Literary notes about soot (AI summary)
In literature, soot is often invoked as a striking shade of black that not only conveys physical darkness but also suggests mystery or a weathered quality. For example, it appears as a pigment alongside colors like vermilion and ocher in decorative rituals, emphasizing its role as a marker of rich, earthy hue ([1]). Writers also employ soot in vivid similes, comparing the blackness of venison and the legs of a red roan to soot, thereby amplifying its intense, inky character ([2], [3]). Additionally, authors sometimes attribute the very color of natural elements to soot—as in the case of snowdrops described as "soot-coloured"—to evoke an arresting, if somber, visual contrast with their surroundings ([4]). In these ways, the color "soot" emerges as a powerful literary device, symbolizing not just physical staining but deeper aesthetic and thematic layers.
- They lived in wigwams, wore Indian dress, decorated their long hair with eagle feathers, and made their faces hideous with vermilion, ocher, and soot.
— from A School History of the United States by John Bach McMaster - It consisted of lean beef, and venison as black as soot, with plenty of milk; but as for bread we had none of any description.
— from The Three Perils of Man; or, War, Women, and Witchcraft, Vol. 2 (of 3) by James Hogg - Red roan, with legs as black as soot.
— from The Night Riders: A Romance of Early Montana by Ridgwell Cullum - Naturally, bulbs were the most satisfactory things, and Crocus, Narcissus and Tulip were joyful, but soot-coloured Snowdrops were not inspiring.
— from The Book of Town & Window Gardening by Frances A. Bardswell
