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The Poetic Imagination Of Colette

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The Poetic Imagination Of Colette

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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zoob Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 75-1084 VIRK, Rosemary Smith* 1943- THE POETIC IMAGINATION OF COLETTE. University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1974 Language and Literature, m odern Xerox University Microfilms , Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 © Copyright by ROSEMARY SMITH VIRK 1974 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE POETIC IMAGINATION OF COLETTE by Rosemary Smith Virk A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (French) June 1974 UNIVERSITY OF SO UTHERN CALIFORNIA TH E GRADUATE SCHOOL U N IV E R S ITY PARK LOS ANOELES. C A LIF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7 This dissertation, written by Rosemary Smith Virk under the direction of Dissertation Com mittee, and approved by all its members, has been presented to and accepted by The Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of requirements of the degree of D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y : -Iff ° Dttn Date. . j DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ^ ............ ^ Chttrmsn .... .. To Gurbachan, wise like Colette and appreciative of the simple life, close to nature, which she enjoyed so much. ii PREFACE My heartfelt thanks and appreciation go to Professor Norma Lorre Goodrich of Scripps College, whose genuine interest and astute suggestions have been a source of inspiration for me during the writing of this dissertation. My debt to her will always be great. I would like to express my gratitude to Professors Michelle Buchanan and James H. Durbin, Jr. for their advice as members of the dissertation committee and for their editorial comments, which have been most helpful. To those who have offered encouragement during my study at the University of Southern California— in particular, Dean Joan M. Schaefer and Emeritus Professor Tema Shults Clare— I am especially grateful. 1 would also like to thank my mentors in the Department of French and Italian, Professors Max L. Berkey, Jr. and Arthur J. Knodel, who have guided my progress towards three university degrees. ill TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ABBREVIATIONS USED FOR WORKS BY COLETTE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. IMAGERY OF THE AIR Air as Matter (22) Odor (24) Wind (27) The Past (33) Air and Fire (39) Flight (43) Lightness (56) CHAPTER II. IMAGERY OF THE SKY Ascent (61) The Sky (64) Blue and Rose as Sky Colors (69) Celestial Bodies (86) The Sky and the Sea (93) The Sky Versus the Earth (98) CHAPTER III. IMAGERY OF LIGHT Claudine's Garden (105) Light from the Sky (111) Dawn: Symbol of Birth and Rebirth Rhythm of Light and Seasons (129) A Mythical View of Life (142) Lamp Light (153) Reflected Light (156) Darkness (162) CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY ill v 1 22 60 103 (117) 167 175 iv ABBREVIATIONS USED FOR WORKS BY COLETTE A.P.M. A portee de la main A.Q. Aventures quotldiennes B.S. Belles saisons C.E. La Chambre eclairee C.H. Chambre d'hotel C.M. Claudine en menage D. D. B. Douze dialogues de betes D.L.F. Dans la foule D.M.F. De ma fenetre D.R. Discours de reception E.P.C. En pays connu E.V. L'Etoile Vesper F.A. La Fleur de l'age F.B. Le Fanal bleu F.C. La Femme cachee I.L. L'Ingenue libertine J.I. Journal Intermittent J.N. La Jumelle noire J.R. Journal A rebours M. Melanges M.A. Mes apprentissages M.C. La Maison de Claudine v M.Cah. Me8 cahlers N.J. La Naissance du lour P.C.B. La Paix chez lea betea P.E.P. Priaona et paradia P.H. Pour un herbier P.I. Le Pur et l'lmpur P.P. Payaages et portraita S. Sido T.S.N. Trola, six, neuf T.T. Trait pour trait V.E. Le Voyage egolate V.V. Lea Vrllles de la vlgne vl INTRODUCTION Le style pour l'ecrivain aussl blen que pour le pelntre est une question non de technique mais de vision. II est la revelation, qul seralt Impossible par les moyens directs et consclents de la difference qualitative qu'll y a entre la fagon dont nous apparalt le monde, difference que s'11 n'y avalt pas l1art, resterait le secret eternal de chacun. — Marcel Proust This critical study was undertaken not just out of admiration for the literary style of Gabrielle-Sidonie Colette,^ who has long been acclaimed for her mastery in this art. This author's non- fictional works exhibit, in addition to technical expertise in the use of language, a distinctive outlook on the world. The literary persona, Colette, who emerges from Gabrielle-Sidonie Colette's first person writing exemplifies a positive approach to life. Colette manifests strength of character and independence of thought in both the personal ethics suggested in her work and in her autonomy from literary move ments. Having opted for laughter, not "larmoiement," in her literary expression, she makes the best of life's difficulties. Her non fiction radiates vigor, joie de vivre and love of the outdoors. In short, Colette's work inspires, in a manner more convincing than many ^-Madeleine Raaphorst-Rousseau states that Madame Colette was baptized Sldonle-Gabrlelle Colette, and her given names often appear in this order in critical works. We will follow Madame Colette's example as given in Le Fanal bleu and call her Gabrielle-Sidonie Golette (Oeuvres completes, Vol. XIV [Paris: Flammarion, 1950], p. 137). See Raaphorst-Rousseau's Colette: sa vie et son art (Paris: A.-G. Nlzet, 1964), p. 30. 1 2 formal treatises, a philosophy of living. During the fifty-three year span of her literary career, com mencing with her first published novel in 1900 and continuing until one year before her death in 1954, Colette produced a vast body of literature: fifteen volumes of complete works, three posthumous vol umes, six volumes of correspondence^ and more letters still unpub lished. Her literary expression took varied forms, including novels, short stories, collections of autobiographical reminiscences, lyrical meditations and anecdotes, journals, theatre reviews and articles for periodicals,^ stage adaptations of her novels^ and other theatrical productions.^ Colette is best known for her fictional works. Many of 2 Colette supervised publication of the "Le Fleuron" edition of the Oeuvres completes (Paris: Flammarion, 1948-50). Volume XV con tains a detailed bibliography of her major and minor works and all editions appearing before January 1, 1950. ^Correspondence already published includes that with Francis Jammes (line Amitie inattendue, 1945), Helene Picard (Lettres H HelSne Picard. 1958), Marguerite Moreno (Lettres & Marguerite Moreno. 1959) , Renee Hamon (Lettres au Petit Corsalre. 1963) and two volumes entitled Lettres de la Vagabonde (1961) and Lettres & ses pairs (1973). ^Colette contributed regularly to La Vie Parisienne, Demain (fashion reviews), La Revue de Paris, L'Eclair, Gringoire. Le Journal, Selection (theatre reviews), Le Matin (literary editor and contributor of theatre reviews, reports and short stories), Vogue (reports), Figaro ("Opinions d'une femme"), Paris-Soir (reports), Le Petit Pari- sien (reports) and La Republlque (reports). ^In collaboration with Leopold Marchand, Colette wrote stage adaptations of Cheri (1922) , and La Vagabonde (1923). Colette herself appeared on stage in the role of Lea. ^Colette wrote the libretto for the "fantaisie lyrique," L1Enfant et les sortileges (1925), for which Maurice Ravel composed the music. Her other dramatic works include La Decapitee (1935), which she terms a "fSerie-ballet," and En camarades (1948), a play in two acts. Colette's minor workB also include thirteen contributions to her short stories written with a first-person narrator are actually anecdotes based on a real event.^ Colette's non-fictional books include material written in a lyrical manner, such as that of her meditations and autobiographical reminiscences (some of which are fictionalized), and the more objectively written material of her jour nals and anecdotes. Often a single book of non-fictional material will contain both styles of writing. The vastness and the consistently high quality of Colette's literary production seem all the more remarkable when we consider that in order to achieve literary recognition she had to surmount handicaps of several orders. When she began writing in 1900, a liter ary career was highly unusual for a woman; according to Margaret Crosland's biographical study, Colette was the first woman writer in Q France to have belonged to the middle class. Colette's formal educa tion ended when she received the brevet elgmentaire, corresponding approximately to the eighth grade, at the age of sixteen; like Jean- collective works and ten prefaces, all mentioned in the bibliography for the Oeuvres completes. Vol. XV. Also listed are fifteen short texts originally published under a separate title, which have been Incorporated into one or more major works of the Oeuvres completes. The complete works, however, do not include the text of "Claudine et les contes de fees," an unpublished chapter of Claudine s'en va and of which a limited edition was printed in 1937 for the friends of Dr. Lucien Graux; a copy of this edition exists in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. ^Elaine Marks classifies the short stories with a first- person narrator, Colette, as nouvelles in the original sense of the word. See her study, Colette (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Univer sity Press, 1960), p. 151. ^Colette: the Difficulty of Loving (London: Peter Owen, 1973), p. 170. Jacques Rousseau and Jean Glono, she was largely self-taught. Having grown up In the countryside of Burgundy (in the village of Saint- Sauveur-en-Puisaye) she came at the age of twenty to live with her husband in the sophisticated circles of Paris, where a provincial background such as her own was scorned. After her divorce from Willy in 1906, she was beset by financial difficulties. (Willy received the royalties from her Claudine and Mlnne books.) Since only the Dialogues de betes had been published in her name, she was at that time practically unknown as an author. In order to support herself she went on the stage as a mime and dancer in vaudeville theatres (les music-halls), appearing in numerous mlme-dramas until her mar riage to Henri de Jouvenel in 1912. Psychological difficulties had to be overcome as well: Colette was, at the beginning of her career, a timid, dependent woman who craved affection. In addition, her divorce, considered at that time a stigma, excluded her from polite society. Colette'8 literary achievements, therefore, necessitated sur mounting cultural, financial, psychological and sociological difficul ties. Not even the pain of arthritis which confined her to bed from 1942 until her death deterred Colette from writing, since between 1942 and 1953 she produced fourteen books. The restricted possibility of observing people did, however, prevent her from writing fiction after 1944. Colette was honored during her lifetime by the love of her countrymen and women, by wide critical acclaim, election to the Acade- mle Royale Beige de Langue et de Lltterature Franqaises (1936) and the Acad§mie Goncourt (1945), which she served as president, and by becom- 5 ing a Grand Officier in the Legion of Honor. The first phase of Colette's literary career (1900-1907) includes material written during her marriage to Willy, pseudonym for Henry Gauthler-Vlllars. Most of the material published in his name was actually written by a team of ghost-writers, whose ranks Colette unwillingly joined. In Mes apprentissages she describes her literary debut, which came about initially through Willy's encouragement and later by compulsion, for he sometimes locked her in her room until her quota was met. Willy also made suggestions about his wife's work, advising her to add risque details; he created the character, Maugls, 9 « and commented on Colette's style. Minne and Dialogues de betes, the only works of this period written without Willy's influence, have an ingenuous quality and lack the suggestive details of the earlier books. After the success of Minne, Willy insisted that Colette write a sequel, Les Egarements de Minne, in which Maugls and the "details piquants" again appear. Since all the books from this phase are fic tional, none will receive more than brief mention in our study. Although Colette's contribution in writing the Claudine and Minne novels was far greater than that of her husband, Willy published the six books under his own name and went so far as to order Colette's hand-written manuscripts of the Claudine and Minne books destroyed (M.A., XI, 62)^® since they reveal the limited extent of his own con- A Colette describes Willy's contribution to these early novels in Mes apprentissages, Vol. XI of the Oeuvres completes ("Le Fleuron" edition), pp. 21, 56-62. *®Most references to Colette's works will henceforth be abbre viated according to the table preceding this introduction. Volume tribution, written in the margins; Paul Bartlet was able to save part of the manuscripts. There is a tradition in French literature of women writers not acknowledging, for various reasons, their own work. (Among Colette's predecessors, Madame de La Fayette, Madeleine de Scudery and Lucile-Aurore Dupin published their writing either under a pseudonym or in the name of another person.) Colette attributes her own failure to Insist upon recognition for the Claudine novels to fear of Willy: "Ce dessalsissement est bien le geste le plus inexcusable qu' ait obtenu de moi la peur, et je ne me le suis pas pardonne" (M.A., XI, 59). PHASE I: 1900-1907 MAJOR WORKS Claudine & l'ecole 1900 Claudine A Paris 1901 Claudine en menage 1902 Claudine s'en va 1903 Minne 1904® Les Egarements de Minne 1905® Douze dialogues de betes 1904b La Retralte sentimentale 1907 aTwo short stories which Colette later revised and combined into one novel, publishing it under the title, L'Ingenue libertine (1909) in her own name. ^Originally entitled Dialogues de bStes and then Sept dialogues de betes, to which additional material was added in 1930. numbers are those of the Oeuvres completes, "Le Fleuron" edition. The second phase of Colette's literary career (1908-1919) con sists of works written after her divorce from Willy and before publi cation of her first masterpiece. She wrote both fiction and non fiction during this period and perfected her literary techniques. Les Vrilles de la vigne, while uneven in quality, gave an indication of what was to come in Colette's lyrical manner of expression; it will receive detailed treatment in our study. PHASE II: 1908-1919 MAJOR NON-FICTION Les Vrilles de la vigne 1908 L'Envers du music-hall 1913 Les Heures longues, 1914-1917 1917® Dans la foule 1918 ®Articles written for Le Matin. MAJOR FICTION L'Ingenue libertine 1909 La Vagabonde 1911 L'Entrave 1913 La Paix chez les bStes 1916 Mitsou ou co|mnent 1'esprit vient aux filles 1919 The publication of Colette's first masterpiece, Cherl. in 1920 achieved literary renown for Colette. It was followed in quick suc cession by her first masterpiece of lyrical non-fiction, La Maison de Claudine, in 1922. The 1920's and 1930's were important years for both her fictional and non-fictional production. Although her last piece of fiction, Gigi, dates from 1944, she continued to write non fiction for nine more years. The titles of her journals and collec tions of meditations, reminiscences and anecdotes in this third phase outnumber those of her novels and short stories by a proportion of twenty-eight to thirteen. Although this study includes material from most of Colette's non-fictional works in Phases II and III, the great majority of the works we will treat in detail belong to Phase III of her production. These Include La Maison de Claudine, La Naissance du jour, Sldo, Belles saisons, L'Etoile Vesper, Le Fanal bleu and Pay- sages et portraits. PHASE III: 1920-1953 MAJOR NON-FICTION La Chambre gclairee 1920 La Maison de Claudine 1922 Le Voyage Sgolste 1922 Aventures quotidiennes 1924 La Naissance du jour 1928 Sido 1929 Prisons et paradis 1932 Le Pur et l'impur 1932a La Jumelle noire 1934*5 Mes cahlers 1935-1936c Discours de reception & l'Aeademie Royale Beige 1936 Mes apprentissages 1936 MAJOR NON-FICTION (continued) Journal & rebours 1941 De ma fenetre 1942 Nudlte 1943 Trols, six, neuf 1944 Belles saisons (Part I) 1945d L'Etoile Vesper 1946 Pour un herbier 1948 Trait pour trait 1949 Journal intermittent 1949 Le Fanal bleu 1949 La Fleur de l'age 1949 En pays connu 1949 A portee de la main 1949 Melanges (collection of short texts and prefaces) 1950 Paysages et portraits 1958e Contes des mllle et un matins 1970f Originally appearing under the title, Ces plaisira, it was republished as Le Pur et l'impur in 1941. ^Collection of theatre reviews appearing between October 8, 1933 and June 5, 1938 in various Parisian newspapers (L'Eclair, La Revue de Paris, Le Matin, Le Journal and Le Petit Parisien). cFlrst published in four parts, consolidated in 1941. dPart II was added to the posthumous 1955 edition. eCollection of brief texts written from 1909 to 1953 and pub lished posthumously. ^Collection of articles written for her column in Le Matin from 1911 to 1914. MAJOR FICTION Cheri 1920 Le Ble en herbe 1923 La Femme cachee (collection of short stories) 1924 La Fin de Cheri 1926 La Seconde 1929 La Chatte 1933 Duo 1934 Bella-Vista (collection of short stories) 1937 Le Toutounier 1939 Chambre d'hotel (collection of short stories) 1940 Julie de Carneilhan 1941 Le Kepi (collection of short stories) 1943 Gigi (collection of short stories and one short novel) 1944 Colette's early Claudine books as well as the novels and non-fiction of the 1920's attracted a large and devoted following. During the 1930's and especially the years of World War II, however, other novelistic forms began to appear. The cyclical novels of Roger Martin du Gard (Les Thibault, 1922-1940), Jules Remains (Les Homines de bonne volonte, 1932-1946) and Georges Duhamel (Les Pasquier, 1933- 1941) , the historical novels of Andre Malraux (La Condition humain, 1933; Le Temps du meprls, 1935; and L'Eapoir, 1938), the existential novels of Sartre (La Nausee. 1938) and Simone de Beauvoir (L'Invitee, 1943) and the novel of the absurd (Camus's L'Etranger, 1942), all these new approaches to the novel attracted attention from Colette's work. The public and critics alike came to expect the novel to prom 11 ulgate a general concept, whether political, historical or philosoph ical. In university circles, Colette's work came to be considered superficial; to a great extent this misunderstanding remains today.^ In compiling a list of books and articles written about Colette's life and work, we have located no less than 485 titles (even more If all reviews of new editions and translations are Included). The vast majority of these are brief non-scholarly articles about Colette'8 life or about the author's Impressions of Colette upon meet ing her. There have been thirty-seven books and dissertations written about Colette of which most are biographies or biographical criticism; the general comments made about her work range from eulogy to vilifi cation and are often contradictory.^ Only five full-length studies and seven articles or chapters contain treatment of her style in detail; we will return to some of these later. Although Colette's work has sometimes been criticized— unjustly, I think— as being facile, scholars have found it difficult to analyse from a stylistic point of view, her style being "impossible 13 A deflnir, Inimitable" according to one. Paul Reboux concluded his ^Participants in the Modern Language Association seminar on Colette at the December, 1972 meeting commented on this attitude in American universities: "Men colleagues say she's sub-literary"; "as a graduate student, I was not allowed to use Colette as one of four modern French authors to study." The above statements were quoted from the official notes of the seminar, distributed by co-chalrperson Eleanor Reid Gibbard. 12 Among her critics, Colette's fellow writers have particu larly appreciated her work; among those who have praised her are Francis Jammes, Marcel Proust, Andre Gide, Paul Valery, Henri de Mon therlant, Georges Duhamel, Leon-Paul Fargue, Jean Cocteau, Francois Mauriac and Raymond Queneau. i 12 1925 study with the admission: "Me voilA, pour finir, bien embar- rase... Malgre les legons qul m'ont ete donnees par la lecture de ces ouvrages, je ne puis — quand vient mon tour — trouver les mots 14 qui conviendralent pour qualifier le style de Colette. Nicole Houssa modestly admitted in 1958, "Je dois humblement convenir que je ne me sens pas encore 3 meme d'avancer une definition qui reponde par- faitement 3 son objet, c'est-3-dire qui distingue le style de Colette & l'exclusion de tout autre. Ten years later Anne Ketchum noted, in her analysis of Colette's themes, "Personne encore n'a mis en lumidre le genie de Colette & suggerer un sens & partir de la chair des mots' . . . Since 1968 one book, an unpublished dissertation and one chapter of a study on Cheri and La Fin de Cheri have dealt with stylistic aspects of Colette's work.^ In view of the fact that rela tively little work has been done on Colette's style and that scholars themselves admit the inadequacy of many previous studies, one must 1 < 1 Anne Ketchum, Colette ou la naissance du jour: etude d'un malentendu (Paris: Minard, 1968), p. 48. Hereafter, we will refer to this work as Colette ou la naissance du jour. ^Colette ou le ednie du style (Paris: Vald. Rasmussen), p. 58. ^ Le Souci de 1'expression chez Colette (Brussels: Academie Royale Beige de Langue et de Litterature Frangaises), pp. 217-218. l^Anne Ketchum, Colette ou la naissance du jour, p. 49. ^Yannick Resch, Corps femlnin, corps textuel: essai sur le personnage fdmlnin dans 1'oeuvre de Colette (Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1973); Julia Brumbeloe Tidwell, "Imagery in the Works of Colette" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Alabama, 1969); Andre J. Joubert, Colette et ChSri (Paris: Editions A.-G. Nizet, 1972). conclude that the disregard In which her work has recently been held Is, at the very least, unfair. I feel that such neglect is also unjustified; it appears to have resulted from repetition of the errors and biases of some previous critics, disapproval of some of Colette's fictional characters and of her private life and even careless reading of the works themselves. I would feel honored if this study should make a contribution, however modest, towards a fuller understanding of Colette's literary technique and a renewed appreciation for her art. In view of the accelerating interest in Colette shown during the last five years— four critical studies, one biography, two posthumous col lections of correspondence and of articles from her column in Le Matin and a number of new translations— it would seem that Colette is being rediscovered by academic circles both in France and in the United States. In The French Literary Horizon, Justin O'Brien says of Colette, "Like Proust himself, than whom Colette is no less great in her own special way, she early recognized that style is not a matter of tech- 18 nlque but of vision." It is indeed her vision, Colette's personal outlook on the world, apparent throughout her literary production, that concerns us in our analysis of imagery in her non-fiction. We will study the function of certain natural phenomena relating to the air, the sky and light, which have in Colette's work an importance not accorded to them in objective, scientific reality. Images from these categories appear with unusual frequency in certain works and often l®(New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1967), p. 269. 