All 15 Uses of
solemn
in
A Tale of Two Cities
- A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!†
Chpt 1.3solemn = very serious--possibly dignified
- That head Mr. Attorney-General concluded by demanding of them, in the name of everything he could think of with a round turn in it, and on the faith of his solemn asseveration that he already considered the prisoner as good as dead and gone.†
Chpt 2.3
- Sometimes, I have sat here of an evening, until I have fancied—but even the shade of a foolish fancy makes me shudder to-night, when all is so black and solemn—†
Chpt 2.6 *
- Expressive sips of what made them poor, were not wanting; the tax for the state, the tax for the church, the tax for the lord, tax local and tax general, were to be paid here and to be paid there, according to solemn inscription in the little village, until the wonder was, that there was any village left unswallowed.†
Chpt 2.8
- He embraced her, solemnly commended her to Heaven, and humbly thanked Heaven for having bestowed her on him.†
Chpt 2.17solemnly = with seriousness and dignity
- I solemnly swear to you that I know of no harm having happened to Charles; that I had no suspicion even of his being in this fatal place.†
Chpt 3.2
- The slight devices with which she cheated herself into the show of a belief that they would soon be reunited—the little preparations for his speedy return, the setting aside of his chair and his books—these, and the solemn prayer at night for one dear prisoner especially, among the many unhappy souls in prison and the shadow of death—were almost the only outspoken reliefs of her heavy mind.†
Chpt 3.5solemn = very serious--possibly dignified
- These solemn words, which had been read at his father's grave, arose in his mind as he went down the dark streets, among the heavy shadows, with the moon and the clouds sailing on high above him.†
Chpt 3.9
- With a solemn interest in the lighted windows where the people were going to rest, forgetful through a few calm hours of the horrors surrounding them;†
Chpt 3.9
- with a solemn interest in the whole life and death of the city settling down to its short nightly pause in fury;†
Chpt 3.9
- I know from terrible warnings I have noted in myself that my reason will not long remain unimpaired, but I solemnly declare that I am at this time in the possession of my right mind—that my memory is exact and circumstantial—and that I write the truth as I shall answer for these my last recorded words, whether they be ever read by men or not, at the Eternal Judgment-seat.†
Chpt 3.10solemnly = with seriousness and dignity
- Promise me solemnly that nothing will influence you to alter the course on which we now stand pledged to one another.†
Chpt 3.12
- "Man, man!" returned Carton, stamping his foot; "have I sworn by no solemn vow already, to go through with this, that you waste the precious moments now?†
Chpt 3.13solemn = very serious--possibly dignified
- "First," said Mr. Cruncher, who was all in a tremble, and who spoke with an ashy and solemn visage, "them poor things well out o' this, never no more will I do it, never no more!"†
Chpt 3.14
- She kisses his lips; he kisses hers; they solemnly bless each other.†
Chpt 3.15solemnly = with seriousness and dignity
Definitions:
-
(1)
(solemn) in a very serious (and often dignified) manner
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, solemn can mean that something was done with great or appropriate ceremony. It can also be used to describe something as dark or undecorated.