She raised her eyes/head...

[99bottles]

She raised her eyes to the sky.

In my manuscripts, I have used countless of times such a sentence to describe THIS movement.

However, it has just occurred to me that maybe it is wrong, since when doing that, one doesn't raise just their eyes but their whole head. Am I thinking too much? Or are my fears justified? Should I write raised his/her head instead?

 

[Yankee]

Yes, it would be difficult or unnatural without raising the head. But if someone was, for example, indicating disbelief or possible silent objection it could work.

 

[99bottles]

Yes, it would be difficult or unnatural without raising the head. But if someone was, for example, indicating disbelief or possible silent objection it could work.

So should I write raised his/her head to the sky? Or should I write it in another way?

 

[Yankee]

"Eyes" or "head" would be understood. If the head moves , the eyes will follow.

 

[99bottles]

"Eyes" or "head" would be understood. If the head moves , the eyes will follow.

So, if I leave it as raised her eyes to the sky, is the intended meaning understood?

 

[5jj]

It is.

 

[Skrej]

A related phrase is 'with your face to the sky'. You could still subsitue 'raise' for 'with'.

If you're wanting to be particularly poetic, you could use 'heaven(s)' in place of 'sky'.