublime.
- These were the halcyon days of that noted region: the "Lakers," as they were called, were then in their glory.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 65, March, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various - Then.... In fact, those will be halcyon days.
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - He had been a pioneer in California, and could narrate many a strange tale of fortunes made and fortunes lost in those wild, halcyon days.
— from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - Halcyon days, ones of peace and tranquillity; anciently, days of calm weather in mid-winter, when the halcyon, or kingfisher, was supposed to brood.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Pliny relates that the Halcyon, or Kingfisher, at breeding-time, foretold calm and settled weather.
— from Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom by Richard Folkard
