Words and phrases having something to do with “fire” (such as “stoke"--or am I too bold here?) seem to me to appear frequently in reference to emotional state, such as feelings, especially of passion: “burning,” “fired up,” “fired his imagination,” “hot and bothered,” “fiery personality,” “firebrand,” “blazing,” and “burning brightly,” etc.
etymonline offers:
...Fire applied in English to passions, feelings, from mid-14c…
It was not too long ago that fire was considered to be a basic or a “classical element.” I seem to recall that as a classical element, “fire” was sometimes considered to be “animate” or “alive” i.e., “having life,” or the stuff of life, “spirit.” If so with “fire,” might the other classical elements (water, air, earth, and, sometimes, aether or “space") offer up similarly rooted words and phrases easily related to feelings and passion, embedded in our lexicon? They almost seem to, though mildly and to a much lesser degree than “fire” upon cursory investigation. “Airy spirit,” “air head,” “space cowboy,” “spaced out,” “space cadet,” etc. This may be a rich area for further investigation.
It may be too much to expect that ideas or concepts having root in or something common in general with the other classical elements have extensive association with words and phrases describing spirit, passion, or emotional state such as I suspect with things having to do with “fire.” Such as “stoke.” [WAG]
