Literary notes about haste (AI summary)
The word "haste" is employed across literature to evoke urgency and impulsiveness, often signaling a rush toward action or decision. In some works, it functions as an imperative command, urging characters to swiftly confront danger or seize opportunity—for instance, as a summons to quick escape or decisive confrontation ([1], [2], [3]). In other contexts, it reveals themes of impetuosity and regret, highlighting the perils of acting without sufficient deliberation ([4], [5]). Its versatility is further evident in both the dramatic rhetoric of classical epics and the nuanced character interactions of later novels, thereby underscoring a longstanding literary tradition where urgency, whether virtuous or ill-considered, shapes narrative momentum ([6], [7]).
- My father, looking thro’ the shades, with fear, Cried out: ‘Haste, haste, my son, the foes are nigh; Their swords and shining armour I descry.’
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - Make haste, for there is no time to lose.
— from Twice-told tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne - DUKE Write from us to him; post-post-haste despatch.
— from Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare - Act in haste and repent at leisure—and often in pain.
— from The Aesop for Children by Aesop - He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
— from Christine: A Fife Fisher Girl by Amelia E. Barr - Injurious time now with a robber’s haste Crams his rich thiev’ry up, he knows not how.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - “If we make haste,” said Lydia, as they walked along, “perhaps we may see something of Captain Carter before he goes.”
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