14 assume a symbolic meaning. For the purpose of this study, we will define the term "Image," from the Latin noun Imago, as a "literal and concrete representation of a sensory experience or of an object that can be known by one or more of the senses.It will be useful to quote both examples of Images and pertinent comments revealing the significance of Colette's Images. Many Images of air, sky and light are associated with the thematic content of her work. This Investigation will attempt to show that the symbolic correspondence of certain natural phenomena to themes results In the transformation of objective reality. The phenomena In question exert a supranatural, magical Influence on human affairs. By this personal Interpretation of the air, the sky and light, Colette creates a per sonal literary universe. This lyric vision of the world contributes to the poetic quality of Colette's prose and to the beauty and origi nality of her work. This study will elucidate the manner In which one aspect of Colette's style— her use of Imagery— Is used to emphasize content and to produce an underlying continuity among her non- fictional works. There exist relationships among the Images of air, sky and light which Gaston Bachelard's analysis of literary Imagina tion will help to clarify; in L'Air et les songes he notes that "la hauteur, la lumi&re, le souffle dans l'air pur peuvent etre dynamique- ment associis par 1'imagination."^® ^William F. Thrall, Addison Hibbard and C. Hugh Holman, A Handbook to Literature (New York: Odyssey Press, 1936), p. 232. ^®(Parls: Librairie Jose Corti, 1943), p. 270. Bachelard, Influenced by C. G. Jung, considers Images of the air, of which sky and light imagery are manifestations, to be one of the archetypes of 15 These three groups of linages and clues to their symbolic mean ing exist, to some extent, throughout all of Colette's non-fictional books. Her works of meditation and reminiscence, however, the most lyrical of her works, contain a much more concentrated use of symbolic Imagery. These works will be treated in more detail and include Les Vrilles de la vigne. La Maison de Claudine, La Naissance du jour, Sldo, Belles saisons, L'Etoile Vesper, Le Fanal bleu and Paysages et por- 21 traits. In our study of imagery we will juxtapose quotations from various works to determine whether patterns of meaning exist, not just among images of one book but within a group of books. Our analysis of imagery will deal with the internal evidence of the works themselves. Colette appears to have used a great deal of autobiographical material in her non-fictional works. It is impor tant to realize that, while some of the information accurately corre sponds to the author's life, much has been transformed in the process of fashioning a literary work of art. As mentioned previously, Gabrielle-Sidonie Colette has created a literary persona named Colette who often narrates in the first-person. As Marcel Proust pointed out, one must distinguish between the actual life of an author and what the author-as-narrator says about his or her life. La Maison de Claudine, for example, does not present a chronological description of Colette's literary imagination. 21Although most quotations of Colette's work were taken from the "Le Fleuron" edition of the Oeuvres completes, a posthumous edi tion was used for Belles saisons (Paris: Flammarion, 1955) since it contains new material (Part II) not included in the complete works. Paysages et portraits was also published posthumously (Paris: Flam marion, 1958). 16 childhood but constitutes, rather, a portrait of the artist, an auto biography of the creative person. At least two biographers have Indi cated that Information about the narrator Colette does not always correspond factually with the life of the real person, Gabrielle- Sidonie Colette.22 One of the earliest attempts to Investigate Colette's liter ary technique— Colette ou le genie du style by Paul Reboux— put forth the theory that she wrote spontaneously and without effort (p. 60). This study will take a different point of view, attempting to show that, with regard to Imagery at least, Colette lucidly utilized cer tain literary procedures. Concerning a later assertion by Marla Le Hardouln that Colette has no style, that her writing draws from nature directly without the intermediary of style,23 the following chapters will propose Instead that Colette's portrayal of nature presents selected details and hyperbole which transform objective reality. A number of antecedent studies deal In some manner with Colette's lyricism, Imagery and symbolism. Yves Gandon noted two distinct trends in Colette's writing: a lyrical tone and a descrip- O / tive or narrative tone. Pierre Trahard's L'Art de Colette demon- 22Margaret Crosland's first biographical study, Colette, a Provincial in Paris (London: Peter Owens, Limited, 1953), specifi cally mentions transformation of fact In La Maison de Claudine. Maurice Goudeket, Colette's third husband, warns, "Dans la mesure ou la recherche des references personnelles dans 1'oeuvre de Colette semble partlculiArement aisee, je recommande A ses future commenta- teurs la plus grande meflance" (Douceur de vleillir [Paris: Flam- marion, 1965], p. 118). ^Colette (Paris: Editions Universitaires, 1956), pp. 96-97. ^ Le Dfanon du style (Paris: Librairle Plon, 1938), pp. 210- strates a great sensitivity to the symbolic character of her land scapes and astutely compares her to Baudelaire for the concordance which she draws between the mental and the physical worlds. Trahard recognized Colette's attraction to air, sky and light without, however, studying the function of this imagery in her work and its connection 25 with theme. In her four-part article on style, Irene Frisch Fuglsang makes the first attempt to analyse Colette's use of Imagery; although her remarks on this subject are limited to odor and to the color blue, she correctly indicates both traditional and personal elements in the symbolic significance of blue.^ The first full- length study of Colette's imagery came from Ilene Tova Olken in 1960. Olken investigated images related to one of the five senses, as found in Cheri and in La Fin de Cheri; in addition to a difference in the particular works examined, Olken's admirable study does not treat the images we will Investigate, with the exception of the colors blue and 27 rose, and in a very minor way, light. Andre J. Joubert briefly studies imagery in the same works from a more statistical view in his 217. ^Paris: Jean Renard, 1941. 26"Le Style de Colette," Orbls Litterarum (Copenhagen), Part I: "Les Sensations et leur signification poetique," III (1945), 1-28; Part II: "Les Images poetiques," III (1945), 261-281. ^"Colette: Aspects of Imagery" (unpublished Ph.D. disserta tion, University of Michigan, 1960). Olken later published material on the subject of this dissertation in three articles: "Aspects of Imagery in Colette: Color and Light," PMLA, LXXVII (1962), 140-148; "Imagery in ChSrl and La Fin de Cheri," French Studies, XVI (1962), 245-262; "Imagery in Ch€ri and La Fin de ChSrl: Sound and Touch," Studies in Philology, LX (January, 1963), pp. 96-115. 18 28 Colette et Cheri; his comments do not touch upon the material we will examine. A dissertation by Julia Brumbeloe Tidwell examines imagery relating to the five senses throughout most of Colette's work, both fiction and non-fiction. Similes and metaphors are classified according to their relation to one or more of the senses, and the con tent of tenor and vehicle is categorized as to subject matter. Although Tidwell includes a category for images from nature— animals, plants and natural phenomena— surprisingly enough very few images of air, sky and light are taken into account. The few examples given of the sun, water and wind are mentioned in passing; statistics are developed to indicate the proportion of comparisons found in each category with little regard for their possible symbolic role in the structure of the writing. A number of critics treat the thematic content of Colette's work, with particularly sensitive comments coming from the studies by Margaret Davies and by Anne Ketchum.^ Both Davies and Ketchum also mention the use of symbols. Colette's poetic transformation of real ity received brief mention from Fuglsang and was later termed "magic realism" by Helmut Hatzfeld.^® In a lecture presented at the Univer- ^®Paris: Editions A.-G. Nizet, 1972, pp. 147-169. ^Margaret Davies, Colette (London: Oliver and Boyd, 1961) and Anne Ketchum, Colette ou la naissance du jour. A more general treatment of Colette's themes appears in an article by Fernand Deso- nay, "Quelques th&mes d'inspiration chez Colette," Bulletin de l'Aca- dSmle Royale de Langue et de LittSrature Francaises, Vol. XXXII, No. 3 (October, 1954), pp. 125-140; and in Madeleine Raaphorst-Rousseau's Colette: aa vie et son art (Paris: A.-G. Nizet, 1964). ^Trends and Styles in Twentieth Century French Literature (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1957), 19 sity of Aix-en-Provence In 1959, Maurice Goudeket, husband and friend of Colette for almost thirty years, commented with great sensitivity about the poetic aspect of Colette's writing and about the personal literary universe— as unified as those of Dickens, Balzac, Dostoyev- sky, Zola and Proust— which the ensemble of her work forms. Although no serious Investigation of air, sky and light imagery precedes this study, many scholars have shown surprising con sistency in incorporating the words "air," "sky," and "light," as well as other images from our study, into their comments on Colette. Pierre Trahard shows the greatest perceptiveness in this matter as the following quotations from his work indicate: "... elle emplit son oeuvre du souffle frais de la campagne et . . . [de] l'odeur des bois humides et des jardins fleuris . . . " . . . elle rSve de grand air"; "... La Malson de Claudine et Sldo, eclairent d'une lumiere apaisee cette marche ascendante vers les regions hautes"; "... l'heureuse alternance du ciel bourguignon et du ciel provenqal"; "Ce passe fut une aube"; "Colette ne se contente pas du reflet, elle veut la lumiere & elle, violente et crue." Claude Chauviere directs her comment to Colette: "Madame, je vous vois encagee dans un sentiment; mais toute tendue vers la lumiSre, la liberte."33 Gonzague True pp. 50-57, 210-215. "^"Colette et l'art d'ecrire," Annales de la Faculte des Lettres et Sciences Humaines d'Alx, XXXIII, 21-39. Goudeket also presents one of the best biographical portraits of Colette between 1925 and 1954 in Prfes de Colette (Paris: Flammarion, 1956). 32L'Art de Colette, pp. 23, 39, 50, 54 (two examples), 132. 33Colette (Paris: Firmin-Didot et Compagnie, 1931), p. 39. 20 admires in La Naissance du jour the beauty of the dawn, of odors, and of "cette sensibilite 3 la molteur de l'air"; about Colette's work True says, "Ses biens les plus precieux seront la jouissance de l'air, de la lumiere, des lieux champetres ou marins, la pulsation du jour, aubes, midis ou crepuscules, la frequentation muette des amis de choix, un chien, une chatte."^ Paul Reboux remarks that Colette's style "est d'une matlere pure, d'une translucidlte de quartz. II en offre 1 35 la fois la force et la transparence. . . . comme un cristal ..." This study will begin with a consideration of air imagery in its various forms: odor, wind, flight, flying creatures and light ness. Colette's imagery of fire and water also share certain similar ities with air. The following chapters will attempt to show that some of Colette's important themes— the past, childhood, Sido (her mother) as a model to emulate, liberty and the longing for a primordial abso lute are related to imagery of the air. This critique will also indicate Colette's similarities with Proust, her pantheistic attribu tion of supranatural powers to certain natural phenomena and the poet ic quality of her lyrical non-fiction. Imagery of the sky includes that of ascent, the sky itself, blue and pink as sky colors and the celestial bodies. The investiga tion of Colette's work will demonstrate that the water-air analogy ^Sladame Colette (Paris: Editions Correa, 1941), pp. 91-92, 110. Other critics commenting on Colette's work in terms of light are Robert Brasillac, Portraits (Paris: Plon, 1935), p. 21 and Leon-Paul Fargue, Portraits de famille (Paris: J.-B. Janin, 1947), p. 21. 35 Colette ou le genie du style, p. 60. 21 Involves the sky also and that sky and earth form a polarity. In addition to the correspondence of sky Images with childhood, Sldo and the primordial absolute, a general longing for the Ideal becomes par ticularly evident among this group of Images. There exists also a concern with purity, worthiness and the unreal. Time progresses with a spiral movement In Colette's literary world, forever associating the present with the past. Light provides the richest source of Imagery for our study, which will treat light in general, dawn, the rhythms of light and the seasons, the lamp, reflected light and light as opposed to darkness. The light-bathed garden of Colette's childhood constitutes a paradise, lost by adult unworthiness. The hopeful theme of rebirth presents itself in relation to dawn, and again we find the themes of purity and the unreal. The final chapter will attempt to demonstrate that Sldo and the search for a primordial absolute constitute a focal point for Colette's thematic concerns and that her vision of the world resem bles, through the effect of imagery and other considerations, a funda mentally mythical view. CHAPTER I IMAGERY OF THE AIR Heureux celul qui peut d'une aile vlgoureuse S'elancer vers les champs lumlneux et sereins; Celul dont les pensers, comme des alouettes, Vers les cleux le matin prennent un libre essor, — Qui plane sur la vie, et comprend sans effort Le langage des fleurs et des choses muettes! — Baudelaire, "Elevation" Air as Matter "Errer en ballon libre, c'est pleinement penetrer la notion mythologique d'un element" (A.P.M., XIV, 477): Colette's allusion to air as one of the four elements designated by primitive thought indi cates that she is aware of this substance in a subjective way. Ue will see in our study of air imagery that Colette often writes of the air, as of the sky and light, in a fanciful manner, conveying not objective information but a state of mind. With the ingenuous wonder of a child, of pre-scientific man— and of the poet, who adopts it as a literary pose— she refers to air as "un element A qui l'homme, pour l'interroger, dedie encore des fleurs effeuillees" (A.P.M., XIV, 479). The first group of images in our study becomes that of air seen as matter, a category difficult to represent by literary imagery since the rarefied substance of air is difficult for the unaided senses to perceive. After treating the references to the air itself, relatively few in number, we will deal with the effect of air: its motion and 22 23 the movement of matter through it. In the latter categories, images are numerous and varied.^ On occasion, in the reminiscences and meditations which com prise Colette's subjective works, she pays surprising attention to the condition of the air. In Belles saisons she states that vacations begin not with the departure from Paris but with the freshness of the air at a certain distance from the city: Mais soudain nous touchons le point que J'al dit, un air nouveau nous jette au visage un frais reseau de gouttelettes : c'est la rencontre, le contact de la divine humldlte, la bulle d'air imbibe finement de brume vegetale. C'est 1 partir de ce point dellcieux que se goGtent mes vacances plenieres (p. 16). In the same work she writes of "la nostalgie de l'air glacial" (p. 52). The state of the air also corresponds to the time of day: "L'air avalt son gout usage de l'aprds-midi, ..." (N.J., VIII, 40). In a painting by Cezanne, it is the artist's ability to represent air that Colette admires, "cette Impalpable, cette parfalte et mysterleuse ressemblance de l'air respirable, qui baigne et divise les rameaux de l'arbre vert de CSzanne" (P.P., p. 112). Unusual figures of compari son, such as "le bien-Stre aere" (N.J., VIII, 55) and "une sensualite comme aerlenne" (P.I., IX, 47) further indicate the significance of air as a source of imagery for Colette. Certain of her friends are "aeriens," Jean Cocteau for one (P.P., p. 135), and as we shall see later, her father, brothers and, especially, her mother have an affin ity for the air. Certain tenuous substances suggest to Colette the ^With regard to air imagery, Bachelard notes that "avec l'air, le mouvement prime la substance" (L'Air et les songes, p. 16). 24 rarefied matter of air, as In the case of "les cheveux lmmaterlels de Germaine Beaumont" (E.V., XIII, 212) In which the adjective "immate- riel" Imparts an ethereal quality to fine hair. Colette's descrip tion of the airy handwriting of certain poets suggests an association between airiness and the poetic state of mind called reverie, which, as we shall see later, she associates with her own literary technique: " . . . les grands arabesques reflechles des poetes, aerees, appli- quees, [sont des] temoignages d'un travail lent oQ c'est la reverie qui se fait metier" (E.V., XIII, 305). Odor Colette's work contains numerous Images of odor, a category which, according to Bachelard, best exemplifies air as matter.^ The following comparison Indeed suggests an Increased density for air laden with scent: "Odeur de l'air, bolsson, aliment! Le ravlssement qui nous vlent par l'odeur est parfalt" (A.P.M., IX, 477). Colette considered olfaction to be the most noble (M., XV, 363) and the most aristocratic (P.I., IX, 49) of the senses. This faculty, she notes, has been highly developed In herself since childhood: "L'attention d'un enfant obeit au plus avertl de ses sens. Dej3 le mien etait ^Plum trees laden with white flowers resemble clouds and meta phorically acquire the fine substance of the latter: "La colline fume de prunlers blancs, chacun d'eux immaterlel et pommel£ comme une nue ronde" (M.C., VII, 160). This comparison seems to Illustrate Gaston Bachelard's observation that "les Images de l'air sont sur le chemin des Images de la d€materiallsatlon" (L'Alr et les songes, p. 20), ^He states In this regard that "pour les Imaginations mate- rlelles [les odeurs] . . . sont les qualit€s les plus fortement sub- stantlelles de l'air" (L'Alr et les songes, p. 157). 25 l'odorat" (J.R., XII, 88). To Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, Colette once wrote, "Et pour l'odorat... le mien eat si lmperieux qu'il prime tous les autres sens."^ Colette often describes people, both real and fic tional, by the scent of their body. Of her close friend, actress Marguerite Moreno, Colette commented that "une fragrance personnelle, a laquelle mon excellent odorat fut toujours tres sensible, signalait Marguerite. ... La place ou je lui donnais le baiser de bienvenue, sur le cou, au-dessous de l'oreille, embaumait . . . un parfum epider- mique Invariable et captivant: (F.B., XIV, 103). Sido^ also exuded a distinctive scent: Ma mere fleurait la cretonne lavee, le fer I repasser chauffe sur la braise de peuplier, la feuille de verveine citronelle qu'elle roulait dans ses mains ou froissait dans sa poche. Au soir tom- bant, je croyais qu'elle exhalait la senteur des laitues arrosees, car la fratche senteur se levait sur ses pas au bruit perle de la pluie d'arrosage dans une gloire de poudre d'eau et de poussiSre arable (M.C., VII, 117). In the same passage, Colette says of Sido's friend, "Mme Saint-Alban deplaqait une nue lourde l'odeur brune, l'encens de ses cheveux crepus et de ses bras dores"; the distinctive odor of the brunette, different from that of the blond, resembles "santal brule," Colette's own body scent (V.V., III, 217). Among the numerous olfactory images, those of plants, in par ticular flowers and floral perfumes, hold a prominent position in Cited by Maurice Goudeket in PrSs de Colette (Paris: Flam- marion, 1956), p. 106. See also Paysages et portraits: "mon odorat de llmier" (p. 183), and Sldo: "mes narines plus sensibles que tout le reste de mon corps" (VII, 181). ^"Sido" is the nickname which Jules Colette used for his wife, AdSle-Sidonie (S., VII, 185). Colette also refers to her mother as "Sido" in her literary works. 26 Colette's writing. Certain odors possess a special attraction for her: Je froisse exprAs, moi, la tige et la feullle purpurines [du gera nium sauvage], qui me donnent A rever ... La rapeuse senteur qui s'eleve d'une herbe un peu maudlte, un peu medicinale partant un peu veneneuse, je la prefere au sureau fade, mSme au troene si charge de douceur qu'en sa pleine floraison 11 nous tlent en respect dans les sentiers cancalais (P.H., XIV, 158). Perfume, linked to memories of the past, as we shall see later, holds an important position in Colette's literary world: "Fragrance, attrait inexplicable qui sAduit la bSte et l'homme, superflu neces- saire, cause lmperieuse de certains amours... Aucun etre n'est indif ferent au parfum" (P.P., p. 179).^ Her own preference in floral scents Inclines towards the nocturnal "parfums blancs," as she calls them, of the jasmin, gardenia and other lesser-known white flowers: La premiere fois qu'une botte de lys des sables passa la nuit pres de mon lit, sa senteur m'eveilla, apres minuit, comme eflt pu m'evelller une crue de riviere, une grande rumeur, l'approche de 1'invisible. Ma chambre, la maison, la terrasse, son terrible parfum — un parfum que l'on dit A la perdition de l'Sme et du corps — les envahissait sans rencontrer de llmites, et s'avanqalt jusqu'A la route. II etait deux heures du matin, et les lys me montrArent, meconnaisaables, leur figure nocturne. . . . Je m'epris quinze etes durant, de ces demons sans tache, et je dor- mais sous leur garde etouffante (P.P., pp. 180-181). As for the tuberose, she continues, "Elle est favorable A mon travail, je repose A cote d'elle comme aupres d'un fauve bienveillant. In quotations from a French text we will reproduce the author's punctuation and spacing accurately, even though French spac ing of punctuation marks differs from American usage. Quotations in French may therefore have ellipsis marks spaced in two different ways. The author's own ellipsis is indicated by three unspaced periods which follow the preceding letter directly (... ). An ellipsis which we make in a text will be indicated in the customary manner with three spaced periods separated from the preceding letter by a space (...). ^See also P.P., p. 185. 