Literary notes about medley (AI summary)
The term medley is frequently employed to evoke a complex, often heterogeneous mixture that enhances both atmosphere and meaning in literature. Writers use it to describe a blend of sounds or visual elements, as in the vivid portrayal of a burst of noise from a ship’s hold [1] or the array of colours enlivening a room’s décor [2]. In narrative and character sketches, medley captures the convergence of diverse ideas, emotions, or social types—from the clash of life’s struggles [3] and the intermingling of historical, religious, and astrological themes [4] to the depiction of groups comprising different classes and cultures [5]. Whether illustrating the chaotic interweaving of thoughts [6] or the nuanced layering of sensory impressions [7][8], the word medley allows authors to convey a rich, sometimes discordant amalgam of components that reflect the multifaceted nature of human experience.
- All at once a violent commotion, accompanied by a medley of sounds, came from the fore part of the hold.
— from The Quest of the 'Golden Hope': A Seventeenth Century Story of Adventure by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman - The walls, covered with specimens of old earthenware, displayed a gay medley of colours, reminding one of cheap coloured prints.
— from His Masterpiece by Émile Zola - I am among them, among their battling bodies in a medley, the joust of life.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - The work is thus a medley of religion, history, and astrology, and in its explanations of customs may be compared to the Αἴτια of Callimachus.
— from The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by Thomas Ross Mills - The people of the place are themselves poor creatures; and are a great medley of different classes.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano - THE SINS OF THE PAST: (In a medley of voices.)
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - As for the walls, they were hung with a medley of pictures.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - You behold around you, it is true, a medley of architectural embellishments.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe