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When he himself saw the head of Pallas cushioned there and his white face, and the open wound torn in that smooth breast by the Italian spear... There he lay like a flower cut by the thumbnail of a young girl a soft violet or drooping lily, still with its sheen and its shape, though Mother Earth no longer feeds it and gives it strength'.

User Darkngs
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Final answer:

The provided excerpts showcase the use of figurative language in English literature to express the harsh contrast between the beauty of life and the brutality of violent deaths. They depict scenes of warfare, personal conflicts, and dark rituals, highlighting themes of mortality and the emotional responses to death and violence.

Step-by-step explanation:

The passage presented for analysis paints a vivid image using figurative language and dark themes, typically found in English literature. In the provided excerpts, there is a recurring motif of death and violence impacting the human body, often described using metaphorical language that compares the physical trauma to nature or beauty, indicating the fragility of life and the brutality of death. The description of the fallen warriors, the woman's fatal wound, or the heart extraction from a living body, all exhibit a stark contrast between life's delicacy and the harshness of violent ends.

Each excerpt uses figurative language to convey deep emotions or profound realizations. In one, a man reacts to the death of a woman he just shot, realizing her feminine identity, signifying the shock and despair of taking a life, especially one mistakenly identified. In another, a character's internal turmoil and fixation on a loved one's tooth demonstrates obsession and a grappling with sanity. Additionally, the passage where a young man is terrified and pleading for understanding amidst witches carrying out a dark ritual illustrates the use of dramatic tension and foreboding in literature.

User Asidis
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