27 Colette indicates her appreciation for a similar olfactory acuteness in Balzac, the many volumes of his Comedie humaine being her livres de chevet. She says of this author, II est pour ses fervents, dont je suis, une jungle in€puisable. 11 s'est mele de tout, et jusqu'a parler des parfums. Sa narine evasee les buvait. II a parle de la flouve, ce brin d'herbe qui est l'ame du "foin coupe." II a celebre la fumeterre noire et rose, qui sent un peu la suie si vous l'ecrasez, le grand pavot ecarlate et son pleur d'opium, l'agressive bugrane qui fleure la blonde en moiteur... Mais s'il m'avait chante que la rose et le muget, je ne l'aurais pas suivi si fidSlement. . . . Ce petit homme impe- tueux avalt un odorat de fauve (M., XV, 364-365).® Wind Images relating to the effect of air, rather than to its sub stance, become especially numerous and, what is more important, show themselves to be more lucidly related to Colette's literary themes. In her works air is also experienced as wind, flight and lightness. As an important part of her repertory of images, wind appears in Colette's work under many names: "vent," "brise," "souffle," "rafale," "bourrasque," "bise," "mistral," "sirocco," "ponetino" and "tramon tane." The wind frequently receives human or animate form in Colette's work; in one instance wind becomes "la puissante bouche qui souffle le froid, le sec, qui eteint toute odeur et anesthesie la terre, l'ennemi du travail, de la volupt€ et du sommeil" (N.J., VIII, 17). Colette's description evokes the puffing, full-cheeked faces previously used to depict the winds; indeed, another text explicitly mentions "les Eoles joufflus, les esprits sans corps cravates de ®In "Balzac et Colette," Nicole Houssa suggests that "c'est peut-Stre dans le domalne des parfums que s'etablit le plus sSrement la connivence entre [Colette] et Balzac" (Revue d'Histolre LittSraire 28 plumes de pigeon, les Vents des cartes marines" (A.P.M., XIV, 478). Wind often assumes an aggressive, troublesome nature, as in the fol lowing example, that of an animal worrying its human prey: "L'etrange tormenteur, occupe de l'homme comme peut etre un fauve!" (N.J., VIII, 17). A visual image of the wind rippling sand is likened to the move ment of a snake: "Du fond de 1'horizon, mille serpents de sable rampent, accourent vers nous en rulsseaux paralleles, toute la plage semble s'emouvoir, bouillir" (P.P., pp. 100-101). Colette's comparison of wind to a living creature often arises from auditory effects, in the following case, a resemblance to song: "Le vent, si je le souhaite, froisse le raide papier de faux-bambou et chante, en mille ruisseaux d'air divises par les pelgnes de l'if pour accompagner dignement la volx [de Sido]" (M.C., VII, 57). In Paysages et portraits the sound and movement of violent wind are transformed into auditory images of a barking dog and then a marine divinity: Autour de notre maiaon le vent tourne et aboie, ... II embouche le tuyau de la pompe et corne dedans, comme un triton dans un coqulllage tors . . . [Le vent] mene, autour de la maison un vacarme si humaln que j'ai peur de le voir passer devant la fenetre, transparent et tangible, Immense, barbu de fumee, coiffe d'une chevelure de nuages, drape tout entler d'un orage grls... II a une bouche gonflee qui rend un son de trompe caverneuse, et il avance, porte sur deux colonnes d'air tourbillonnantes... J’al peur de le voir (P.P., p. 100).^ de la France, LX [January-March, 1960], 18-46). ^Colette's personification of the wind resembles the classical representation of Boreas, Greek divinity of the north wind. Bluster ing, cold, cruel and uncouth, he is pictured as a bearded and powerful figure, draped against the cold and winged. On the Tower of the Winds at Athens he is shown holding a shell, similar to the horn of the tri tons. The lustful Boreas of mythology abducted Oreithyia; Colette's personified wind poses a similar threat: "Peut-etre qu'il va passer sous la porte sa main aux doigts insinuants et nous saisir aux 29 The wind along with the sun, rain and certain other aspects of nature exerts an Influence on human life well beyond that of objective reality. In La Naissance du jour Colette resists the power of the wind, whose ability to blow leaves and bits of paper into the air and turn them about apparently reminds her of abrupt changes of direction in her own life: "Aucun souffle pernicieux, accouru soudain de 1'horizon, ne levera mes cheveux droits et ne fera toumer — celd c'est vu — ma vie dans un autre sens" (VIII, 12). In the same book, the narrator hopes for a "promesse de pluie reparatrice suspendue sur ma vie encore orageuse" (VIII, 11).^® Even the sea obeys the supra- natural force of the wind: "Elle [la mer] obiit au vent qui depuis trois jours la souleve et la creuse, la fouette et la brasse, comme une pate empoisonnee... In Les Vrilles de la vigne the wind "s'elance, avec un cri guerrier, secoue humainement les volets, et pousse sous la porte, en frange impalpable, la poussiere de son pas eternel... " (III, 221). The adjective "etemel" gives the wind a supernatural and absolute quality consistent with its frequent depic ture as blue, the color of things eternal for Colette. The above jupes... " (P.P., p. 100). ^®In the novel, La Chatte, the sun, lightning and storms affect the relationships between the characters. ^In his study of Jean Giono's Regain (1930), Stephen Ullmann states that the elemental force of the wind is one of the main themes of Giono's Imagery. (Style in the Modern Novel [Cambridge: Cam bridge University Press, 1937], p. 220). Norma Lorre Goodrich, author of Giono: Master of Fictional Modes (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni versity Press, 1973), believes that Giono may have been influenced in this matter by Colette's earlier works. (Les Vrilles de la vigne, whose wind Imagery we have treated, appeared in 1908). 30 presentation of the wind and of other natural phenomena constitutes a kind of primitivism which frequently appears in Colette's lyrical non fiction as a literary pose. The function of air, sky and light in these works resembles Ernst Cassirer's definition of the prescientific attitude towards celestial phenomena: He [primitive man] felt that his world was bound by innumerable visible and invisible ties to the general order of the universe — and he tried to penetrate into the mysterious connection. The celestial phenomena could not, therefore, be studied in a detached spirit of abstract meditation and pure science. They were regarded as the masters and rulers of the world and the governors of human life.12 Colette presents a pantheistic, magical view of natural phenomena. In Joural a rebours she refers to certain individual's "connivence subtile avec des forces ignorees" (XII, 116-117), an ability which she fre quently ascribes to Sido and to herself. We will return to this sub ject again in our study. A few passages in La Naissance du jour hint at a personal significance for the wind in Colette's work. Referring to the wind as an uninvited guest, she raises the possibility that it may have a symbolic meaning: Retiree dans ma chambre, j'attends avec une Impatience moderee la retraite du vlsiteur pour qui nul huis n'est clos, et qui dejS pousse sous ma porte un singulier hommage de petales fletris, de gralnes vannees finement de sable, de papillons molestees... Va, va, J'ai decourage d'autres symboles... (VIII, 17-18). In the same work she links the wind with her orientation towards the past, a theme of primary Importance for her work: "Le vent d'habi- tude, refroidit mes pensees, me detoume du present et me rebrousse Essay on Man (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1944), p. 48. dans le sens unique du passe.Giving us a clue to her literary technique, which we shall discuss shortly, Colette continues, "Mala ce solr le present ne se raccorde pas, par une articulation aimable, a mon passe" (N.J., VIII, 121-122). Memories of the past along with images of the wind drift In and out among brief episodes of plot— the friendship and potential love between Colette-as-narrator and Vial. Imagery of wind exists in close association with two aspects of the author's past: her childhood and her mother. To her readers Colette offers, "Je vous apporte ce que j'ai de mieux: mon enfance, ma jeunesse. D'avoir ete tres modestes, elles restent belles d mes yeux" (P.P., p. 243). The wind is directly associated with Colette's memories of childhood as presented in La Maison de Claudine and Sido, in particular. Recalling the morning walks she took even as a young child, Colette relates her early love for the sky at dawn and her "connivence avec la premier souffle accouru" (S., VII, 181). The second aspect of the past holding capital importance for Colette's work is her mother. Like a muse, Sido provides a source of inspiration in at least four works.Colette reveals that [depuiB] La maison de Claudine puis Sldo, je n'ai pas qultte un personnage qui peu & peu s'est impose 1 tout le reste de mon oeuvre : celul de ma mSre. . . . [Elle] se fait mieux connaltre 3 mesure que je vleillis. Son prenom abrege brllle, depuls Sido, l^It is interesting to note that Colette associates the image of soil, which for what Bachelard calls the "prescientific imagina tion" is the antithesis of air, with future time. She writes, "La terre qu'on ouvre n'a plus de passe, elle ne se fie qu'au future" (N.J., VIII, 71). ^See "Molloy's Musa Mater" by Norma Lorre Goodrich on the mother or feminine principle and literary creation (Comparative Liter ature Symposium, III [Lubbock: Texas Technological University, 32 dans tous mes souvenirs. La naissance du jour me servit a glori- fier ses lettres, 3 m'en enorguelllir.L'etoile Vesper lui reclame parfois un appoint de jeunesse . . . (Preface, M.C., VII, 7). Colette attributes her own fascination with the wind to the Influence of Sido, who in the opening pages of La Maison de Claudine, is seen in the garden, "flairant le vent" (VII, 12). The following passage associates the wind from the four cardinal points with Sido (the book of that name was first published serially in the Revue Hebdomadalre as Sido ou les quatre points cardinaux and then entitled Sido ou les points cardinaux for its first edition in 1929.):*^ Levee au jour, parfois devanfant le jour, ma m3re accordait aux points cardinaux, 3 leurs dons comme 3 leurs mefalts, une impor tance slnguli3re. C'est 3 cause d'elle, par tendresse inveteree, que des le matin, et du fond du lit je demande: "D'ou vient le vent?" ... II me faut . . . guetter la course du nuage, le ron- flement marin de la cheminee, rejouir ma peau du souffle d'Ouest, humide, organique et lourd de significations comme la double haleine divergente d'un monstre amical. A moins que je ne me replle haineusement devant la bise d’Est, l'enneral, le beau-froid- sec et son cousin du Nord. Ainsl faisait ma mere, . . . Son ouie, qu'elle garda fine, l'informalt aussl, et elle captait des aver- tlssements eoliens" (S., VII, 184). The preceding passage by Colette shows remarkable agreement with Bachelard's comments concerning the winds from the cardinal points. He notes, L'Sme qui aime le vent s'anlme, d'ailleurs, aux quatre vents du ciel. Pour beaucoup de reveurs, les quatre points cardinaux sont surtout les quatre patries des grands vents. Les quatre grands vents nous paraissent 3 bien des egards, fonder le "Quatre" cos- mlque. Ils livrent la double dialectique du chaud et du frold, du sec et de l'humide (p. 267). 1970], 31-53. l^Louis Forestier, Chemlns vers la "Maison de Claudine" et "Sldo": notes pour une Stude (Paris': Societe d'Edition d'Enseigne- ment Superieur, 1968), p. 23. 33 The special significance of the cardinal points for Colette, capital ized to emphasize their unusual role, and the characterization of the east and west winds as "enemy" or "friendly monster" give her narra tion a magical quality well suited to the childhood memories described.^ The image of wind in the excerpt above is transformed by the wonder and fantasy of youth. The Past Since Colette's use of the past as a theme will be important for our study as a whole, it will be useful to examine it here in more detail. She states explicitly in Chambre d'hStel that she is inter ested in the past, that is, in memories of her own past: J'ai eu le temps d'Sprouver que la tentatlon du passe est chez moi plus vehemente que la soif de connaltre l'avenir. La rupture avec le present, la retour en arriere, et brusquement, 1'apparition d'un pan de passe frais, Inedit, s'accompagnent d'un heurt auquel rien ne se compare (XI, 365).17 The sudden appearance of a memory elicits an emotional reaction. The past— which in Colette's work is usually associated with childhood or In Prds de Colette (Paris: Flammarion, 1956), Maurice Gou deket reveals that this Interest in the cardinal points extends to the author's personal life also: "Elle avalt herite de Sido le souci des points cardinaux. Elle avalt besoln toujours, lorsqu'elle voyageait, de savolr comment elle se trouvait orientee, oil se levait, se couchait le soleil, quels vents dominalent. Chez elle & Paris aussl, cela va de soi. Mais est-ce que cela va tellement de sol?" Goudeket reports Colette's own explanation of her preference for the humid west wind rather than the dry wind from the east: "... j'alme l'humidite, tu le sals. II faut crolre qu'elle est necessaire & mes bronches, I mon temperament, ou slmplement qu'elle satlsfait ce qu'll y a en mol de v£g£tal" (pp. 127-128). 17See also V.V., III, 222; M.C., VII, 7, 161-162; B.S., pp. 26-27, 104, 108-109; E.V., XIII, 180-181, 237. 34 with Sldo— represents a time of happiness. According to the following quotation, the "rose des vents" Is symbolically linked to a reservoir of pleasant memories: '"Sido' et mon enfance, l'une et I1autre, l'une par 1'autre furent heureuses au centre de l'lmaginaire etoile 1 hult branches, dont chacune portalt le nom d'un des points cardinaux et collateraux" (S., VII, 197). Through memory her childhood experiences are distilled, ridding them of sorrow and leaving only the refined recollection of happiness: Si un enfant pouvait raconter, pendant qu'll la traverse, sa veri table enfance, son recit ne seralt peut-etre que drames intimes et deceptions. Mais il n'ecrit qu'en son age adulte. . . . Nous devenons lmaginatifs sur le tard, en meme temps qu'optimistes, pour deformer en les depelgnant ces violents chagrins, ces melan- colies, cette jalousie brulante (B.S., p. 46).18 The idealized past is also for Colette a perfect model, never quite attainable, of a way of life and a mode of behavior (that of Sido): "Outre la personne que je fus, [le passe] me revele celle que j'aurais voulu etre” (C.H., XI, 365). "Celle" can only refer to Sido. Somewhat in the manner of Proust's "moment prlvllegiS," cer tain images of the present, certain sense impressions, evoke past events, sensations or emotions in Colette's work. Images of air, sky and light, in particular, initiate this response. A particular fra grance, for example, interjects itself into the course of the narrative, as if interrupting the writer at work, and, by association with a pre vious and similar sense impression, it brings to mind memories which themselves enter the narrative and sometimes dominate it. Throughout L'Etoile Vesper. Colette gives form to "souvenirs que declenche un 18See also V.V., III, 22. 35 grelottement de sonnette” (XIII, 200), memories of the World War II years, and especially of the imprisonment of her husband, Maurice Gou deket, in a Nazi concentration camp, a misfortune evoked afterwards at every ring of the doorbell by which they were awakened on an ill-fated night in 1941. These unhappy memories reappear like a mournful leit motif repeatedly throughout the book, evoked when the "sonnette" rings on sixteen different occasions. Perfume has more pleasant associa tions for Colette: "Parfum, conquete du plus subtil de nos sens, delateur, car tu reveles nos secretes preferences, parfum qui rouvres, dans l'infidele memoire humaine, la source des larmes, le secret du plaisir... " (P.P., p. 182) . The sound of pruning shears is associ ated with spring, represented here by its other images: "Claquement des secateurs, sec dialogue d'oiseaux 3 bee dur... Ils parlent d'eclosion, de soleil precoce, de brulure au front, d'ombre frolde, . . . " (M.C., VII, 163). A large part of Colette's non-fiction con sists of reverie on the past joined to commentary and narrative by Imagery; of her technique Colette states, Je reflechis. C'est beaucoup dire, mais c'est dit avec assez d'emphase comique pour que se rassure celui qui s'inquiete. Faut- 11 vraiment donner le nom de pensees & une promenade, & une con- 19 Other authors whose works Colette read ascribe a similar function to perfume. In Part II of "Une FantSme" (Les Fleurs du mal). Baudelaire calls perfume a "Charme profond, magique, dont nous grise Dans le present le passe restaure! Ainsi l'amant sur un corps adore Du souvenir cueille la fleur exqulse." (Paris: Garnier-Flammarion, 1964), p. 65. Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, poetess and friend of Colette, expresses a similar correspondence between odor and memory: "Respires-en sur moi l'odorant souvenir." Marcel Proust considered odor and taste to be the guardians of memory. 36 templation sans buts ni desseins, A une sorte de vlrtuosite du souvenir que je suis seule A ne pas Juger vaine? Je pars, je m'Alance sur un chemin autrefois familier, & la vitesse de mon anclen pas; je vise le gros chene difforme, la ferme pauvre ou le cidre et le beurre en tartines m'etaient genereusement mesures. . . . J'entends sangloter les pintades, grommeler la truie... C'est cela, ma methode de travail... " (E.V., XIII, 181). There is a similarity between the work of Colette and Proust regarding their use of the past and memories of childhood. Colette says of Du cote de chez Swann: "Quelle conquete! Le dedale de l'enfance, de l'adolescence rouvert, explique, clalr et vertlgineux... Tout ce qu'on aurait voulu ecrire, tout ce qu'on n'a pas ose ni su ecrire, le reflet de l'univers sur le long flot, trouble par sa propre abondance... " (T.T., XIV, 193-194). Like Proust, memories of the past were for her a source of pleasure. "Chienne, chatte et moi, nous avons une conception trSs nette du plalsir, qui s'epanouit au choc du 'temps retrouve'" (B.S., p. 18). As indicated in Belles saisons, the two authors had met on several occasions, corresponded, and read each others books. Colette relates, Je n'ai pas souvent revu Proust en dehors du salon Arman de Caillavet. Mals, de sa chambre suffoeante, 11 m'ecrivit, & dater de Mitsou, chaque fois que je publiais un llvre, et m'envoya les 2®In Le Fanal bleu she again comments on the function of rev erie in her literary evocations of the past. Referring to an unmerci fully hot summer which caused much hardship in France, she states, "Non, je ne pourrai Jamais forger des souvenirs aimables A l1aide de telles images. Elies nolrcissent, elle calcinent mon procede favori de rSverle et de plaisir" (F.B., XIV, 35). Many of the author's lyri cal evocations of natural phenomena, including some in our study, con- ' stitute a kind of written reverie. Elaine Marks noted that "Colette, t left to herself, tended toward poetic revery and anecdote rather than fiction." Colette's work attests "the need to communicate in relative solitude both with the past and with elemental, primitive forces, ..." (Colette [New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1960], pp. 175-176). 37 siens, qu'il dedicagait. Au-dessous de la dedicace, 11 ajoutalt une ligne, deux, trols lignes, puls la matiAre d'une lettre assez longue (p. 171). Colette's use of sense Impressions to evoke the past resembles Proust's technique: Mais, quand d'un passe anclen rlen ne subslste, apres la mort des etres, apres la destruction des choses, seules, plus freles mais plus vlvaces, plus lmmaterielles, plus perslstantes, plus fideles, l'odeur et la saveur restent encore longtemps, comme des amis, A se rappeler, 1 attendre, A esperer, sur la ruine de tout le reste, 1 porter sans flechir, sur leur gouttelette presque Impalpable, 1'edifice immense du s o u v e n i r .22 In one of the stories from Colette's La Femme cachee, the sight of a bracelet of blue glass beads gives rise to a Proustian "moment privi- legie": Un frisson contracta les joues de Mme Angeller. Un prodige, dont elle ne put mesurer la duree, lui concentit, pour la seconde fols, 1’instant incomparable oQ elle regardait, ravie, la couleur du jour, 1'image irlsAe et deformee des objets & travers un jonc de verre bleu, toume en cercle, qu'on venalt de lui donner. Cette verroterie, peut-etre orientale, brlsee quelques heures apres, avalt contenu un univers nouveau, des formes que le reve n'lnventalt pas, de lents animaux serpentina qui se mouvaient par palres, des lampes, des rayons congeles dans une atmosphere d'un bleu indicible... Le prodige cessa et Mme Angeller retomba, meurtrie, dans le present et le reel (VII, 460). 2*-Anne Ketchum suggests that Colette's use of the past in her literary technique developed, in the beginning at least, independently of Proust: "Colette ne put, dans son enfance, lire Proust dont le premier ouvrage, Les Plaisirs et les jours, ne parut qu'en 1896. C'est done A Paris, et dejA mariee, qu'elle connut 1'auteur de A la recherche du temps perdu dans les salons de Mmes de Greffulhe et de Caillavet, en un temps ou, entre 1896 et 1904 11 ecrivait en secret Jean Santeuil. . . . Lorsqu'en 1913 paraissait Du c8te de chez Swann, Colette avalt dejA publiait nombre d'ouvrages. DAs lors, les deux auteurs Acrlvirent parallAlement, durant toute la courte vie de Proust, se portant une mutuelle admiration" (Colette ou la naissance du jour, p. 77). 22Marcel Proust, Du cote de chez Swann (Paris: Galllmard, 38 There remains, however, an essential difference in the attitude of these two authors towards the past. Whereas for both, certain memo ries— linked to images of air, sky and light in Colette's work— are especially prominent because of their associations with a happy past, A la recherche du temps perdu expresses an inability to cope with present reality, while memories of past times enter Colette's work to furnish a source of inspiration for the present. Since for Proust memory is always enjoyed more than the original sensations, it is futile to "chercher dans la realite les tableaux de la memoire, aux- quels manquerait toujours le charme qui leur vient de la memoire mSme et de n'etre pas perqus par les sens."23 Time past is the source of one of Colette's most beautiful and poetic passages on the magic of days gone by. The past, compared to a cup of steaming beverage from which memories rise like rings of vapor — an analogy reminiscent of Proust's "madelelne" dipped in tea— is again related to imagery of the air. Contemplating a house in which she used to live, Colette wonders, Quelle force me ram&ne et me tient Id immobile et tentee, sur la mosalque banale du vestibule? . . . C'est la magie seule du passe qui me ramdne et me tient 1&, les yeux clos — le passe sur lequel je me penche comme sur une tasse fumante et noire d'oil montent, enlaces en anneaux de vapeur, le souvenir, le sommell, le mirage, le regret... Car il n'y a point en moi d'elan vers l'avenir, point d'ambition InquiSte vers demain. . . . Mais le passe, le beau pas8& raye de soleil, gris de brume, enfantin, transparent, fleuri de joies sans eclat, meurtri de chagrins si chers... Ah! re8susclter une heure de ce temps-lA, une seule, — mais laquelle? (P.P., pp. 9-10). 