Encircling

Beside him lay a little child, with her round white arms encircling his brown sinewy neck; and her golden-haired head resting upon the breast of his velveteen tunic.

Earth’s magnetic environment traps electrons and ions in concentric belts encircling the planet. These belts, called the Van Allen Radiation Belts, keep most of the high-energy particles at bay.

On the 11th of December of 2021, I sat in the Christmas-decorated cafe with my oat milk latte. Hans the Netherlander rolled in with his wheelchair. He said that he had eggnog with rum at home, and then it was time for coffee. We talked about astronomy, our real shared interest. The James Webb Space Telescope is being prepared for launch in French Guiana. If successful, it could provide much better clarity of images of space objects. USA, EU, UAE, India, and PRC are all roving on or encircling Mars with their robots. Mars would be humanity's second planetary home, some would hope.

China is encircling Taiwan.

In the painting, George Washington is depicted seated in uniform, rising to the heavens with a rainbow at his feet. At either side are female figures representing Liberty and Victory. Encircling him are 13 maidens, each with a star overhead, symbolizing the first states of the union. They hold a banner with the national motto in Latin, "E Pluribus Unum", or "out of many, one."

She felt safe in her mother's encircling arms.

If, however, a series of motifs conjoin in their encirclings of a theme - within and beyond the "subtext" - they enliven the interplay among themselves and with the theme to which they are attracted over the turbulent abyss of time and space.