All 4 Uses of

descend

in

Black Boy

"And at last the darkness of the night descended and softly kissed the surface of the watery grave and the only sound was the lonely rustle of the ancient trees," I wrote as I penned the final line.
Chpt 1.4 *

descended = arrived

The actual experience would have let me see the realistic outlines of what was really happening, but as long as it remained something terrible and yet remote, something whose horror and blood might descend upon me at any moment, I was compelled to give my entire imagination over to it, an act which blocked the springs of thought and feeling in me, creating a sense of distance between me and the world in which I lived.
Chpt 1.8

descend = come suddenly

Line by line, row by row, the fantastic men in their wild colors were descending straight at me, trotting, their feet pounding the earth like someone beating a vast drum.†
Chpt 1.2

I was conscious that she had descended to my own emotional level in her effort to rule me, and my respect for her sank.†
Chpt 1.4 *

Definitions:

(1) (descend as in: descend the mountain)
move or slope downward
(2) (descend as in: in descending order)
move down a scale -- as from larger numbers to smaller, or higher notes to lower
(3) (descend as in: descend from royalty)
figuratively, to have come down a path from the past; i.e., to originate or come from -- such as in reference to ancestors or evolutionary origins
(4) (descend as in: descend into poverty)
figuratively, to move downward to a worse or less prestigious situation
(5) (descend as in: descend into deeper thought)
to move from a higher level of abstraction downward to a lower one (from more general to more specific); or to move from superficial to deeper thought
(6) (descend as in: thieves descended upon us)
to come or arrive -- especially suddenly or from above or as an attack