1954), I, 68. 23Ibid., II, 270. 39 Air and Fire To the literary imagination— the creative thought of an author in search of metaphors— fire shares certain similarities with air. Both give the impression of immateriality and each has flowing move- * 5 / ments. The waver of flames in the air approximates the puffing and 25 swirling of a playful breeze. Colette refers to the movement of flames when she describes the energetic dramatist, Beaumarchais, as "mobile comme un feu de plein air" (J.N., X, 457). Fire frequently assumes the movement of dance: the author mentions "une flamme drolte qui danse imperceptiblement" (V.V., III, 215); fire emits "une dan- sante lueur" (E.P.C., XIV, 405). Colette's childhood memories include the floral image of "le feu de fagots dansant, un bouquet de flammes aussi haut que moi" (P.P., p. 245). Just as Colette animated and personified the wind— air in motion— so the movement of flames gives rise to the comparison between fire and a living creature.^ Similar to a frolicking animal, "Le feu que tu as allume tout & l'heure danse dans la chambre, comme une joy- ^Bachelard notes this analogy between air and fire: "A l'air, au feu — aux elements legers — appartiennent . . . les exuberances dynamiques" (L'Alr et les songes, p. 296). ^Colette's desire to relate the hearth-fire with wind and rain appears evident in the following quotation which compares their sound: "Solrs d'hiver, longs, epur§s, oil les elements parlent le mSme langage : le feu imlte le bruit de la pluie; dehors la plule crepite sur le balcon, et le vent halette comme la flamme... " (E.P.C., XIV, 406). ^Gaston Bachelard concurs with this analogy: "Tout reveur de flamme salt que la flamme est vivante. Elle garantit sa verticalitS par de sensibles reflexes" (La Flamme d'une chandelle [Paris: Presses Unlversltaires de France, 1964], p. 58). 40 euse bete prisonnlere qui guette notre retour... " (V.V., III, 228). Colette repeats the metaphor on a number of occasions, sometimes depicting fire as animate without mentioning the movement which brought about the comparison. Provincial know-how combined with fan tasy gives the following passage an ingenuous yet mysterious quality. Je ne poss2de plus, en toute propriete, qu'une bete vivante, qui est le feu. II est mon hSte, il est mon oeuvre. Je sais couvrir le feu, secourir le feu. Je sais ceindre le feu, en plein air, d’ une tranchee clrculaire, pour qu'il prospdre sans "tracer" dans les chaumes et aller incendier les meules. Je sais qu'il n'aime pas les nombres pairs, que trois buches brQlent mieux que deux et sept que quatre, et que lui gratter le ventre par en des- sous lui plait comme 3 toutes les autres betes. . . . Je le comble, mais en me donnant des airs de lui faire l'aumone. Je lui montre que Je vlens de loin, de la province, ou l'on apprend I ne pas gaspiller le bois et le pain. Je lui mesure l'echarde, la broutllle et la feuille seche, et je veux avec lui avoir le der nier mot, vieux besoln de dompteur, acquis dans le commerce des bStes (F.B., XIV, 136). Sido acknowledges her own "amour des cataclysmes," including fire: " . . . Je puis done m'abandonner 1 mon amour pour les tempetes, le bruit du vent, les flammes en plein air... " (N.J., VIII, 62); like a well-trained pet, the hearth-fire "lui obeit miraculeusement" (E.P.C., XIV, 407).27 The vertical direction of flames suggests to Colette an anal ogy with vegetal life as well. In a heady succession of images, fire resembles flower, tree, grass and vine as the author apostrophises, 0 dernier feu de I'ann&e! Le dernier, le plus beau! Ta pivoine rose, 2chevel2, emplit l'Stre d'une gerbe incessament refleurie. ^Maurice Goudeket repeats a similar assertion concerning Colette, made by Claude ChauvlSre (Colette, n.p.): "Le feu, cet ele ment rebelle 1 tant de nous, lui obSit 2 merveille, couve toute la nult sous une cendre qu'elle amoncelle selon certains rites, renalt 2 son premier appel, se dresse et se couche comme une autre bete faml- lier" (cited in PrSa de Colette, p. 73). 41 . . . 11 n'y a pas dans notre jardln une fleur plus belle que lui, un arbre plus complique, une herbe plus mobile, une liane aussl traltresse, aussl lmperieuse! (V.V., III, 328). Scattered embers from a blazing edifice assume a floral appearance to become "ces plvolnes echevelees de flammes que l'lncendle secoualt sur ton jardln" (N.J., VIII, 67). As with many of Colette's metaphors, the comparison Is reversible, and her flowers frequently appear to be flames: "un bouquet de zinnias tout feu et flamme" (B.S., p. 17), "fleur en forme de flamme" (N.J., VIII, 124), "chardons A carder, dont la fleur, . . . prend feu, flambe vlolette just avant la defaillance de l'ete" (J.R., XII, 74). There exists between Colette and the hearth-flre a special rapport, suggested rather ambiguously In the following quotation: "II y a entre lui et mol une vieille question que je prends tout le temps de liquider puisqu'il brule chez mol les trois quarts de l'annee, dans ma chambre qui a adopte ses couleurs, rouge et blanche, et sa pre sence" (F.B., XIV, 136). The fire on the hearth provides a sense of companionship; Colette affirms, "Construire le feu, l'allumer, falre prosperer le feu, couvrir le feu : vieille science de sauvage, de pay- san et de vagabond. Que ne suls-je celul-ci, celul-lA et cet autre! ... A leur exemple, j'admlnistre sans faute le feu, avec jole, avec amitie" (E.P.C., XIV, 405). Fire, like the lamp flame which we will treat later, arouses the most deep-seated memories of those who sit around It: Au premier feu d'automne dont la bourrasque rabat, dans la che- minee, l'odeur du pin humide et les longues etincelles, reasus- cite en nous 1'enfant grave qui rSva, devant la flamme, au-dessus d'un livre qu'il ne llsait pas, 1'enfant chaste d'avant 1'amour. Les plus profonds, les plus tendres souvenirs, ceux qu'effare ou 42 palit la grande lumi&re des etes heureux, jouent discretement entre le feu et la lampe. . . . (P.P., p. 120).28 Sitting by the hearth induces a state of reverie with its flow of images, Colette confides: "A la faveur d'un atre bien nourri, je ne revois que des images qui sont lointaines, heureuses, graves profonde- ment, qui dependent du feu" (G.P.C., XIV, 405). Colette accords fire, even more than wind and other natural phenomena, a supernatural character. She terms fire "ce dieu chan- geant" (V.V., III, 228) and the fireplace, "le petit temple" (E.P.C., XIV, 406). The hearth-fire, she reveals, "me recompense en se jettant sur la moindre de mes offrandes; il me flatte, me facilite ma petite incantation devenue machinale : le cote incantatolre n'y perd rien" (F.B., XIV, 136). A poem praising the Joies of the fireside corre sponds to "ma petite conjuration" (p. 137). Glowing embers confer a mysterious power on the author's pets: "Le chien les contemple, et s'elSve jusqu'i la meditation. Le chat y lit l'avenir et le present, les dit £ qui sait l'entendre... " (E.P.C., XIV, 406).29 Every indi vidual wants to learn, she believes, to call forth this mysterious "element" from the air which seems to contain it: " . . . chacun veut inventer la science d'eveiller en plein air le feu, ..." (B.S., p. 18). ^®Memories of loved ones long since departed provide company by the fireside: "La conversation que je tiens au coin du feu, je l'ai commence il y a un demi-siScle et plus, avec des interlocuteurs qui sont devenus, pour la plupart, imponderables" (E.P.C., XIV, 406). 2^The cat and dog of "Le Premier feu," Douze dialogues de bStes, offer to the hearth-fire— "feu divin" (III, 337), dieu mystSri- eux" (p. 338)— "des prlferes intSrieures" (p. 337), snd they "adorent" (pp. 337, 341) the divine fire in front of the hearth, its "autel" i i 43 Flight An Important part of Colette's imagery deals with the movement of matter supported by the air, that is, flight. In "Ailes," an extraordinary passage from Aventures quotidiennes, she describes the sensation of flight in her dreams: II est hors de doute que je sais voler en songe. . . . Je sals franchir une vallee, m'appuyer, pour toumer, sur l'un ou l'autre de mes bras volants, et descendre en profondeur, tete premiere, les pieds leves pour gagner de la vitesse, puis redresser la torse, retablir 1'horizontalite pour remonter ou pour atterrir. Et comme je ruse avec le vent, dans cet univers complet! (VI, 470).3° (Succeeding excerpts are taken from the same passage.) Similar to the "vol onirique" described by Bachelard,^ Colette says of her dream- flight, "Les vols qui m'emportent sur une familiere vallee de sapins sombres ne me brisent pas les os, et j’atterris au lieu de choir, dans le milieu du lit" (p. 471). In the same passage she suggests that onirique flight constitutes a natural and rather widespread occur (p. 341). 3®See also Paysages et portraits, p. 107, for further mention of oneiric flight. The silence of flight by "ballon libre" reminds her of flight in her dreams: "II ne fallait que 1'abolition du son pour nous rendre sensible, d 1'etat de veille, un des sons furtifs du songe, le vol magique, sans lutte ni battement, la celeste promenade qui enchante parfois nos rSves" (A.P.M., XIV, 479). Oneiric flight supplies the primary image for Colette's fanci ful tale, "L'Enfant Malade," in which a child escapes from the fever ish immobility of his sickbed through his dreams of floating about the house on a cloud. The angels, demons, magic carpets and thousand- league boots mentioned during Colette's moments of fantasy all relate to flight. 31 According to L'Air et les songes, "... jamais aucun vol onirique ne finit par une chute verticale. Le vol onirique est un phSnomine du bonheur dormant, 11 n'a pas de tragedie. On ne vole en rSve que lorsqu'on est heureux" (p. 84). 44 rence. "Le meme vol hanta-t-il les reves d'un Maneyrol, d'un Barbot, d'un Simonet, de tous ceux qui cherchent dans l'alr le muet essor sans moteur, l'aile, & jamais atrophiee, dont se souvlent le somnell?" Indeed, the human being has an instinctive fascination with flight, 32 she believes, as evinced by his use of the eaglet as a coat of arms. Un aviateur, obsede par l'alerion, m'affirmait que, s'il faut a notre espdce aptSre une etude assez longue pour gouverner 1'avion, une viellle science intervient lorsqu'll s'agit de l'alerion, sur lequel l'homme, comme assis au sein de la nue feerlque, avance, lvre d'un don anclen et d'une connaissance nouvelle, dans l'air reconquis... Je le veux croire (p. 471). The human being's seemingly instinctive curiosity towards flight originates with his prenatal envelopment by amnlotic fluid, of which air later unconsciously reminds him, liquids and gases being similar in their ability to flow and to support weight: II n'y a plus de vol pour nous qu'en songe, l'etre complet est celui qui dort ou qui vient de naltre, car le nouveau-ne nage en naissant, comme le chaton et le chlot aveugles. Male sa condition humaine le rappelle et le frustre d'un element encore, deux mois aprt*s le "petit d’homme” ne nage plus (A.Q., VI, 471-472). Images suggesting the similarity of air and water appear a number of times in Colette's works and will be discussed later. Man's faint recollection of bathing in amnlotic fluid translates itself, Colette apparently believes, into the post-natal yearning for a second enve- voplng fluid, which must of necessity be air since, after the cutting of the umbilical cord, he can no longer live in a watery environment. Just as flight replaces the original, foetal swimming, ascent into the Dictionary of Symbols by Juan E. Cirlot states that the eagle possesses symbolic value for the speed and daring of its flight; it was believed to fly higher than any other bird (New York: Philos ophical Library, 1962), pp. 87-88. 45 sky— a gaseous sea, so to speak— symbolizes for Colette a sort of pri mordial absolute, a theme which we will treat later in more detail. "Vol, confiance en 1'element perdu, soif que 1'avion mSme ne satisfait point, tourment de la creature crucifiee & plat sur la terre et qui lance son regard en haut... " (A.Q., VI, 472).^ It is interesting to note that Colette's fascination with flight constitutes a need to feel the air rush past her own soaring body, a desire which travel by air plane cannot satisfy; she expresses her disinterest in airplane flight again in F.B., XIV, 95-96 and A.P.M., XIV, 476. The "feerie" of flight in a "ballon libre," however, fascinates her: Mais ce luxe, la lenteur, mais ce fantastique, le flottement, ce songe, le plus-leger-que-1'air, cette puissance, chevaucher le vent et se fier A lui, je ne les ai savoures que le jour ou enjam- bant le bord d'un petit carre qui pendalt sous une planAte jaune lmpatiente, je passai la Seine, frolait la Tour, et m'en fus atterrir aux environs de Pont-sur-Yonne (A.P.M., XIV, 477-478). Colette links the image of flight with one of the most impor tant aspects of her lyrical work, poetic creativity. In "La Poesie que j'aime," delivered as a lecture in 1937 and published in Paysages ■^There is no indication whether or not Colette was acquainted with the work of C. G. Jung although she seems in the above excerpts to express belief in a sort of archetypal orientation of the imagina tion. Gaston Bachelard, whose later description of oneiric flight in L'Alr et les songes (1943) relates closely to the experiences described by Colette in Aventures quotldlennes (1924), makes no men tion, to my knowledge, of having read any of Colette's writing. Nevertheless, some of his comments on the subject closely parallel those of Colette. With regard to literary and artistic creativity, Bachelard says, "Pour certains types d'imagination, il y a continuite de la nage au vol, mais il n'y a pas continuite du vol A la nage. . . . On nage dans l'air mais on ne vole pas dans l'eau" (p. 92). His comparison of dream-flight to the Platonic recollection of primeval sleep in the following quotation brings to mind Colette's suggestion of idealism and prenatal slumber: "Le reve de vol est pour certains une rgmlnlscence platonlclenne d'un trAs ancien somoeil, d'une trAs ancienne legArete" (p. 164). 46 et portraits, she states that "le prosateur ne sauralt se reveler poSte occaslonnel sans faire l'aveu de s'envoler et de se soumettre" (p. 223). Of poet and friend Helene Picard she marvels, "Autour d'elle, les traces de la poetlque abondance voltlgealent" (E.V., XIII, 251). Describing Picard's verse— "aile et massif tout ensemble," wings being a symbol of flight— and her "regard brun et dore eprls de tout ce qui etait haut, aile, celeste" (E.V., XIII, 262), Colette associates flying with the sky and with height. Her Images of air (Including flight) and images of the sky are Indeed related as we will demonstrate in the following chapter. Regarding the "coup d'aile de 1'imagination . . . bel instrument qui, ensemble bride et entrafne la poesie" (P.P., p. 217), she cites a comment by Mallarme: "Au fond du reve peut-etre se debat l1imagination des gens lui refusant un essor quotidienne... " (E.V., XIII, 290). While imagination has commonly been likened by metaphor to flight, Colette's use of this image to describe poetry, as well as certain personality types suggests a per sonal symbolism. The association of poetry with an aspect of the imagery in our study proves especially interesting because in many works Colette uses language in a manner indicative of poetry.^ Sym- Madame de Stael mentioned in 1800 the possibility of prose being used to express thoughts generally considered to be in the realm of poetry (De la litterature, chapter xxviii: "Le Roman"). Jean-Paul Sartre devoted a chapter of Qu'est-ce que la litterature? to explain the differences in the language of prose and that of poetry, which suggests where prose clarifies, which conveys a thought and something more, which uses words not as signs but as objects, important in their own right. For the poet, words provide a representation of the world through their sound, appearance, gender and the magical associations between them (chapter i: "Qu'est-ce qu'icrire?"). Helmut Hatzfeld emphasizes the function of poetic imagery: "[Poetic language] 'trans lates' abstract ideas into Images, or rather substitutes the latter 47 bolic imagery itself provides one of the techniques that give her writing a poetic quality. Before continuing our analysis of imagery, let us take further note of Colette's comments on the importance of poetry in her life. As a child, Colette grew up "au creux du berceau enorme, du puissant vaisseau qui propage son rythme sur 1'infini lyrique, — alnsi j'appelle, alnsi je vois l'alexandrin." Her father, she says, wrote poetry like that of Victor Hugo (P.P., p. 217; quotations fol lowing are also taken from this work). Although claiming to have never written verse herself (p. 214), she admits that her temperament inclines towards poetry: "Je vous ai confie que je n'avals jamais ecrit de vers. Mais quelle vigilance il m'a fallu pour m'en emp§- cher!" (p. 217). Colette tried to suppress or, at least, subdue the poetic tendencies of her prose: for the former, and renders conversely a material object by abstract but not scientific words" (Trends and Styles in Twentieth Century French Literature [Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1957], p. 201). All the characteristics attributed by Sartre and Hatzfeld to poetry describe Colette's use of language in the works we have called lyrical meditations and reminiscences. In Le Poeme en prose de Baudelaire jusqu'8 nos lours. Suzanne Bernard agrees with the designation of certain passages of Les Vrilles de la vigne as "poSmes en prose," according to the expanded conception of poetry which developed around the end of the nineteenth century. Francis Jammes, in the preface which he wrote for Sept dialogues de bStes in the 1905 edition, became the first to call Colette a poet. Since that time numerous critics have termed her prose poetic, among them Pierre Trahard, L'Art de Colette (Paris: Jean Renard, 1941), pp. 42, 44; Ketchum, Colette ou la naiasance du lour, p. 79; Mihallo B. Pavlovic, Sldonle-Gabrielle Colette : le monde animal dans sa vie et dans sa creation littAraire. Monographles, Tome XXXV (Belgrade: Facul- te de Philologie de 1'University de Belgrade, 1970), pp. 84-88. Houssa indicates the rhythmic quality of Colette's sentence structure in Le Souci de 1'expression chez Colette. 48 Pour ma part, je surveille de mon mieux 1'intrusion du vers invo- lontaire, je le traque, je le truque. . . . Si Je n'exergait sur ma prose un contrSle sans merci, je sais bien qu'au lieu d'un pro- sateur anxieux et applique, je ne serais pas autre chose qu'un mau- vais po£te dechatne (p. 221). Nevertheless, "la poesie peut echapper au rythme" (p. 217), and the essential quality of Colette's prose remains poetic— "poesie au sein de la prose" (p. 216)35— for, as she herself explains, poetry is largely a state of mind: "exaltation lyrique . . . mensonge noble . . . evasion permise" (p. 217).^ The poet "connalt le fond et la surface de la mer, les secrets de la terre, les habitudes des plantes et des betes et le langage des vents" (p. 216), criteria which Colette's love of nature fully satisfy. Images of flight associated with Colette's childhood, origin of many of her images, will again prove especially valuable. Mother, father and one of her brothers are described as "ailes," and her par ents are also associated with poetic creativity. Sido, she writes, "m'a donne le jour, et la mission de poursuivre ce qu'en poete elle salslt et abandonna, comme on s'empare d'un fragment de melodle flot- tante, en voyage dans l'espace... " (N.J., VIII, 25). Jules Colette, her father, whose interest in poetry has been mentioned, had lost a leg on the battlefield; yet, "amerement, le plus aile de lui-mSme s'elangait encore, lorsque assis, et sa chanson suave aux levres, il restait aux cSt£s de 'Sido'" (S., VII, 210). Sido returned from a trip to Paris "ailes battantes" (S., VII, 175). Colette describes her ^The poetic nature of Colette's own writing is suggested on pages 213 to 216 of "La Poisie que j'aime" (P.P.). See also pp. 215-220 on poetic temperament. 49 "regard gris voltigeant" and later explains, "J'emploie toujours ces mots : 'voltigeant regard,' quand il s'agit d'elle" (S., VII, 175, 215). As a child, excused by Sido for some misdeed, Colette remembers that "1'absolution me donnait des ailes" (S., VII, 194); on another occasion, "Ma mSre renversait la tete vers les nuees, comme si elle eut attendu qu'un vol d'enfants ailes s'abattit" (M.C., VII, 11). She portrays the younger of her brothers, Leo, as a "sylphe"— spirit of the air: A mes yeux 11 n'a pas change : c'est un sylphe de soixante-trois ans. Comme un sylphe, 11 n'est attache qu'au lieu natal, & quelque champignon tutelaire, I une feullle recroquevlllee en manlSre de toit. On salt que les sylphes vivent de peu, et meprlsent les grosslers vetements des hommes : le mien erre par- fols sans cravate, et long-chevelu. Du dos, 11 figure assez bien un pardessus vide, ensorcele et vagabond (S., VII, 226-227). Wet in a downpour, his overcoat resembles "ailes trlstes, alourdies de pluie" (p. 227).37 In addition to Colette's family, a few friends are associated with flight, among them Jean Marais, "ce grand archange aux traits sevSres . . . [qui] ploie pour entrer chez moi, ses ailes qu'il heurte & des portants et brule aux sunlights" (F.B., XIV, 71-72). Marguerite Moreno is also accorded a wing: "... elle s'en allait sous l'alle de son feutre marron ..." (F.B., XIV, 111). Certain passages indicate a relationship between images of flight and Colette's theme of liberty.3® In the same breath she describes Sido as both "llbre" and "volant haut" (N.J., VIII, 117). 37See also E.V., XIII, 240. 3®Bachelard considers imagery of the air a natural metaphor to describe the idea of liberty (L'Alr et les songes, p. 15). See also pp. 156 and 295. 