In literature, the term "pitch" is frequently employed as a vivid color descriptor to evoke an overwhelming sense of darkness and mystery. Writers use phrases like "pitch dark" or "pitch-black" ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]) to quickly establish a setting that is not merely devoid of light but also rich in symbolic undertones of despair, foreboding, or the unknown. By comparing a night to "black as pitch" ([6]) or having characters navigate through "pitch-blackness" ([10]), authors harness this color metaphor to intensify the atmosphere and evoke strong emotional responses, making the darkness almost a character in its own right.
- Coming back, no one would see her landing; for it would be pitch dark in the backwater.
— from The Works of John Galsworthy
An Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Galsworthy by John Galsworthy
- It was pitch-black outside, with the moon not yet up.
— from Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works by John Galsworthy
- It was pitch dark and gloomy.
— from Don Hale with the Flying Squadron by W. Crispin (William Crispin) Sheppard
- It's pitch dark.
— from The Confessions of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc
- The night was pitch dark, and the rain had set in heavily, but although his walk was not an agreeable one he was in high spirits.
— from By Conduct and Courage: A Story of the Days of Nelson by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
- It was black as pitch, for the windows were heavily shuttered.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
- These lights, therefore, cause that the inhabitants of this church in the wilderness see their way through the dark pitch night of this world.
— from Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by John Bunyan
- The night was as dark as pitch.
— from The Red Battle Flyer by Richthofen, Manfred, Freiherr von
- The passage was close and difficult, and as dark as any black pitch; but it was not long (be it as it might), and in that there was some comfort.
— from Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore
- Save for the lightning, pitch blackness enveloped them.
— from Stella Maris by William John Locke
- An elephant is a very short-sighted beast, and it was pitch-dark.
— from Guns of the Gods: A Story of Yasmini's Youth by Talbot Mundy
- It's pitch dark, and you don't know the way!
— from Her Lord and Master by Martha Morton
- Nothing?" "Nothin' whatever," said Robert, decidedly; "it be as dark as pitch."
— from Miscellanea by Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing
- It was just five o’clock, an hour which rather surprised the boys, as it was still pitch dark outside.
— from The Mystery Hunters at the Haunted Lodge by Capwell Wyckoff
- "It was pitch dark; and, by George!
— from Wenderholme: A Story of Lancashire and Yorkshire by Philip Gilbert Hamerton
- Letting myself in, I found myself in a pitch-dark passage.
— from The Crime and the Criminal by Richard Marsh
- There was nothing to do but to walk forward; which I did through passage after passage, pitch-dark.
— from The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton