Critics classify Little Gidding as a poem of fire with an emphasis on purgation and the Pentecostal fire . The beginning of the poem discusses time and winter , with attention paid to the arrival of summer . The images of snow , which provoke desires for a spiritual life , transition into an analysis of the four classical elements of fire , earth , air and water and how fire is the primary element of the four . Following this is a discussion on death and destruction , things unaccomplished , and regret for past events .