50 Sido's liberty is of the spirit— an independent mind and a childlike capacity for fantasy (S., VII, 177). Occupied with household chores, " . . . il lui echappait des cris nerveux, d'impatients appels & la liberte" (S., VII, 178). Sido's flights of fantasy or reverie, momentary liberation from daily toil, are transformed into Images of ascent into the air: Maintenant que je la connais mieux, j'interprete ces eclairs de son visage. II me semble qu'un besoin d'echapper a tout et 8 tous, un bond vers le haut, vers une loi ecrite par elle seule, pour elle seule, les allumait. . . . Sous le cerisier, elle retomba encore une fois parmi nous, lestee de soucis, d'amour, d'enfants et de mari suspendus, elle redevint bonne, ronde, humble devant 1'ordinaire de sa vie (S., VII, 190). Leo, the "vieux sylphe aux ailes collees de pluie" (E.V., XIII, 240), retains throughout his life "les us et coutumes de l'enfance, — reserve, discretion, liberte" (S., VII, 227); his is the "liberte totale de rever et de se taire" of a solitary individual unbound by society's conventions (S., VII, 222). Colette's childhood in the bosom of her family constituted a time of liberty: "Dans ma famille, point d'argent, mais des llvres. Point de cadeaux, mais de la ten- dresse. Point de confort, mais la liberte" (J.R., XII, 97); as a child she preferred to play outdoors where she could enjoy "la liberte, l'ombre, la bise d'Est, et leur triple griserie" (P.P., pp. 247-248). In one of her last works Colette comments on her lot as an invalid, crippled by arthritis but free to daydream, "la liberte des enchatnSs est vast et secrSte" (E.V., XIII, 300).^ 39 Claude ChauviSre, for a long time Colette's personal secre tary, characterized her as follows; "Madame, je vous vols encagee dans un sentiment; mais toute tendue vers la lumlSre, la liberte" (Colette [Paris: Firmin-Didot et Compagnle, 1931], p. 39). 51 The central Image used to express liberty in Les Vrilles de la vigne (published in 1908, two years after the end of Colette's 40 unhappy marriage to Willy) is that of a bird. Like the nightingale who sings all night to avoid sleep and the ensuing entrapment by grow ing tendrils of the vine on which he roosts, Colette forces herself to write, for only thus can she remain free from the ensnaring vine of marriage: Cassantes, tenaces, les vrilles d'une vigne amdre m'avaient liee, tandis que dans mon printemps je dormais d'un somme heureux et sans defiance. Mais j'ai rompu, d'un sursaut effraye, tous ces fils tors qui dejl tenaient a ma chair, et j'ai fui... Quand la torpeur d'une nouvelle nuit de miel a pese sur mes paupieres, j'ai craint les vrilles de la vigne et j'ai Jete tout haut une plainte qui m'a revele ma vois... (V.V., III, 206). Numerous images of wind, the sky and flight appear in Les Vrilles de la vigne. giving the work greater unity. Several passages deal with other aspects of personal liberty: independence of thought and free dom from certain social conventions (pp. 238-254). Birds and butterflies frequently appear in Colette's imagery; she testifies to her childhood "connivence" with the first bird seen in the morning (S., VII, 181). Remembering the tireless searches with her brothers for butterflies, she admits, Mais le gout, la curlosite du Papillon me sont restes, et une connaissance qui dSpasse un peu celle de l'amateur moyen. Quand le Papillon vole au loin, je le vois mal, mais je le nomme d'apres son allure, sa maniSre de se comporter dans l'air. Comnent con- fond re le vif battement du Machaon, par exemple, et le magistral vol du Flambe qui plane, epanoui? (J.R., XII, 113). * ^Bachelard calls the image of the bird "air llbre personni- fiS" (L'Air et les songes, p. 94). ^Colette's butterflies attract by vibrant color as well as by airy fluttering. See J.R., XII, 112-113; V.V., III, 274; and 52 Typical of what Bachelard calls the "Imagination dynamique," which gives images of movement priority over those of color or shape, * Colette's most striking Images of birds describe flight. Comparing martlets and swallows, Colette says of the latter, Elies sont plus petites, plus gracieuses, usent d'un vol moins planant. Circuits, descentes jusqu'au sol, faufilage des oeils- de-boeuf, glissages, bonds vertlcaux dans l'air, retours en m&che de fouet, ces jeux commencent au petit Jour de quatre heures, finissent & la nult (J.R., XII, 26). Colette has favorite ways of describing certain sense impres sions and often reuses the same specific images in a number of works; the metaphor of a bird in flight resembling an arrow is a case in point. In 1908 (Les Vrilles de la vigne) she wrote, "Un oiseau noir Jailllt du couchant, fleche lancee par le soleil qui meurt" (III, 276- 277). The image reappears in 1922 (M.C., VII, 55), again in 1949— swallows become "fleches du printemps" (E.P.C., XIV, 385)— and quite possibly appears in other works as well. Images of flying creatures are utilized in Colette's work to convey certain states of mind or body which descend upon one gradually and as if unexpected. In Les Vrilles de la vigne she places love in P.C.B., V, 291-292. Bachelard explains that "les couleurs multiples paplllotent, elles sont les colorations de mouvements qui papillonnent. . . . Le papillon apparatt dans les poemes qui, dans la nature, cher- chent des occasions de pittoresque" (L'Air et les songes, p. 81). ^Explaining the "prioritS du dynamique sur le formel," Bachelard concludes that "les formes poetiques sont deposees par les mouvements imaginaires, comme la matidre, dans la theorie bergsonienne, est ddposee par un elan vital" (L'Air et les songes, p. 72-73). Fur thermore, he states, "Nous poserons en thSse que si les oiseaux sont 1'occasion d'un grand essor de notre imagination, ce n'est pas & cause de leurs brillantes couleurs. Ce qui est beau, chez 1'oiseau, prlml- tivement, c'est le vol" (p. 80). 53 this category: "... 1'amour, d'une aile inevitable s'abat sur moi . . . " (111, 228). In an especially charming image sleep arrives like a velvet butterfly: "Le sommeil s'approche, me frSle et fuit... Je le vois! II est pareille a ce papillon de lourd velours que je poursuivais, dans le jardin enflamme d'irls... " (V.V., III, 218). In La Naissance du jour she asks, "Combien esperent, de bonne foi, que la vielllesse arrive comme un vautour qui se decroche du ciel et tombe, ayant longtemps plane invisible?" (N.J., VII, 32). The image of the flying fish, recurring in at least four of Colette's works, originates from a more basic metaphor comparing air and water for their ability to flow and to support a moving body. On one occasion she describes air heavy with odor as "une eau epalsse" 43 (P.I., IX, 69). In discussing the imagery of Antoine de Saint- Exupery, W. M. Frohock calls the analogy between air and water a "basic metaphor . . . older than powered flight itself, so prevalent as to be a commonplace." He explains, however, that Saint-Exupery invigorates this traditional metaphor by "exploiting subsidiary aspects"similarly, Colette extends the basic comparison to the sky and bodies of water, to birds and fish, flight and swimming, and to clouds and ships. Tawny owls flying through dense fog seem to be I I "Le principe de la continuite des images dynamiques de l'eau et de l'air n'est autre que le vol onirique. . . . le voyage aerien apparalt comme une transcendance facile du voyage sur les flots" (Bachelard, L'Alr et les songes. p. 53). See also p. 92. ^ Style and Temper: Studies In French Fiction, 1925-1960 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967), pp. 34- 35. 54 swimming: . . . parfois je me penche a ma fenetre pour voir le retour des chats-huants. . . . Cinquante pieds de brume oQ passe et repasse l'elan indistinct de betes veloces, un tournoiement aise de pols- sons dans l'onde. Mes yeux s'accoutument, et le ciel palit: le roux et le blanc, le jaune et le gris se peignent peu I peu sur les grandes ailes ouvertes et nageantes . . . (P.C.B., V, 287). To Colette a cloud may resemble a fish: "Une vieille lune usee se promSne dans le bas du ciel, poursuivie par un petit nuage surprenant de nettete, de consistence metalllque, agrippe au disque entame comme un poisson 3 une tranche de fruit flottante" (N.J., VIII, 57-58). From her window, shortly after World War II, she watches "les avions americains qui passent. Un vol de poissons dans la nuit tombante... Ils traversent les nuages de pluie comme l'epinoche son nid floconneux ... " (E.V. , VIII, 180). The analogy between air and water receives extensive development in Colette's work, marine imagery being quite prominent in L'Etoile Vesper and Le Fanal bleu; however, other aspects of the comparison had best be left to succeeding chapters. Colette's imagination of movement through the air translates itself into still another set of Images, less numerous than those of flight: imagery of floating in the air or being cradled by the wind. In a passage from Paysages et portraits, Colette describes her reverie of living in a tree, a majestic cypress growing alongside her lodging in Provence, so close that its branches extend through her open win- ^See also P.E.P., VIII, 299. Bachelard remarks "Souvent, dans nos etudes sur 1'imagination (cf. Lautreamont et L'Eau et les rSves), nous avons reconnu un passage progressif de l'eau 3 l'air, nous avons signale 1'evolution imaginaire continue du poisson 3 1'oiseau. Tout veritable rSveur d'un monde flulde . . . connalt le poisson volant" (L'Air et les songes, p. 174). 55 dow and seemingly rock her In the breeze: Ils m'avaient loge dans un cypres. Non comme l'epouvantail dans un cerlsler! Mais comme mes amis sont de vrals amis, ils ont pense que je serais mieux Id qu'ailleurs, et 11s ne se trompaient pas. [Le cyprds] griffe ma fendtre quand je l'ouvre, joue de l'harmo- nica sur mes vitres si je les ferme. . . . Vers cinq heures le torment d'arthrite m'eveille : d mon flanc le cyprds dort, appose sur un fond d'aube vert pdle. II ne tressaille ni ne respire dans son repos d'obellsque. II s'eveillera tard, solliclte par le debut de mistral dont je me sens bercee. . . . Cypres compact, . . . [le mistral] seul creuse le bloc de ta sombre crepelure, la divise et revele ton coeur sec. Alors j'accepte la tentation de tes failles profondes, je crois t'habiter, et je te prefdre d cette chambre que tu demanteles (pp. 263-265). Colette juxtaposes the idea of floating on air and that of floating on water in a reference to the "bleu universel, air et eau, ou nous nous baignons" (N.J., VIII, 53). Cradling by the air is replaced by float ing on water in the marine imagery of Le Fanal bleu; Colette's bed becomes a "divan-radeau" on which, she says, " . . . je m'embarqual sans defiance sur une vague de sommeil ..." (XIV, 73). We will return to the marine imagery of this book on another occasion. A seed floating in the air constitutes another of Colette's frequent images; she describes une semence d'argent fin, lestee d'un granule, plus leger encore que n'est la semence des chardons. Une d une sea houppes se libdrent, gagnent sous mon plafond l'air echauffe, y voyagent longuement, redescendent, et si l'appel d'air du feu en happe quelqu'une elle se prdte au rapt, s'dlance resolument dans l'atre et s'y suicide. J'ignore le nom de la plante qui disperse ainsi see volantes Smes, mais elle n'a pas besoin d'un dtat civil pour prendre sa place dans mon musde d'ignorante (F.B., XIV, 9-10).4? ^Bachelard explains that to certain individual's imagination, the tree la "une demeure, une sorte de chateau de reve" and "un nid immense balancd par les vents" (L'Alr et les songes, pp. 240, 243). ^The jet of water shooting high above Lake Geneva resembles, to the author, "un dpi, une semence eployde au vent, rebelle au vent" 56 Lightness A3 might be expected from an author who uses numerous Images of air and flight, Colette demonstrates a sensitivity to lightness. Since her Images of flight almost never Involve motor-powered aircraft, they naturally imply lack of weight, whether lightness of the airborne substance or levity of the dreaming mind. Her evaluation of a theat rical production combines references to flight, air and lightness: "La maniere ailee de Jean Glraudoux rencontre encore une fols l'art de Louis Jouvet, qui dispose I miracle de la courbe, du chatolement, de tout ce qui est leger, mobile, aere... " (J.N., X, 164). Mobility Itself suggests lightness to Colette as evinced in the following excerpts in which the rapid wing movements of swallows decrease the weight of the surrounding air: "Perce, reperce par tant de pointes d'alles, tant de sifflements aceres, l'air est dejd plus leger" (E.P.C., XIV, 384). Bachelard remarks that the author whose imagina tion is attracted to Images of flight, including oneiric flight, natu rally associates mobility and lightness; furthermore, he states that Imagery of motion produces a fundamental "allegresse.Colette recalls that as a child, her mother's approval "me donnait des ailes (F.B., XIV, 14). In the marvelous passage "Ailes," treated earlier with regard to oneiric flight, Colette describes dandelion seeds floating in the air: "Elies cheminent lentement, longtemps visibles sur le bleu brumeux de la mer; elles s'arretent dans l'air at s'y reposent sans des- cendre. C'est aussi le temps d'emigrer pour la graine du chardon. Celle-ci vole d'autre fa^on, herisson irise roulant sur l'extre- mite de aes piquants, devalant au long d'un plan Invisible, remon tant une cSte atmospherlque" (A.Q., VI, 472). The succeeding paragraph* in "Ailes" describe the flight of two cor morants and then of the author's tame finch, the final step in a tex tual progression from oneiric flight, to Inanimate floating in the 57 . . . [et me rendait] legSre ..." (S., VII, 194). Colette describes her lighter-than-alr trip in a dirigible, with a burst of joyful enthusiasm: Alors je c§de brusquement I une allegresse totale, qui s'exprime en "ohl" d'etonnement, en "ahl" extasies; allegresse assez incom prehensible en somme : le fait de voguer I deux cents metres au- dessus de Paris suffit-il a 1'expllquer?... Allegresse cependant, joie stupide de se pencher tres fort sur la balustrade, pour con- stater avec Sclat qu'il n'y a "rien qui nous tient en dessous"! (D.L.F., IV, 447). Colette's account of dream-flight (A.Q., VI, 470) suggests a mood of serene happiness; indeed, a note of gaiety pervades much of Colette’s autobiographical and meditative writing (one exception being Mis apprentissages, her apologia pro vita sua). She admits the intentional cultivation of this cheerful tone in her writing: "Me trompai-je, quand plus d'une fois je decidai que rire serait ma part et non lar- moyer, m’autorisant de ce que le rire, voire le fou rire, ne depend pas de la joie? . . . rire fait partie de mes Constances? (P.P., p. 268). At the age of seventy-three, when crippled by arthritis, shm writes, . . . je vis sur le fonds de frlvolite qui vient au secours des existences longues. Qu'un 3ge arrive ou 11 faut cholslr entre 1'amertume, le pessimisme comme on dlsait autrefois, et le con- traire, et qu'il y a beau temps que mon cholx est fait— disons, plus verldiquement, qu'il est affiche (E.V., XIII, 275). Colette, her mother and brother, characterized, as we have air, to the winged flight of birds. ^®"0n sentlra alors qu'il y a mobillte des Images dans la pro portion oO, en sympathisant par 1'imagination dynamique avec les phe- nomSnes airlens, on prendra conscience d'un allegement, d'une alle gresse, d'une l£gdret€" (p. 17). See also p. 38. 58 seen, by Images of air and flight, also possess lightness of body. Colette and her brothers as children are compared to "sylvains aux pieds legers" (S., VII, 207). Leo, the "sylphe," living in the mem ories and fantasy of his childhood, assumes, figuratively speaking, the physical aspect of his youth also and "revet le petit corps agile et leger [de son enfance] qu'il n'a jamais quitte longtemps" (S., VII, 227). Colette admires Sido's light step: "Je n'ai pas, ma tres chere, ton pied leger pour passer dans certains chemins. Je me souviens que, par des jours de pluie, tu n'avals presque pas de boue sur tes sou- liers" (N.J., VII, 59-60), Colette writes, as if evoking the winged heels of Mercury. It is Sido also of whom Colette says, "Libre, volant haut, elle nomme 1'amour constant, exclusif: "Quelle legSrete!'" (N.J., VIII, 117). We have seen that love is also described by an image of flight (V.V., III, 228). Images of heaviness, in addition, appear in the author's descriptive passages, but since we have found no evidence linking them with her fundamental themes, these images will be omitted in this study. In the excerpts presented concerning Colette's air imagery, her attraction towards height and towards the sky, sometimes implicit, sometimes obvious, has nevertheless been constant. Let us return, for example, to the passage "Ailes" in which, after expounding on oneiric flight, man's Instinctive fascination with the ability to fly, alrborn seeds, the flight of birds and the fall exodus of the latter, she concludes, "Mais hors du bouquet persistant, de mauve et de jaune colore, quelque chose d'alle, pourtant, s'elance : l'araignee aventu- reuse lSche sa tolle, s'abandonne au bout d'un cSble de sole et, cueillie par le vent, monte... " (A.Q., VI, 473). The rapport between linages of the air, particularly wind and flight, and those of the sky seems so obvious as to preclude the need for explanation. We will join Colette, then, In her literary ascent to the heavens and examine In the following chapter her Images of the sky, complement, as It were, to those of the air. CHAPTER II IMAGERY OF THE SKY The large part of Colette's imagery which may be gathered under the heading, images of the sky, includes images of ascent, the sky in general, blue and rose as innately sky colors, celestial bodies, analogy between the sky and the sea, and opposition of the sky and the earth. Some of these images take on such special importance in this work that they acquire a symbolic significance. Many sky images accompany themes already discussed with regard to the related category of air imagery. In conjunction with images of the air, wind, flight and light ness, one would naturally expect to find mention of the sky, upper level of the atmosphere and space in which wind and flight occur. Indeed, such is the case in Colette's work. The Images of flight con sidered in the previous chapter implicitly evoke the sky, as when Colette refers to Sido's "volant haut" (N.J., VIII, 117).^ Images of ascent involve both movement through the air and elevation toward the sky. Ascent will be considered separately from flight because of the former's association with an important theme not closely related to ^Bachelard mentions the relationship between Images of ascent and those of the air: "En partlculler les phenomAnes aeriens nous donnent des lemons trSa generales et trSs importantes de montSe, d'ascension, de sublimation" (L'Air et les songes. p. 17). 60 61 flight Imagery. Let us look first at ascent before examining Imagery of the sky Itself and other related phenomena. Ascent As we have already seen in the case of wind, flight and light ness, images of ascent are frequently associated with Colette's mother, Sido. In the book of that name, the author describes her mother's momentary reverie— escape from household cares— as a "bond vers le haut, vers une loi ecrite par elle seule, . . . " (S., VII, 190). After relating Sido's enjoyment of singing when alone, Colette evokes the image of a solitary lark, mounting to the sky: "En ces instants encore nocturnes ma mere chantalt, pour se taire des qu'on pouvait l'entendre. L'alouette aussi, tant qu'elle monte vers le plus clair, vers le moins habite du ciel" (N.J., VIII, 26). In the same paragraph Colette utilizes another image of ascent to relate her mother's preference for early rising— first at six o'clock in the morning, then at five o'clock and, towards the end of her life, in the small hours of the day: "Ma mdre montait, et motitait sans cesse sur l'echelle des heures, tachant 1 posseder le commencement du commence ment... Je sals ce que c'est que cette ivresse-lS." The author's own appreciation of the early morning hours, symbolizing her interest in the primordial, appears in Sido; recalling her childhood enjoyment of rising at three-thirty in the morning to see the sunrise and pick wild berries in the marshlands, Colette states, "C'est sur ce chemin, c'est A cette heure que je prenals conscience de mon pris, d'un etat de grSce indicible et de ma connivence avec le premier souffle 62 accouru, le premier oiseau, le soleil encore ovale, deforme par son ecloslon... " (VII, 181). Later in the chapter we shall consider the yearning suggested herein for an ideal, in this case a primordial absolute, for which the author herself admits a d e s i r e . ^ In addition to Sido, a number of Colette's friends are associ ated with ascent or with a certain vertical distance between earth and sky. She describes poetess Helene Picard's uplifted glance, "epris de tout ce qui etait haut, aile celeste: ..." (E.V., XIII, 262). Of Les Monstres sacres, by the "aerien" Jean Cocteau, Colette asks, "Par quel saut perllleux sur place, quel bond sans filet, quelle trajec- toire ou l'on croit distinguer un corps voyageant dans un faisceau de lumlere poudroyante, l'auteur nous precipite-t-il dans le fou rire?" (P.P., p. 137). Poet Leon-Paul Fargue, on the other hand, is earth- bound; remembering a dinner party at Fargue's apartment, Colette com ments, "A ma droite le bord de la fenetre ouverte coupait les arbres au ras du tronc; l'amant de la rue logeait dans les platanes... " (F.B., XIV, 41). It is of interest to note that, according to Gaston Bachelard, several works by Balzac, whose Comedie humaine Colette periodically reread in its entirety, contain striking examples of Imagery of ascent, as well as other types considered in this study.^ ^Once again in the same work, Colette attaches a personal significance to rising during the early morning hours: "Quand je me levals, petite fille, vera sept heures, eblouie que le soleil ffit bas . . . j'entendals mA mSre s'ecrler: "Sept heures! mon Dieu, qu'il est tardi' Je ne la rejolndrai done jamais?" (VIII, 117). . . . Seraphlta est entiSrement soumlse aux themes de la psychologle ascenslonnelle. Ce riclt a ete ecrit, semble-t-il, pour jouir consciemment de 1'ascension inconsciente" (L'Alr et les songes. p. 71). See also pp. 65-75 regarding Les Proscrits and Louis Lambert. 63 The vernal renewal of nature assumes a vertical thrust In La Matson de Claudlne: Tout crolt avec une hate divine. La moindre creature vegetale darde son plus grand effort vertical. La pivoine, sanguine en son premier mois, pousse d'un tel jet que ses hampes, ses feuilles a peine depliees traversent, emportent et suspendent dans l'air leur supreme croGte de terre comme un tolt creve. . . . Le vallon cul- tive, grillage encore d'eaux paralleles, hisse les sillons verts au-dessus de l'inondation. Rien n'arretera plus l'asperge, qui a commence son ascension de taupe, nl la torche de l'irls violet (M.C., VII, 160-161). Images of ascension lend to spring— an important season for Colette which will be subject to further discussion— qualities of vigor and transformation. As a child, Colette imagined the passing year as a continuum in time which ascends, reaches a plateau and then descends: . . . cette route ondulee, ce ruban deroule qui de Janvier montait vers le prlntemps, montait, montait vers l'ete pour s'y epanouir en calme plaine . . . puis descendalt vers un automne odorant, brumeux, . . . Puis le ruban ondule devalait, vertigineux, Jusqu'S se rompre net devant une date merveilleuse, isolee, suspendue entre les deux ann€es comme une fleur de givre : le jour de l'An ... (V.V., III, 210). In her later works, Colette usually describes the passage of time as a spiral movement which cyclically turns towards the past during its progression into the future. We will return to this point later in our study. Colette's Images of ascent and height often express tran quillity or joy. In the sketch, "Le Bracelet," Colette implies com parison of a pleasurable moment prlvilegie to the feeling of ascension; the end of the experience bringing a descent to reality. "Le prodlge cessa et Mme Angelier retomba, meurtrie, dans le present et le reel" Occasionally height and ascent connote a longing for a primordial ideal, as we have seen; Colette avoids, however, the common metaphor- 64 leal use of ascent to express moral approbation, an omission consis tent with her general refusal to evaluate morality by conventional Christian standards.