Literary notes about Smoldering (AI summary)
The word "smoldering" often conveys a sense of latent intensity in literature. It is used to depict physical remnants of fire—embers in logs or ruins that suggest a hidden, volatile energy—as when logs continue to glow on a cool morning [1] or when a cabin remains a "smoldering mass" in a clearing [2]. At the same time, "smoldering" is frequently applied metaphorically to describe emotions simmering beneath the surface. A character may harbor a "smoldering defiance" or a "smoldering fire" within their eyes, hinting at deep-seated anger, longing, or resentment waiting to ignite [3, 4, 5]. This dual usage, both literal and figurative, enriches the narrative by suggesting that beneath calm exteriors there often lies a powerful and potentially explosive inner state [6, 7].
- The forge had been removed; and instead there were some logs smoldering there, for the morning was cool.
— from The Ten-foot Chain; or, Can Love Survive the Shackles? A Unique Symposium by E. K. (Eldred Kurtz) Means - He did not go nearer to the smoldering mass of the cabin, but slinking low, made his way about the circle of the clearing to the dog corral.
— from Baree, Son of Kazan by James Oliver Curwood - “No”—her eyes were somber, smoldering—“she hates me!”
— from Ainslee's magazine, Volume 16, No. 3, October, 1905 by Various - An anger, smoldering in his soul, burst into flame.
— from Doors of the Night by Frank L. (Frank Lucius) Packard - There was a smoldering fire in his dark eyes, a stern compression of his lips, that boded ill for the granting of her prayer.
— from Laurel Vane; or, The Girls' Conspiracy by Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. - I dare say it was a flickering up of the smoldering fires of hostility.
— from The Land of Frozen Suns: A Novel by Bertrand W. Sinclair - "If you'd ever known what it was to be starving—" Her smoldering anger broke into a flame.
— from The Big-Town Round-Up by William MacLeod Raine
