Literary notes about sets (AI summary)
The word “sets” is employed in literature in a wide array of contexts, ranging from initiating actions to establishing states or conditions. In some passages it signals the beginning of movement or change, as when Poe describes a mysterious force that "sets in motion the magic pinions" ([1]) or when Kipling notes simply that "the moon sets" ([2]). In other examples, it is used metaphorically to denote causation or initiation of emotional responses, as seen in Dickens’s characters who "sets me off" ([3]) or in Nietzsche’s exploration of pity that "sets up" reactions ([4]). Additionally, "sets" functions in more concrete contexts—organizing physical objects or groups, such as the "several sets of china" ([5]) or the reproofed collections of errors discussed by Gibbon ([6]). This versatility demonstrates how authors manipulate the term to enhance narrative dynamics, structure descriptions, and illuminate abstract concepts.
- A certain period elapses, and some unseen mysterious principle again sets in motion the magic pinions and the wizard wheels.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - “The moon sets,” he said.
— from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling - "I don't know," he said as he looked at me, "what it is that sets me off again—but—bosh!
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - If one measures the effects of pity by the gravity of the reactions it sets up, its character as a menace to life appears in a much clearer light.
— from The Antichrist by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - The necessary linen was kept in a large press, and in another was the silver plate and several sets of china.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - Both of these sets have been recently completely reproofed with correction of several thousand errors.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