^ A strong sense of vertical movement also exists in Colette's descriptions of dream: in a humorous vein, she relates her dream of combat with a creature from oneiric fantasy and her feel ing of "confuse vanite, A peine formulee, de ramener 11- haut une con- quete: ..." (A.Q., VI, 471). The Sky Colette expresses her Interest in the sky and its phenomena in a number of striking passages, of which many are from Sido and L'Etoile Vesper. As in the case of other images from nature, Colette attributes her fascination with the heavens to her childhood in the countryside of Burgundy. Reminiscing on the past, she despairs of ever finding words adequate to describe the sky of her youthful memo ries : De grace, donnez-moi, pour mieux vous leurrer, donnez-moi de tendres crayons de pastel, des couleurs qui n'ont pas de nom encore, donnez-moi des poudres etincelantes, et un pinceau-fee, et ... Mais nont car il n'y a pas de mots, ni de crayons, ni de couleurs, pour vous peindre, au-dessus d'un toit d'ardoise vio- lette brode de mousses rousses, le ciel de mon pays, tel qu'il Les Proscrits and Louis Lambert. ^Colette's use of animal or vegetal imagery to describe her fictional characters gives them an amoral quality. After Alain of La Chatte refuses reconciliation with his wife, he felinely paws a chest nut while watching her walk away. Samuel Beckett remarks that Proust obtained a similar effect through the use of botanical metaphors (Proust, [New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1970], p. 68). Colette's occasional mention of angels and demons does not indicate belief in Christianity on her part, but instead arises from her general Interest in magic and the supernatural. 65 reaplendissait sur mon enfance!" (P.P., 13). With mention of the "pinceau-fee" the passage acquires a magical qual ity. On another occasion she recalls her youthful fascination with the blue sky of a winter morning, a blue reflected by the shadows of a snow-covered landscape: "Devant cette region celeste je restals longtemps, assise sur ma luge" (B.S., p. 51). Sido, In the book named for her, Is strongly associated with the sky to which she looks, seemingly for advice, as If In communica tion with nature. Colette describes her mother gazing up at a tree, motionless, "la tete a la rencontre du del, d'ou elle banlssalt les religions humalnes... " (S., VII, 190).^ On another occasion In the same book, Sido "interrogeait le nuage" (p. 226). A similar descrip tion exists in La Maison de Claudine: " Ma mere renversait la tete vers les nuees, comme si elle eut attendu qu'un vol d'enfants ailes s'abattit. . . . puis [elle] se lassait d'interroger le ciel, ..." (M.C., VII, 11). La Nalssance du jour twice mentions Sido's "cruaute celeste qui ne connaissait pas le courroux" (VII, 27, 28), as she terms her mother's uncompromising frankness. The following passage, again from Sido, Introduces an element of fantasy into the mother's mysterious rapport with the heavens. Colette describes Sido in the enclosed family garden, conversing across the high fence with unseen neighbors— each associated with a cardinal or collateral point— as if conversing with celestial voices: Entre les points cardinaux auxquels ma mSre dediait des appels ^Colette calls her mother an unbeliever (M.C., VII, 111) and an atheist (F.A., XIV, 360). 66 directs, des repllques qui ressemblaient, oules du salon, £ de brefs soliloques inspires, et les manifestations, g€nSralement botaniques, de sa courtoisie; — entre CSbe et la rue des Vignes, entre la m£re Adolphe et M® de Fourolles, une zone de points col- lateraux, moins precise et moins proche, prenait contact avec nous par des sons et des signes etouffes. Mon imagination, mon orguell enfantlns sltuaient notre maison au centre d'une rose de jardins, de vents, de rayons, dont aucun secteur n'echappait tout £ fait & 1'influence de ma mere. Bien que ma liberte, 1 toute heure, dependlt d'une escalade facile — une grille, un mur, un "toiton" incline — , 1'illusion et la foi me revenaient d£s que J'atterris- aais, au retour, sur le gravier du jardln. . . . j'assistais aux prodlges famlliers: — C'est vous que j'entends, Cebe? crlait ma mere. Avez-vous vu ma chatte? . . . [Sido] renversait la t3te pour offrir au del son lntrepide regard gris, son visage couleur de pomme d'automne. Sa voix frappait-elle 1'oiseau de la glrouette, la bondree planante, la dernlere feuille du noyer, ou la lucarne qui avalait, au petit matin, les chouettes?... 0 surprise, 8 cer titude... D'une nue £ gauche une voix de prophete enrhume versait un : "Non, Madame ColS...e...tte!" qui semblalt traverser £ grand peine une barbe en anneaux, des pelotes de brumes, et gllsser sur des etangs fumants de frold. Ou bien : — "Oui...l, Madame ColS...e...tte, chantalt a drolte une voix d'ange aigrelet, probablement branche sur le cirrus fusiforme qui navlgualt £ la rencontre de la Jeune lune. "Elle vous a entendS ...ue... Elle p2...a...sse par le 11...13s... — Mercil criait ma m£re, au juge. Si c'est vous, C£be, ren- dez-moi done mon piquet et mon cordeau £ repiquages! J'en ai besoln pour aligner les laltues. Et faltes doucement, je suls contre les hortensias! Apport de songe, fruit d'une levitation magique, jouet de sab- bat, le piquet, quenouille de ses dix m£tres de cordelette, voya- gealt par les airs, tombait couche aux pieds de ma m£re... D'autres fois elle vouait £ des genies subaltemes, invisi bles, une frafche offrande. Fidele au rite, elle renversait la t3te, consultalt le ciel: — Qui veut de mes violettes doubles rouges? crialt-elle. — Moi, Madame Col3...3...tte! repondait 1'inconnalssable de l'Est, plaintif et femlnin. — PrenezI Le petit bouquet, noue d'une feuille aqueuse de jonquille, volait en l'air, recuellll avec gratitude par 1'Orient plaintif (S., VII, 182-184). A fanciful quality is accorded the scene quoted above by angelic and prophetic voices emanating from the clouds and by garden tools dropping, with a semblance of magic, out of the air. Floral 67 offerings are tossed to invisible spirits after consultation with a sibylline sky. These touches of illusion transform the memory of a real garden into a personal world. As explained previously, Colette's use of images of the air, sky and light produces a similar effect, albeit more subtle, by distorting the actual role of natural phenom ena and by adding symbolic values. Through both symbolic imagery and fantasy, Colette refracts, so to speak, the vision of the world pre sented to the reader. Her literary universe forms a counterpoint of the real and the unreal, of the real and appearances. A sense of magic and mystery alongside objective detail constitutes an essential characteristic of Colette's literary technique which we shall investi gate more fully in the final chapter. In L'Etoile Vesper, written when Colette was bed-ridden by arthritis, at the age of seventy-three, the sky takes on a different Importance. Observation of the celestial hemisphere replaces that of activities at ground level which her infirmity prevents her from view ing: Mais void que 1’empechement de marcher, et les annees, . . . ban- nissent de moi toutes chances d'evenements romanesques. Je ne possede plus, disormals, que les aspects deroules sur l'ecran de ma fenetre, que l'eclair dSin ciel ou d'un oeil, la constellation, les prodlges grossis par ma loupe (XIII, 303). In response to her "best friend"— husband Maurice Goudeket— who Inquires whether she feels bored, the author replies, Mon meilleur ami, comment veux-tu que je m'ennuie? Le ciel lui- meme m'en detourne. Je n'ignore jamais de quels points cardinaux s'elancent les nuages qui ressemblent A Victor Hugo et A Henri Rochefort, le vent qui couche la pluie, le soleil qui brflle les doubles rldeaux, la grele cruelle aux rosiers... La lune entre chez mol comme elle veut . . . (E.V., XIII, 244). 68 The sky and its phenomena sometimes become a point of reference for descriptions of earthly existence, such that "les narcisses en avril sur les pentes suisses, . . . quelque frenesie qu'ils deploient, ne sont qu'un ciel renverse d'etoiles, sur firmament vert... " (E.V., XIII, 184). The best example of celestial analogy in L'Etoile Vesper, concerning the evening star, will be treated shortly. The sky and ascension have long been associated with ideality or divinity by Western literary tradition. Previously mentioned was Colette's use of ascent to express temporal ideality, a primordial absolute. In Les Vrilles de la vigne, an image of the sky is identi fied with a yearning for some undefined absolute or ideal; to an unnamed companion, the author extols ce ciel brumeux et pourtant pur, qui t'eblouit... 0 toi, qui te satisfait peut-etre de ce lambeau d'azur, ce chiffon de ciel borne par les murs de notre etroit jardln, songe qu'il y a, quelque part dans le monde, un lieu envie d'ou l'on decouvre tout le del! Songe, comme tu songeras £ un royaume inaccessible, songe aux con fine de 1'horizon, au pSlissement delicieux du ciel qui rejolnt la terre... (Ill, 227).6 Colette recognizes in earthbound creatures a longing for the sky: " . . . tourment de la creature cruciflee £ plat sur la terre et qui lance son regard en haut... " (A.Q., VI, 472). Considering skyscrap ers to be a manifestation of human desire to reach the sky, Colette asks, "Mais quo! de plus naturel £ l'homme que de faire d'assaut du ^For Cirlot, images of ascent are a natural expression of spiritual life: "The symbolism of ascension or ascent has two main aspects: externally a higher level in space signifies a higher value by virtue of its connection with the symbolism of space and height; and, secondly, it pertains to the inner life, the symbolism of which concerns the 'upward impulse' rather than any actual ascent" (A Dictionary of Symbols, p. 19). 69 ciel? De tout temps, 11 a escalade le mont, congu la tour, envie l'aile" (M.Cah., XIII, 426).^ Ernst Cassirer believes that the wide spread designation of the sky as a sacred zone results from a fundamen- g tal religious intuition." Blue and Rose as Sky Colors In Colette's literary production certain colors perform a function beyond that of visual representation. Her comments in Belles saisons— "ma soif de couleur" (p. 57) and "notre besoin de gafte et de couleurs violentes" (p. 50)— reveal an intense personal response to color which, as we shall demonstrate, enriches both her lyric writings and her fiction. Blue becomes by far the most important color in her writing, although a few other hues will also be of interest, notably pink and white. A wide variety of terms designate blue in general or a particular shade of blue, including "bleu," "bleuStre," "bleuir," "azur," "ceruleen," "turquoise," "bleu pers," "bleu nocturne," "bleu de plomb," "bleu de couleuvre," "bleu de pervenche," "bleu de fleur de chicoree," "bleu de volubilis," and "bleu de flamme" among others. Colette frequently uses blue to evoke an emotional or intellectual response.^ Moreover, she lends cerulean associations to certain of ^The theme of search for an ideal also occurs with several of Colette's fictional characters, notably in Alain of La Chatte. Anne Ketchum calls Cheri a "symbol de l'asplratlon etemelle de l'homme & un absolu meme si rien dans son passS ne l'y prepare" (Colette ou la naissance du jour, p. 220) whereas Minne becomes a "petite queteuse de l'absolu" (p. 130). Q The Philosophy of Symbolic forma, Vol. II: Mythical Thought (New Haven: Yale University Frees, 1955), pp. 99-100. Hereafter, vol ume II will be referred to as Mythical Thought. 70 her themes. With regard to our study of imagery, Colette relates her preference for blue to, in particular, her fascination with the sky. She indicates her chromatic preference for azure on numerous occasions. In the summer she thirsts for it: "... j'au t8t soif de la mer, de l'inflexible suture horizontal, bleu contre bleu... " (N.J., VIII, 116). Comparing the blue lights of wartime Paris during 1939-1940 with those of World War I, she refers to "nos souvenirs ceruleens" (J.I., XIV, 277). Her childhood memories of New Year's Day, of a magical moment during the early morning hours of the new year, are associated with this color. She explains, "Ce qui comptait comme etrennes, d'etait cette heure bleue, unique dans l'annee, ce lever insolite, ce leger tremblement d'une angolsse incomparable" (P.P., p. 247). Colette calls attention to the cyanotic beginning of her life: "A force de cris et de peine, ma mere me chassa de ses flancs, mais . . . je surgis bleue et muette ..." (F.B., XIV, 61). The whimsical passage, "Bleu," in Pour un herbier reveals that Colette's cerulean penchant applies to flowerage as well. She voices jocular dissatisfaction that le Createur de toutes choses s'est montre un peu regardant quand il a distribue chez nous les fleurs bleues. On salt que je ne triche pas avec le bleu, mais je ne veux pas qu'il m'abuse. Le muscari n'est pas plus bleu que n'est bleue la prune de Monsieur • • • 11 y a des connaisseurs de bleu comme il y a des amateurs de ®Irene Frisch Fuglsang comments briefly on the special signif icance which blue has for Colette's writing. In the case of color as well as the expression of the other sense impressions, Fuglsang remarks, "... l'emploi de ces adjectlfs n'est pas un phenomSne purement stylistique et littSralre, . . . mais c'est un phenomSne psy- chologlque" ("Le Style de Colette," Part I: "Les Sensations et leur signification poetlque," pp. 4, 18-20. 71 crus. Quinze etes consecutifs & Saint-Tropez ne me furent pas seulement une cure d'azur, mats une etude aussl, . . . Au plus fort du jour provengal le zenith se colffe de cendre. . . . l'heure de midi nous chlcanalt a tous notre ration vitale de bleu et de serenite (P.H., XIV, 161-162). Her books are written on paper "couleur de jour clair dans la nuit" (N.J., VIII, 69).^® The lamp which lights her days and nights, the "fanal bleu" mentioned in the book of that name, "n'est rlen d'autre qu'une forte lampe conmerciale au bout de son long X extensible, bleue et juponnee de papier bleu" (F.B., XIV, 52). At least three of the cats mentioned in Colette's lyric works are called "blue Persians" (P.C.B., V, 234 and M.C., VII, 147-148), apparently referring to one type of Smoke Persian cat which has a bluish cast to its fur. In men tioning the cats she emphasizes this bluish coloring: "une nue de poll bleuatre" (N.J., VIII, 39), "son petit visage . . . d'un bleu de pluie" (N.J., VIII, 40), "sa toison, bleue comme un orage d'ouest" (F.B., XIV, 36). She writes, "La chatte eut d'abord cent mains pour gifler [les matous], cent petites mains bleues, veloces, ..." (V.V., III, 296). Some of these same expressions are used to depict the cerulean coloring of Saha in La Chatte. The use of blue to evoke the sky and the sea occurs univer sally and, of course, exists in Colette's writing.^ In La Naissance du jour she refers to the "bleu universel, air et eau" (VIII, 53). 10See also E.V., XIII, 222 and F.B., XIV, 7. 13-In the words of C. G. Jung, "'Blue, standing for the verti cal’— and the spatial or the symbolism of levels— 'means height and depth (the blue sky above, the blue sea below)"* (Collected Works. Vol. XII: Psychology and Alchemy [Lobdon, 1953], quoted in Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, p. 51. 72 Her images of blue water and the blue sea, however, are descriptive and conventional: "un coin de mer d'un bleu de metal neuf" (M.C., VII, 169), "la mer plate, dense, dure, d'un bleu rlglde qui s'atten- drlra vers la chute du jour" (N.J., VIII, 10), "l'eau d'un bleu lourd" (N.J., VIII, 61), "l'eau lmpetueuse des sources etait d'un bleu de couleuvre" (E.V., XIII, 178). Only In Le Fanal bleu where marine Imagery plays an important role does Imagery of blue water begin to take on added significance; here Colette mentions "une source etrange- ment bleu" (XIV, 112) and "une lointaine mer arcachonnalse sur le bleu de laquelle je me repose" (p. 71). She expresses a personal interest, however, in the blue of the sky. Recalling a winter morning, she writes, Ciel vert... ciel culvre... del enfln bleu : au bleu s'arrSte et se fixe 1'ascension de la lumidre. De dix heures & deux heures apres midi, je me souvlens que c'est 3 l'est que je demandais au ciel sa plus forte, sa plus stable couleur : un bleu despotique et pur, cruellement accole 3 des champs de neige auxquels 11 arra- chait une game de blancs troubles de bleu, o& il creusait des failles d'indigo sev&re comme la nuance des cineraires bleues (B.S., p. 51). The use of words like "despotique," "pur" and "cruellement accole" to describe blue calls to mind the aggressive azure of Mallarme's poetry and suggests a symbolic meaning for this color in Colette's work; such, indeed, is the case, as we shall see. A dark shade of blue is often indicated by comparison with the evening sky, "la couleur bleue de la nult” (B.S., p. 15). Sailors in uniform appear "bleus comme la nuit" (N.J., VIII, 109). Blue colors not only the sky in Colette's literary world but also the air— that of Les Vrillea de la vigne becomes "couleur de lait 73 de pervenches" (III, 227)— and related phenomena. A bluish haze per vades her description of Brittany, giving it an unreal quality: "La Bretagne me baigna de son lait bleu, un bleu atmospherique que l'aube suspend aux branches des pommiers, aux mats des bateaux, aux roches comues" (P.P., p. 110). Breath seen on a winter day takes on an azure tint: "nos haleines bleues de montagnards bien nourris" (V.E., VI, 317).^ One expects Colette to see, like Breton's Nadja, a blue wind blowing through the trees. Storms, lightning, mist, clouds, rain, snow— many phenomena of weather appear blue in Colette's liter ary universe: "bleue comme tin orage d'ouest" (F.B., XIV, 36), "bleu comme la foudre" (B.S., p. 17), "ce mauve de plule, ce bleu de brume" (E.V., XIII, 288), "cumulus bleus comme le plomb" (B.S., p. 47) "un bleu de pluie" (N.J., VIII, 40), "neige pure, durable, bleue de rever- berer l'azur qui la baigne" (V.E., VI, 316). Many examples of her use of blue to describe atmospheric conditions not normally associated with this color become formulae in Colette's repertory of images. Frequently the expressions appear in a shortened form without the adjective "blue" such that the phenomena themselves are used to describe color: "yeux couleur de pluie" (S., VII, 190), "un petit rayon rigide, couleur de foudre" (N.J., VIII, 63), "manteau couleur de cr€puscule et de pluie" (F.B., XIV, 104), "manteau couleur de temps" (presumably blue also, P.P., p. 12). By association with the complete expressions, the shortened forms naming only the phenomena also evoke an azure hue. Colette's abbreviation of some of her favorite descrip- ^See also B.S., p. 13 for "une haleine bleue" and M.Cah., XIII, 340 and 396 for "l'alr bleu" and "bleu comme l'air." 74 tlons and comparisons produces Images of greater originality, often having a mysterious and poetic quality. Colette frequently assigns a cerulean hue to obscurity and shadow which offset her many images of light, the subject of the next chapter. In Les Vrilles de la vigne two figures sleep, bathed in "l'obscurity bleue" (III, 217). At noon skiers return to their lodge "avec leur petite ombre d'un bleu vif couchee & leur pieds" (V.E., VI, 318). The blue of the Provenqal sky fades at noon such that "11 arrive qu'l midi les courtes ombres, que resorbent les murs et le pied des arbres, soient le seul azur pur du paysage... " (N.J., VIII, 64).13 Blue has a special significance for Colette in addition to its function of visual representation. In La Naissance du jour she explains that "le bleu, c'est mental. Le bleu ne donne pas faim, ne rend pas voluptueux. Une chambre bleu est inhabitable" (N.J., VIII, 53). The connotations assigned here to blue recur in other instances: the wind, sometimes described as blue, is called "l'ennemi de la voluptg," as we have seen (N.J., VIII, 17); curtains around her half- sister Juliette's bed were "d'un bleu impitoyable" (M.C., VII, 31). She reiterates the psychological nature of her response to azure, linking this color to a list of images, all of which evoke a certain degree of awe: "... la couleur interplanitalre, le bleu orlglnel, qui nous est pSture mentale, autant que visuelle. Le ciel, la mer, l'abfme, l'orage sont bleus... " (J.N., X, 261). This color often l3See also V.V., III, 214, 218 and N.J., VIII, 112. 75 connotes in her writing tranquillity and happiness, as in her formula for enjoyment: "RSver que le volubilis dispense, au rouge du bigno- nier, le bleu justement qui nous rend heureux; ..." (B.S., p. 19). B. J. Kouwer, in his study of color associations throughout the world, notes that blue appears as the color of happiness in romantic litera ture in particular. Victor Hugo mentioned "cette robe d'azur qu'on 14 nomine le bonheur." Examining a landscape-painting presented to her, she takes pleasure in its cerulean background, "une lointalne mer arcachonnaise sur le bleu de laquelle Je me repose" (F.B., XIV, 71). Even purple, because of Its proximity to blue, elicits a mental reac tion in Prisons et paradls: "Je die 'bleu'; mais comment nommer cette couleur qui depasse le bleu, recule les llmites du violet, provoque la pourpre dans un domalne qui est plus mental qu'optique, car si j'appelle pourpre une vibration de couleur qui semble franger ce bleu, je ne la vois pas reellement, je la pressens... " (P.E.P., VIII, 288). Colette's beloved Sido appears several times in La Malson de Claudlne wearing her "robe de satlnette bleue" (VII, 53 and 122) or a "grand tablier bleu" (VII, 12) and using her "petite casserole bleue & bouilllr le lait" (M.C., VII, 126). When Colette arrives at her mother's house one morning and finds "la cuisine froide, la casserole bleue pendue au mur," (M.C., VII, 132), she knows that Sldo's death is near. Reminiscing, Colette tenderly wonders whether her deceased 14 From La LSgende des sl&cles as cited by B. J. Kouwer, Colors and Their Character (The Hague: Martinus Hljhoff, 1949), p. 117, quoting from Edmond Huguet, La Couleur, la lumi&re et 1'ombre dans les metaphores ds Victor Hugo (Paris: Hachette, 1905), p. 329. 