Colette’s last fire of the year

In this passage from Sido, Colette applies all of her poetic talent to suggest the various facets of the last fire of the year. It evokes the spring sunshine that causes flowers to spring from the earth; it brings back the memory of her wild, wordless childhood; and finally, it illuminates her friend’s melancholy smile, and the beauty of her nude body, beside the joyfully dancing flames.