Wednesday, June 27, 2018

"We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of elementary air. . . ."

"Noi viviamo sommersi nel fondo d’un pelago d’aria elementare. . . ."

"We live submerged at the bottom of a sea of elementary air. . . ."

     Remember:  air was one of the four elements ("uno de'quattro elementi"), and "elementary" had first in English that sense, as in c. 1440, "God is not fyre elementare", or in 1652, "The whole Elementary air being of its owne nature most subtile" (OED).

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