76 mother's spirit, "fantSme maternel en robe de satlnette bleue d€modee" (N.J., VIII, 12), still frequents the house in Saint-Sauveur-en- Pulsaye. Sido had once said about Colette's dress, "Tu sals tree bien que je n’alme pour tol que le rose, et certains bleus... " (M.C., VII, 123). Blue eyes like those of Jules Colette (M.C., VII, 27) and his youngest son, Leo (M.C., VII, 221), are emphasized in Colette's lyric works and in some of her fiction, such as Le Ble en herbe (Vinca), La Chatte (Alain), and Cheri (Lea). Occasionally she calls attention to blue eyes more forcefully with the synecdochic expression "regard bleu" (B.S., p. 37 and V.V., III, 287) which also conveys a fixedness or vagueness to the look.^ While Colette often compares eyes to the blue of certain flowers (P.P., pp. 50, 63, 65, 74, 151), she does a turnabout in describing the squill as "bleue comme un oeil" (B.S., p. 9). In one of her most interesting statements on blue, Colette associates this color with the absolute, a theme manifesting Itself in many forms throughout both her lyric works and fiction. In Le Fanal bleu she wonders, " . . . y a-t-il une raison pour qu'un bleu obscur nous trouve aussl senslbles?... Vieilles evocations de firmament, mirages de mers, ce que nous tenons pour eternel est volontiers bleu" (F.B., XIV, 23). The word "Sternel" ascribes to blue matter connota tions of being perpetual, infinite and ideal. For Stephane Mallarme ^Jean Giono, whose Jean le bleu (1932) may have been influ enced by La Malson de Claudine (1922), frequently mentions blue eyes and other Images of blue preferred by Colette: a look, the sky, shadow, a storm, nighttime. See Norma Lorre Goodrich's Giono: Master of Fictional Modes, p. 259, Note 21. 77 azure also symbolized Ideality which, however, he attempted to escape (cf. the poem entitled "L'Azur"), unlike Colette who sought out both the color and the absolute. Colette's use of the expression "le bleu originel" (S., VII, 181 and J.N., X, 261) suggests the same concern with a primordial Ideal which we discovered in imagery of ascent. Pre occupation with Ideality was noted in Images of the sky also; Colette's description of "le geste humaln, humble, ardent, invetdre, de lever la tete et les yeux vers... vers ce qui est bleu, inconnais- sable, inaccessible, vers ce qui recule a mesure que l'homme monte" (A.P.M., XIV, 476), gives the sky, unknowable and unapproachable, a connotation of absoluteness. Ubiquitous, "le bleu unlversel," as she calls it, (N.J., VIII, 53 and 55) seems to pervade Colette's literary world. According to B. J. Kouwer, an association between blue and the absolute occurs frequently: "Both the blue color and the blue sky are symbols of all that is far beyond our reach, of the ideal, the abso lute, the perfect harmony: of all that transcends the directly attainable.In the passages cited, Colette's preoccupation with the ideal is not clearly defined. She does not explicitly link her search for an absolute with any religious sect but mentions, rather, her "paganisme ingenu" (P.P., p. 13). Her feelings of unworthiness and her recollections of the Eden-like garden of her childhood resem ble Christian themes; on other occasions, the mysterious power of cer tain natural phenomena gives her work a pantheistic quality. However, ^colors and Their Character, p. 116. Gaston Bachelard's L'Alr et les songes (p. 199) and Ernst Cassirer's Mythical Thought (p. 99) also mention widespread use of the blue sky as a symbol of purity. 78 beyond the confines of any particular religious belief or sect, Colette's literary work manifests a general longing for something unattainable, and, perhaps, beyond human experience, similar to the search for a symbolic and elusive "oiseau bleu" in Maeterlinck's play of that n a m e .^ Her work contains ambiguous references to her desire for the unapproachable: "De bonne fol je ne pretends plus & rlen, sinon & ce qui est inaccessible" (N.J., VIII, 19).^® Blue is connected with yet another absolute, purity, a theme which does not usually refer to Innocence or chastity in Colette's work. Indeed she uses the word to describe both children and opium smokers, prudish Sido as well as persons differing from sexual conven tion. Colette, however, is not "pure" since she terms herself Sido's "impure survivance" (N.J., VIII, 25). Elaine Marks proffers an expla- Interpreting the quest for the "blue bird," F. G. Fidler observes, "The Quest itself can have only one real meaning— the age-old meaning that Man has always searched for that which is beyond experience, for that something which is the highest and the best there is, but which remains unattainable . . . Maeterlinck himself uses the term 'The Great Secret' . . . But, as he says, it does not matter whether we call the Great Secret 'God,' or 'The Uni verse,' or by any other name. What does matter is 'qu'il fasse passer en nous 1'Impression immense ou terrible'" (The Bird That Is Blue [London: Slmkin Marshall, 1928], p. 50, quoted in B. J. Kouwer, Colors and Their Character, p. 118). 1 f t Blue as a symbol of ideality also appears in Colette's fic tion. In an excellent study of Colette's use of color in Cheri and La Fin de Cheri, Olken states that the color blue, which represents the relationship between Cheri and Lia in the two works, symbolizes ideality ("Aspects of Imagery in Colette: Color and Light," p. 142). See also Olken's dissertation "Colette: Aspects of Imagery," pp. 36- 78. Vinca and Saha, both of whom are associated with azure in Le Ble en herbe and La Chatte respectively, are Idealized by Phil and Alain. 79 nation for Colette's esoteric use of "pure" which accommodates a wide variety of cases in which the word is used: In all these contexts, the word "pure" or "purity" carries with it a sense of exclusiveness. It seems to refer to a privileged domain or state, reserved only for a few, free from anything extraneous to the ruling passion. . . . The protagonists of the anecdotes in Le Pur et l'impur are pure in the same way that Sido is pure, that Cheri is pure; they live in an independent world to which they give themselves completely.19 The meaning of "purity" as applied to the color blue, the sky, and other Images which we shall treat later, also carries personal connotations. These substances or phenomena apparently represent purity in that contemplation of them fully absorbs one's attention. Regarding the color blue, Colette states: "De dlx heures & deux heures apres midi, je me souviens que c'est a l'est que je demandais au ciel sa plus forte couleur : un bleu despotique et pur, cruellement accolg a des champs de neige auxquels il arrachait une gamme de blancs troubles de bleu ..." (B.S., p. 51). She refers to "les regions inodores et pures" of the sky (A.P.M., XIV, 477). The poetess Hdldne Picard, drawn to "tout ce qui etalt haut, aile, celeste" (p. 262), led a pure life (p. 249) in blue surroundings: bedroom, glassware, knick- knacks, even parakeets, all are blue (pp. 249-251). The purity of the color blue seems to lie in the compelling reaction it produces on the author ("un bleu despotique"); Colette tells us that blue corresponds to a state of mind ("le bleu c'est mental.") and that it doesn't stim ulate her sensually ("ne rend pas voluptueux"), yet leaves her happy. Colette links the color blue with white, traditionally sym- ^Colette. pp. 217-219. 80 bolic of purity: Alice In Duo remarks, "Regarde... Tout ce qui est 20 blanc paralt presque bleu... " (IX, 294). White matter frequently appears blue In Colette's writing: "la nelge pure, durable, bleue de reverberer l'azur qui la balgne" (V.E., VI, 316); "[le bleu du del] accoli I des champs de nelge auxquels 11 arrachalt une gamme de blancs troubles de bleu, oft 11 creusalt des failles d'un Indigo severe comme la nuance des clneraires bleues" (B.S., p. 51); "lait bleu" (N.J., VIII, 21 and P.P., p. 110). As In the case of blue, white represent ing purity does not correspond to the Christian tradition since It serves as both the color of a virgin— "[fleurs] blanches, telle une vlerge dans son sommeil" (V.E., VI, 314)— and that of a bed graced by two female lovers: "[le lit] chaste, tout blanc" (V.V., III, 216). (The work "chaste" obviously has a personal meaning for Colette.) White exhibits positive connotations as opposed to those of blackish- brown and green In the following quotation: "un blanc aussl pur que le nenuphar blanc" contrasts with "le bistre et le vert Inseparables de toute corruption," colors which later spread across the wilting flower (P.P., pp. 266-267). The sky and the sea, which have long been sources of wonder and mystery, give the latter connotations to Colette's use of blue: "le bleu nocturne" seems, like the atmosphere and the oceans, "inson- dable" (N.J., VIII, 58). In her theatre criticism, Colette refers to the blue of a certain stage set as a means to enter the realm of the ^Although both blue and white may represent Idealization, Kouwer distinguishes between the two: "White Is the Absolute per se . . . Blue stands for man's spiritual aspirations, his strife toward the absolute” (Colors and Their Character, p. 119). unknown and the unreal: "Je soupgonne [Henri] Varna, qui est poete, d'avoir premedlte le bleu qui se lSve sur le premier tableau de Parade du monde. et requis un tremplin d'azur pour nous porter d'un bond loin du reel... " (J.N., X, 261). Such references to the unknown occur frequently: Colette mentions "le gout que J'ai toujours eu pour le vide mystSrieux" (P.I., IX, 47). The aqueous blue of a semi-precious stone assumes occult properties. Colette writes, "Un pendentif d'aigue-marlne . . . va repandre son eau d'un bleu magique ..." (F.B., XIV, 130-131). The color blue participates in the realm of the subconscious as well. In L'Etoile Vesper she describes a recurring dream about the staircase in a previous residence, whose wallpaper becomes onelrically Imprinted with lions of periwinkle blue: . . . mes nuits la voient imprimee de lions pervenche, . . . Les lions pervenche sont de pures creatures de songe: . . . Pervenche, cernes d'un trait gris-bleu, la gueule heraldiquement beante et la langue en volute marine. . . . Ils me sont bien acquis, mainte- nant, et servent de lien sollde, de complement indispensable 1 cette ebauche qu'est la reallte. Je n'ai pas acc§s quand je veux parmi les lions pervenche, ni ne le souhaite. ... 11 s'agit d'un escalier, d'un immeuble habi- tes en vain pendant plus de trols ans. J'ai eu la chance d'y ajouter les lions, qui eux-mSmes m'ont ouvert dans la meme maison une seconde cour, en profondeur, beaucoup plus profonde que la premiere, je veux dire la vraie (E.V., XIII, 289-291). This passage indicates Colette's association of blue with states of mind other than consciousness and rationality. Kouwer provides an Illuminating comment on the association of blue with the unreal and the irrational, as seen in such French expressions as "conte bleu," "voir tout en bleu," and "voyager dans le bleu": . . . blue, [symbolizing the ideal], forms quite a strong contrast with concreteness, with everyday reality. Because of it always being Just a little bit ahead and a little bit beyond the immedi 82 ately present, it is naturally also the color of dreams, of fairy tales, of the poetic and of all the other means through which man seeks relief from the weight of everyday life and which, in his imagination, open entirely new dimensions for him. Hugo calls his dream "ce petit bonhonae bleu" and speaks of "le nuage bleu de sea illusions."21 The meanings Colette attaches to the color blue do not include sadness and melancholy, associations which were widely used in paint ing and music during the years of Colette's literary productivity (1900 to 1949). The wistful, lyrical paintings of Picasso's "blue period" were produced between 1901 and 1904. Frank Elgar, in his study on Picasso, presents several theories to explain the artist's use of blue: it is most likely that blue as "the color of night, ashes, melancholy and death" seemed appropriate to depict the "suffer ing and disinherited people of the world.^ A similar connotation of blue also appears in musical terminology of Colette's period. An early type of jazz called the blues, originated by W. C. Handy ("Mem phis Blues," 1912; "Saint Louis Blues," 1914) expressed the sorrows and the hopes of black people; Colette surely must have been aware of this music, known in France as le blues, especially since she had made 23 contacts in philharmonic circles through her first husband, Willy. The highly emotional music of jazz developed in the 1920's and, during ^From Les Chansons des rues et des bols and Choses vues. cited by Kouwer, Colors and Their Character, pp. 118-119, who is quot ing Huguet, La Couleur, la lumifere et 1'ombre dans les metaphores de Victor Hugo, pp. 330-331. ^Picasso: a Study of His Work, trans. by Francis Scarfe (New York: Praeger, 1960), p. 29, cited by Norma Lorre Goodrich in Giono: Master of Fictional Modes, p. 267. 23pierre Trahard mentions the popularity of jazz in France during the 1930's (L'Art de Colette, p. 85). 83 the depression years of the 1930's, became a serious musical form which influenced some outstanding French composers. The score Maurice Ravel composed for Colette's lyrics in L'Enfant et les sortileges (1925) contains elements of jazz, as do compositions by Claude Debussy, Darius Milhaud and Erik Satie. Slightly flatted jazz notes, espe cially the third or seventh of the scale, which produce a melancholic, whining quality are called "blue notes," the American terminology also being used in France. George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" (1923) which contains a mournful, melancholic refrain was also popular in France. Although Colette must have been aware of this pall of melan cholic blue which settled over a segment of the arts during the first third of the twentieth century, her own symbolic use of blue origi nates either from other traditions or from within herself. Two other colors somewhat connected with the sky receive a special distinction in Colette's work— red and, in particular, its tint, pink. As in the case of blue, Images with pink and red are linked to certain themes; the symbolism of these latter colors remains far less developed and less unified, however, than that of blue. Pink and red frequently appear in Colette's work as the colors of the sky at sunset and dawn. In La Nalssance du jour, whose title indicates the book's central image, Colette describes "1'instant oQ le lalt bleu commence H sourdre de la mer, gagne le ciel, s'y repand et s'arrSte i une incision rouge au ras de l'horizon... " (VIII, 21) and, again, she depicts "1'invasion vermeille qui se levait de la mer" (VIII, 99).^ 24images of red and pink in relation to the sky may also be found in V.V., III, 215, 227; M.C., VII, 53, 57, 160; N.J., VIII, 11, 84 Colette emphasizes fire and flowers as other sources of red and pink.^ For her bedroom she prefers the red of fire (F.B., XIV, 136). As with many of her other predilections, Colette attributes her liking for red to her mother's influence: 0 geraniums, 8 digitales... Celles-ci fusant des bois-taillis, ceux-13 en rampe allumes au long de la terrasse, c'est de votre reflet que ma joue d'enfant regut un don vermeil. Car ''Sido” almait au jardin le rouge, le rose, les sanguines filles du rosier, de la croix-de-Malte, des hortensias et des b3tons-de-Saint- Jacques, . . . (S., VII, 180). Pink and blue were cited previously as the two colors Sido preferred for Colette (M.C., VII, 123). Arising before daybreak by the light of her "petite lampe rouge," Sido awaited the rosy dawn— " . . . elle queta, elle, un rayon horizontal et rouge, et le pale soufre qui vlent avant le rayon rouge: ..." (N.J., VIII, 26). An extraordinary and quasi-surrealistlc passage in L'Etoile Vesper attributes to pink an explosive exuberance. Her account of the simultaneous blossoming of an expanse of pink flowers takes on quali ties of dream or hallucination: ... 1 la Martinique, — peut-Stre ce n'est pas la Martinique — vers la Salnt-Jean, — mais il se peut que ce soit un autre saint — la terre se couvre en un seul jour, — plutSt en une nuit de delire — se couvre de fleurs roses. On voit que j'heslte ensem ble sur le lieu, la date, l'heure, et je ne sals pas m3me le nom des fleurs. Que dis-je, des fleurs? De la fleur. Une seule fleur, un revetement, un enduit de fleurs, chaque pouce de terre s'ouvrant en bouche de fleur... Retourne-je, ce soir, 3 la Martinique, vislte-je quelque lie sise au tonnerre de Dieu, sur laquelle, de la vellle au lendemain, 45, 55, 126 and in B.S., p. 11. ^Bachelard associates the color of flowers and that of the sky: "Chaque fleur est une aurore. Un rSveur de del dolt trouver en chaque fleur la couleur d'un ciel" (La Flamme d'une chandelle, p. 85). 85 une fleur rose, une fongosite de fleurs roses, une catastrophe de fleurs roses... Ah I que ne donnerals-je pas... Non. A quol bon ce d£slr, ce voyage, ce luxe de tapis volant? On ne colore pas impunement en rose tout ou partie de la terre. II est vrai que le prodlge ne dure que vingt-quatre heures. Mais un jour entier de vie rose, c'est deJA long. La fleur qui acca- pare en un jour toute la surface, toute 1'invraisemblance dispo- nlbles, qui surgit sans feuilles, sans boutons, brefs sans projets, avenir ni lendemain, a quo! la comparer, sinon A une moisissure? On m'a conte aussi qu'en Australie certaine exuberante florai- son bleue... Laissons bleuir 1'Australie. J'ai deja du mal A imaginer un univers rose. Rose le pre et rose le mont, et que dans le lac les rives se mirent roses... L'assaut rose n'epargne rien, dans cette... disons Martinique, ou n'importe quoi d'autre. Assez de suavite. Je mangerai bien un hareng saur (E.V., XIII, 181-182, 184). The passage seems to play on the expression "voir tout en rose" as the pink of a flower-covered landscape pervades and distorts the author's view of reality. The image of "chaque pouce de terre s'ouvrant en bouche de fleur" possesses the fantasy and exuberance of Chagall's painting. Comparing the flowery covering of pink to a "fongositS" and a "moisissure" shocks the imagination with surrealistic effectiveness. Similar to red which has long been associated with erotic 26 love, pink, an approximate skin color, connotes sensuality in Colette's work, as in the following excerpt from Les Vrilles de la vigne. Standing before a blazing hearth, the author exclaims, as if to a lover, "Tout A l'heure, quand je quitterai ma robe, tu me verras tout rose, comme une statue peinte. Je me tiendrai devant [le feu] et sous la lueur haletante ma peau semblera s'animer, fremir et bouger comme aux heures ou l'amour, d'une aile inevitable, s'abat sur mol... " (III, 228). Olken notes, with regard to Cheri and La Fin de Cheri. 26Kouwer, Colors and Their Character, p. 106. 86 that pink is used to represent Lea. The pink of her complexion, her bedroom, the light reflected around her and even her maid, Rose, repre- 27 sent Lea's sensuality, warmth and grace. Celestial Bodies Colette's interest in the sky extends also to celestial bodies and clouds. Images of the sun, moon, stars and planets hold a promi nent position in her literary realm. At present we shall consider images of the celestial bodies in general, to return to the subject during our analysis of imagery of light. Immobilized by arthritis, Colette finds nocturnal diversion in the starlit sky: Selon que mon lit, qui me suit aussi fidele qu'S 1'escargot sa coquille, occupe l'une ou 1'autre fenetre, envisage le Sud ou l'Est, j'apergols, ou non certains astres qu'un mien neveu, fami- lier de ciel astronomique, connalt. Quand les etolles qu'il m'a nominees sont inaccessibles 1 ma vue, Je les invente et les cloue ou elles ne sont pas (E.V., XIII, 182). The planet Venus— mistakenly called the "evening star” under the names Vesper (Latin) and Hesperus (Greek), and also the "morning star," known as Lucifer (L.) or Phosphorus (Gr.)— provides the title for L'Etoile Vesper and an Important symbolic image in this work. Colette's earlier reference to Venus in La Maison de Claudine as the "fievreuse premiere etolle" (VII, 209) suggests already that the "star" has special connotations for her. L'Etoile Vesper being one of her last books (written when the author was seventy-three), the even ing star symbolized the approaching end of Colette's literary career ^"Aspects of Imagery in Colette: Color and Light," pp. 142- 143. 87 and, indeed, her life: Petits feux aigus des etoiles lointaines, affoils et perdus pour un nuage qui les enfume, palpitations larges des planetes, toumoiement sideral... 11 me manque la grande planSte, Venus a l'humide eclat. Le mien neveu m'explique pourquol elle est si souvent inaccessible 1 notre vue. Mais je n'alme retenir d'elle que ce qui plait aux Ignorants. Par exemple qu'elle trompait deja, autrefois, l'homme aux yeux leves vers elle, qui ne recon- nalssait pas, dans Venus du soir, le brasillant Lucifer du matin... Que nous dlsons : Venus se leve, lorsqu'elle est pres de son coucher... A son troisieme nom, Vesper, j'assocle, je sus pends celui de mon propre declin. Autrefois elle resplendissait sur mon enfance, semblait surgir des bols de Moutiers, au milieu du couchant apaise. Mon pere levait le doigt, nommait : "Vesper!" et recltait des vers. . . . Tout penetre et divague dans la chambre ouverte, tout ce que les nuits prodiguent au ciel de lumlSres, la lune extensible, l'aube, 1'eclair et l'etoile — sauf la grande planete qui traverse invisible les ciels de Paris, effacee par le soleil et qui s'immerge presque en mSme temps que lui. A Vesper aux trois noms, la suivante du soleil, je dedie mes propres vepres. . . . Tant 11 est difficile d'echapper au lyrlsme lorsqu'on parle de Venus... (XIII, 182-184). The evening star, Vesper, symbolizes the evening of Colette's literary production. Like the discreet Sido described in La Naissance du jour, who planned to renounce playing checkers with a certain friend when advanced age and declining faculties would begin to dis- grace her game, 28 Colette wishes to end her career gracefully: " . . . je viens d'entendre choir sur la table voisine les petales d'une rose qui n'attendait, elle aussi, que d'etre seule pour defleu- rir" (E.V., XIII, 198). After a period of literary productivity extending over fifty years, she seeks to disengage herself from writ ing and decides, "Desapprendre d'ecrire, cela ne dolt pas demander beaucoup de temps. Je vals toujours essayer. . . . Avant de toucher 28See N.J., VIII, 116-117, 124. 88 but, je m'excerce" (E.V., XIII, 332). She conjectures in L'Etoile Vesper itself that this work may never be published (XIII, 303). As mentioned with regard to images of the sky, old age pro vides a central theme for the book which, appropriately, commences its narration with the end of the cycle of seasons and finishes with the statement," . . . je vois ici le bout de la route" (XIII, 333). Colette conments on advanced age frequently and wisely. Of herself she states, "Je suis un vieillard normal, done qui s'Sgaie facllement. Les vieillard8 tristes sont des anormaux, des malades, ou des mechants. II8 ont parfols 1'excuse d'etre affreusement jugules par la generation sortie d'eux. Voild qui n'est pas mon cas (E.V., XIII, 314).