light of one's eye

English

Noun

light of one's eye (plural lights of one's eye)

1. One's beloved.
   • 2009, Gholam Reza Afkhami, The Life and Times of the Shah, page 24:

     Mohammad Reza was his father's love — the light of his eye, as the Persian saying goes.

   • 2010, David Luders, Cataclysm, page 91:

     Simeti, the bright light of his eye, had perished in the fire and smoke and thunder. And bitterest of all was that he, Songiterr, had sent him to his dreadful, fiery doom.

   • 2012 -, Caroline Finkel, Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923:

     The Princes are my sons and the light of my eye.

2. The way one's eye's sparkle with joy and life.
   • 1828, Mrs. Hemans, The Poetical Works of Mrs. Felicia Hemans - Volume 2, page 44:

     We look'd for the youth of the sunny glance, Whose step was the fleetest in the chase or dance! The light of his eye was a joy to see,

   • 1834, William Leete Stone, Tales and Sketches: Such as They are, page 68:

     The regularity of his features, and the light of his eye, presented a countenance worthy of the chisel of Praxitiles.

   • 2000, Julia Louisa Dumont, Sandra A. Parker, Tecumseh and Other Stories of the Ohio River Valley, page 37:

     Tecumseh listened with a gloomy kind of submission; the playful animation of childhood no longer gladdened his countenance; the joyous light of his eye was quenched, and a settled shade rested on those features, that were wont to beam with pleasure.