Which of the following elements does not contribute to the dreary mood of this short passage from the novel Bleak House by Charl
es Dickens? "Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little 'prentice boy on deck."
The textual element that does not contribute to the maintenance of a sad atmosphere is the use of the infinitive. The verbs are in their natural state and do not provoke the feeling of sadness. Adjectives and punctuations, for example, bring a more static and obscure character.