^ Bed ridden, she enjoys observing the celestial phenomena seen through her open window: "les aspects d€roules sur l'ecran de ma fenetre, . . . l'eclair d'un ciel ou d'un oeil, la constellation" (E.V., XIII, 303). In the closing pages, at the approach of dusk, Colette notes— thus evoking both her advancing age and its stellar symbol— "La journee penche vers le soir. Est-ce que tout n'est pas soir, Vesper, pour moi?" (p. 329). Images of the sun play an Important role in Colette's writing, primarily, in terms of dawn, which will be considered later in rela tion to light imagery. There exist nevertheless a number of general references to the sun which indicate its significance in the author's work. With regret at the shortening days of autumn, Colette exclaims, "Nous cherissons, certes, ce soleil qui chaque jour s'ecartant du 2^0ther comments on aging and the aged may be found on pages 176, 199, 275, 276 and 300. 89 zenith fait les ombres plus longues, les reliefs plus Smouvants . . . " (B.S., p. 40). On another occasion she calls attention to man's "allegresse . . . d'affronter le soleil" (B.S., p. 13). In both Colette's lyric works and fiction, the sun exerts over mankind a power beyond that of reality. Solar influence possesses a dual nature in the author's literary realm— positive as suggested by the preceding excerpts, yet sometimes adverse, as in the case of the "grand soleil devorateur" (N.J., VIII, 46) and the April sun, "trat- tre comme un vin sans bouquet" (M.C., VII, 162). The solar sphere sometimes dominates human affairs; in La Naissance du jour Colette and her friends are "atteints, domptes par le soleil" (N.J., VIII, 15). As spring approaches, the sun asserts its mastery: " . . . je ne reconnals plus notre feu d'hiver, notre feu arrogant et bavard . . . C'est qu'un astre plus puissant, entre d'un jet par la fenStre ouverte, hablte en maltre notre chambre, depuis ce matin... " (V.V., III, 225). Animated by the word "ISche" and compared metaphorically to the wind, the sun harries a group of meridional vacationers: " . . . le soleil ISche, 1 grands sifflements de lanieres sablees, leurs legSres cotonnades de Manchester ..." (B.S., p. 36). Among Colette's images of celestial bodies the moon holds a prominent position. To it she dedicates one of her most charming characterizations: La lune entre chez mol comme elle veut, avance £ pas de chat, €tire une grlffe blanche & l'assaut de mon lit : il lui suffit de m'evelller, elle se d€courage tout de suite et redescend. Vers le 30The sun of La Chatte provides Camille with the Impetus necessary to attempt the destruction of her rival. 90 moment de son pleln, je la retrouve, a l'aube, toute nue et p3le, fourvoyee dans une froide region du del. En rentrant se coucher, la demlere chauve-sourls, d'un trait zigzagant, la biffe" (E.V., XIII, 244). The association of the moon with the cat,^ the most Important animal In Colette'8 literary world, occurs In a number of passages: "La pleine lune exalte les chats" (A.Q., VI, 470), she writes. Regarding Claudlne's cat, "L'aube mouillee ne l'lnteresse pas. Elle n'a de goGt qu'aux nults clalres oO, assise, drolte, correcte comme une deesse- chatte d'Egypte, elle regarde rouler dans le del, interminablement, la blanche lune" (C.M., II, 174). Colette emphatically associates the moon with certain emo tional reactions, especially jealousy. Whenever she recalls her past moments of envy, a particular scene comes to mind: . . . certalne lune invSteree prend A mon ordre sa place dans le del, et certain accoudolr pourrlssant d'une fenetre s'effrlte sous mon ongle comme 11 y a trente annees, et tous deux composent un blason de la jalousie, sur un champ vert de foln forestler fin, ralde, qui perce de ses lances et tlent brandies en l'alr les feullles mortes... 0 Lune plate, ronde puls molns ronde, vermou- lure de vleux bols, allegories diverses, etes-vous tous ce qui demeure d'un blen chaudement et valnement dispute? (P.I., IX, 132). In the fable of the nightingale which learns to sing In order to avoid entrapment by a growing vine, the moon becomes "l'astre voluptueux et morose" (V.V., III, 206), the adjective "morose" also being used in another work to describe the state of Jealousy (P.I«, IX, 131). As in the "blason de jalousie" above, a green-colored moon exerts a negative Because of the cat's nocturnal habits and fecundity and because its eyes enlarge and contract, It typifies the waxing and wan ing of the moon. The cat was sacred to Isis, the Egyptian moon- goddess (Gertrude Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Sym bols [New York: Scarecrow Press, 1962], pp. 297, 345). 91 effect: "De Pau, je ne verral presque rien, sauf le clalr de lune & minuit, un clalr de lune vert, qui donne la fiSvre et chasse le som- meil... " (M.Cah., XII, 348). Colette occasionally follows the traditional literary practice of associating the moon— whose pale light Illuminates only partially— 32 with fantasy and the unknown. In the magical garden of Claudlne's childhood, moonlight filtering through the blue glass window of the summer-house appears "terriflant" (M.C., VII, 10). Of her dreams Colette reveals, "la plelne lune qui exalte les chats autorlse mes visltes breves au continent sans bords" (A.Q., VI, 470). The lunar cycle furnished the ubiquitous Sido with omens which remain even after her death to haunt Colette's literary world : "Des presages decolores par sa mort, errent encore autour de mol. L'un tient au Zodiaque, 1'autre est purement botanique : quelques signes jouent avec les vents, les lunaisons, les eaux souterralnes" (S., VII, 185). Lunar associa tions add an aura of mystery to various female characters. The frivo lous Valentine adorns herself with "tout ce qui sled 1 une sultane pSle et rounde comme la lune" (P.P., pp. 64-65). The rapport between the narrator of La Naissance du lour and HelSne Clement, whose round features are termed "seleniens" after the Greek lunar goddess (VII, 67), seems to wax and wane: "[HilSne] depassa vite le moment qui l'avalt illuminee toute, et je regardals dlminuer, s'etelndre, noircir mes souvenirs... " (p. 68). "Claudine et les contes de f€es,"^ ^Clrlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, pp. 205-206. 3^See the Introduction, note 5. 92 originally intended to form a chapter in Claudine s'en va (1903), pro vides a revealing detail about Colette's moon imagery. Claudine relates her childhood fascination with the engravings by Gustave Dore which illustrated a book of fairy tales (Contes de ma mSre l'Oye). She enjoyed not Perrault's text but the moonlit scenes depicted in the illustrations: II ne m'est reste, 1 moi, que 1'image, mais quelle image! Voyez- vous la lune couler de march en march le long de l'escalier? Voyez-vous le chemin que la lune trace, sur la dalle, pour les petits pieds polntus de la princesse? Debout sur la balustrade, les vases de bronze dardent des sabres de cactus — sept, huit, dix clochetons sur le fafte du chateau percent le ciel pommele, et la princesse, tremblante, aerienne, court accompagnee de brocart murmurant, legdre et drapee, comme la lune, de nuees ourlees d1argent... In this moonlit portrayal of an "aerienne" princess, her gown draped with clouds, Claudine expressed already in 1903 a sensitivity to imagery of the air, sky and light which characterizes most of Colette's later work. Before leaving images of the moon, it is inter esting to note that besides the traditional association of the moon with silver (P.C.B., VI, 292), Colette also links blue— the color of fantasy and the unknown— and violet, of which blue is a component, with the moon (M.C., VII, 82; N.J., VIII, 24 and F.B., XIV, 96). Images of clouds usually appear in Colette's work without sym bolism or special significance. There are nevertheless a few impor tant exceptions which relate to our analysis of air and sky imagery. Expressing her Interest in and knowledge of celestial phenomena, she exclaims, "Je n'ignore jamais de quels points cardinaux s'elancent les nuages qui ressemblent & Victor Hugo et & Henri Rochefort, ..." (E.V., XII, 244). The feverish child of "L'Enfant malade" enjoys 93 fantasies of floating about his bedroom on a small cloud. Bachelard theorizes that images of moving clouds furnish the origin of the myth ological "magic carpet,"3^ a fantasy which Colette occasionally uti lizes. Of the ethereal poetess, Helene Picard, Colette writes, "C'est [dans son petit lit 'aux couleurs de la Vierge'J que, fretant son tapis volant, elle courait 'les bouges', enfreignait les seuils 'inflimes,' effleurait la nuque parfumee des mauvais garjons" about which she wrote (E.V., XIII, 256).35 The Sky and the Sea Numerous images of water appearing in Colette's works are also of interest to our study. There are a number of similarities between the two fluids, air and water, Including the ability to flow and to support weight and an association with the color blue. It is these likenesses which the author emphasizes, whereas the wetness and life- giving properties distinctive to water are rarely mentioned. Her water Imagery provides a kind of parallel to images of air, as we have seen, and to those of the sky and light as well. Colette attributes her fascination with water to its scarcity in the landscapes of her childhood: Ni fleuve, nl canal, nl riviSre torrentueuse £ proximite de men village : j'etais l'enfant d'une region qui n'avait d'autres eaux courantes que des sources petites, perdues sitot que nees, et les rus ephemSres, sautant & gros bouillons hors des fosses apr&s l'orage, barrant les chemlns de traverse. Les etangs ne man- quaient pas, cemes de joncs. Mais 11 fallait aller tres loin pour trouver la nappe navigable et son petit bachot que prenait ^ L'Air et les songes. p. 223. 3^See also p. 184 and F.B., XIV, 48. 94 l'eau . . • Plus tard, le hasard voulut que mes vacances abou- tlssent encore d un pays sans eau, sans ruban d'eau, sans reflet d'eau, sans Eclair d'eau sous la lune, sans guis, sans roues de moulln ... A cause peut-Stre d'une longue solf, d'une privation qul prenalt un sens obsesseur et poetique, ma jeunesse a cherche, desire l'eau (F.A., XIV, 347-348). She recollects her fondness for "deux sources perdues, qu'[elle] reve- rais," at which she quenched her thirst during childhood ramblings through the woods: L'une se haussalt hors de la terre par une convulsion cristalline, une sorte de sanglot, et traqait elle-meme son lit sableux. Elle se decourageait aussitSt nee et replongeait sous la terre. L'autre source, presque invisible, frolssait l'herbe conme un ser pent, s'etalait secrete au centre d'un pre ou des narclsses, fleu- ris en ronde, attestalent seuls sa presence. La premiere avait gout de feuille de chSne, le seconde de fer et de tlge de jacinthe ... Rien qu'a parler d'elles je souhaite que leur saveur m'emplisse la bouche au moment de tout finlr, et que j'emporte, avec mol, cette gorgee imaginalre... (S., VII, 181-182). Certain similarities between air and water were treated ear lier, in our study of flight imagery. As indicated previously, Colette draws analogies between flying and swimming and between birds and fish. The comparison forms part of a more fundamental analogy, the similarity between the sky and bodies of water, each being an expanse of fluid. Through an open window, the narrator of La Nais- sance du jour looked at the sky and Imagined, "... la fenStre ne contenait plus qu'un grand vivier de ciel vert, troue de deux ou trois etoiles aux pulsations desordonnees" (N.J., VIII, 79). In a variation of this metaphor, a show window is compared to a fish pond (F.B., XIV, 15). Both air and water, the sky and the sea, share an omnipres- est azure, "le bleu universel, air et eau, oil nous nous baignons" (N.J., VIII, 53). Thus a continual exchange occurs between the sky and the sea 95 In Colette's literary realm as the mention o£ one frequently evokes the other. The Bay of Somme, she writes, "mire sombrement un del egyptlen, framboise, turquoise et cendre vert" (V.V., III, 276). Boat-shaped clouds float through the sky: "Une longue jonque de nuages, telnte d'un violet epals et sanguln, amarree au ras de 1'hori zon, retardalt seule le premier feu de l'aurore" (N.J., VIII, 101). As mentioned previously, clouds and even airplanes take on a piscine appearance. Like the sea, the sky has depth, such that thunder and lightning fill "un des ablmes du del" (S., VII, 180). Colette's use of water Imagery has yet another connection with the triad of air, sky and light images. Water Is frequently repre sented In her works in terms of its translucence and Its ability to reflect light. In a passage cited previously, the author mentions her past vacations in an arid region, "un pays sans eau, sans ruban d'eau" (F.A., XIV, 347-348). Moreover, other translucent or light-reflecting materials such as precious stones are described as having a watery Interior. We shall return to this aspect of water In connection with Images of light. In some of Colette's later works, especially in Le Fanal bleu. Images of flight through the air are replaced by those of sailing 36 through water. She describes the instinctive human desire to be 36&achelard sees a natural connection between these two cate gories of Images, especially In regard to dreams: "Dans le sommeil nous somme8 berc£s par l'eau . . . [ou] port£s par l'alr" (L'Alr et lea songes, p. 46). On the Importance of oneiric flight— treated ear lier in this study— as the source of Imagery of floating on water, he writes: "Le prlnclpe de la continuity des images dynamlques de l'eau et de l'alr n'est autre que le vol onirique. . . . le voyage aSrlen apparalt comme une transcendence facile du voyage sur les flots" (p. 53)• 96 surrounded by liquid in the passage entitled "Alles" (A.Q., VI, 470- 473), discussed previously. A wide variety of nautical terms are employed in Colette's work, beginning at least as early as Sido (1929) in which the author as a child, anticipating an imminent storm, is called the "mousse exalte du navlre natal" (S., VII, 180). During a strong wind, she writes, "notre maison de bois craque comme un bateau et va surement chavirer." In Paysages et portraits Colette proposes to "arralsonner" her intimate enemy, pain (p. 268). As a child she used to imagine "l'annee ecoulee s'eloignant comme un vaisseau, avec sa cargaison des trols cent soixante-cinq jours condamnes" (P.P., p. 247). For her "tapisserie" she uses "couleurs gymnotiques" and an "equille-aiguille." She writes, "Ou je me trompe, ou il me semble bien, — de par les volubilis qul couvent, dans leurs entonnoirs d'azur, des etoiles de mer pourprees — il me semble que j'aborde un havre" (E.V., XIII, 331).37 It is in L'Etoile Vesper that Colette introduces an image which will provide an extended metaphor throughout Le Fanal bleu. She refers to the bed on which she is immobilized by arthritis as a "barque" (XIII, 281) and a "divan-radeau sur lequel depuis des annees je vogue" (p. 275). In Le Fanal bleu this metaphor is continued, the bed being described alternately as a "divan-radeau" (XIV, 73), a "radeau-divan" (p. 64), "mon radeau" (pp. 44, 54, 56, 106) and, sim ply, "mon lit sur lequel naviguer" (p. 96). On it she writes, 37 Similar nautical metaphors are used with regard to needle work in B.S., p. 57. 97 " . . . je m'embarquai sans defiance sur une vague de sommeil ..." (p. 73). Numerous other marine terms extend the metaphor: friends sit la poupe" of her raft-bed (pp. 44, 55, 56) which is "frete de presents" and "eclaire d'un fanal bleu" (p. 64). "Je me berse sur mon ancre . . . , " she writes. Jean Cocteau "demarra," to begin a radio dialogue between Colette and himself (p. 55). Colette hooks nearby objects and draws them closer with her "canne-harpon" (p. 55). It Is however, the "fanal bleu"— "bleu comme un clair de lune de theStre" (p. 96)— which provides the most important aspect of the metaphor as well as the title of the book. Early in the work Colette Introduces her "fanal bleu" and links it to her metaphor on naviga tion: "Sous mon fanal bleu mon amarre est de plus en plus courte, mon tourment physique de plus en plus fidele" (p. 8). Her blue light "n'est rlen d'autre qu'une forte lampe commerclale au bout de son long X extensible, bleue et juponnee de papier bleu. Immobile, elle a pourtant souffle, i l mon voislnage, le nom dont il l'a baptisee, le nom d'une lumiSre qul sillonne les mers" (p. 52). A spiritual beacon, the "fanal bleu" remains ever lit— she calls it her "lampe de jour et de nuit" (p. 9)3®— and appears in the text on at least ten occasions®^ as if to guide the narrator's mental journey. The voyage in question is that of her final years and leads in her imagery not to a port but to the open sea, as she calls that state in life during which the senses lose their acuity. Realizing that she now hears the sounds ®®The author emphasizes this point again on p. 36. ®^See the following pages: 7, 8, 9, 36, 52, 54, 64, 96, 132, and 133. 98 around her less distinctly, she struggles to adapt to the changes brought on by advanced age: "Au lieu d'aborder des ties, je vogue done vers ce large ou ne parvient que le bruit solitaire du coeur, pareil a celul du ressac? Rien ne deperit, e'est moi qui m'eloigne, rassurons-nous. Le large, mals non le desert" (pp. 7-8). Just as the open sea possesses an element of the unknown, another uncertainty awaits the author who, being seventy-six years of age at the publica tion of the book, must prepare herself for the ultimate unknown. Several of Colette's infrequent references to death are associated with water, often a mortuary symbol. Deceased ancestors are "lmmerges dans la mort” as if committed to the sea (N.J., VIII, 18), while a friend (Renee Hamon) surely pursues her love of boats even in death: " . . . a jamais elle navigue ld-haut, greee de nuees... " (E.V., XIII, 295). Two fictional suicides, one contemplated by Vinca in Le Ble en herbe, the other committed by Michel in Duo, are by drowning. The Sky Versus the Earth On occasion, Colette refers to the sky in relation to the earth ("la terre") and sets these two realms in opposition to each ^The "fanal bleu" as a symbolic beacon may well fulfill a specific function in Colette's work. Although blue and green lights are used in navigation to Indicate the right (starboard) side of a ship, blue lighting is not utilized in time of peace for a port itself. Relating memories of World War II, Colette comments on the blue lights of the port at Dieppe (J.I., XIV, 278), so illuminated to minimize the port's visibility to German pilots. Colette's blue beacon perhaps safeguards her from her "intimate enemy," as she calls arthritic pain. ^In L'Eau et les reves. Bachelard comments on the relation ship between Images of water and death in literature: "L'imagination du malheur et de la mort trouve dans la matiSre de l'eau une image materielle particuliSrement puissante et naturelle" (Paris: Jose 99 other. With a hint at symbolic significance, she uses an earth-sky polarity to describe HelSne Picard, " . . . i sa place entre le del qu'elle contemple, et la terre qu'elle cherlt, . . . " (P.P., p. 226). Often described by Images of air and sky, the aging Helene grows fiercely solitary and, to the author's Imagination, celestial: "Elle nous regarde, nous autres en bas, avec beaucoup d'amitie. Mais elle ne descend plus guere et ne sort presque jamais" (p. 226). The same polarity is evoked In another work, in reference to Heldne Picard’s crippling illness: "... la force ennemie la diminua, la courba appuyee sur deux bfitons, rabattit vers la terre le regard brun et dore epris de tout ce qui etait haut, aile, celeste; ..." (E.V., XIII, 261-262). A passage in La Nalssance du jour seems to indicate a symbolic role for Imagery of the earth in Colette's work. Enumerating the riches of Sido's simple existence— a sparkling stream alongside her garden, the sunrise, a respite from illness, chores to keep her busy— the author finds her own pursuits inconsequential: "Ce que j'entasse n'est pas du meme aloi. Mals ce qui en demeurera provlent du filon parallele, inferieur, amalgame de grasse terre, ..." (VIII, 32). In the context of Colette's previous association of air-sky images with ideality and with purity, it would seem that "grasse terre" might well represent qualities opposed to these. The earth and the air are at opposite poles with regard to their association with time. The turned up soil "ne se fie qu'au futur" whereas wind, as we have seen, Corti, 1942), p. 122. 100 directs the author's thoughts towards the past. Ue have provided ample evidence regarding Colette's own liter ary Inclination towards air and sky. Yet, on occasion, she also links herself with the earth. In statements taken from three of her works, she describes "1'imperieuse, la sauvage et secrete tendresse qui me Halt 1 la terre et & tout ce qui Jaillit de son sein" (P.P., p. 11); she affirms that "soulever, pinetrer la terre est un labeur — un plalsir — qui ne va pas sans une exaltation ..." (N.J., VIII, 71); and, commenting on her dislike of airplane travel, she states, "Ma poesie est & ras de terre" (F.B., XIV, 96). We have found Sldo linked with most of the images of air or sky investigated in our study. In addition she often proves to be the source of Colette's attraction to air and sky Images. Sldo is not, however, connected with Imagery of the earth. (In this, Colette does not follow the widespread literary tradition which makes the earth a symbol of fertility and motherhood.) As indicated previously, Sldo represents for Colette an ideal and a model. The narrator refers to her mother as "toi que je voulals pure de mes crimes ordinaires" (N.J., VIII, 31) and "celle que j'au- rais voulu etre" (C.H., XI, 365). Colette also presents herself as Inferior to Sido and as having become unworthy of her past life; dur ing our investigation of light Imagery, we will examine the theme of a lost childhood garden of Eden. The earth-sky polarity, with attrac tion to sky and air presented as the more noble inclination, appears to underscore a thematic conflict. Since Colette disguises certain ideas by understatement and by ambiguity— Ketchum commented on the need to read between the lines 101 when dealing with Colette^— one cannot always be certain of her mean ing. Nevertheless, other evidence in her work, notably the theme of purity, would suggest a correlation between a sky-earth polarity and conflicting inclinations in the narrator herself. We will therefore attempt an explanation of the dual but unequal attraction to Imagery of air and sky and to that of earth. The special meaning assigned to the theme of purity provides the clue for a solution. As explained previously, Colette describes as "pure" those individuals who live in an independent world and who give complete and unfaltering dedication to some passion. Sido's purity lies in her preoccupation with matters concerning her house, garden and the surrounding village: she has remained true to herself by steadfastly following her personal inclinations and morality. The "impure" Colette, on the other hand, has allowed herself to become distracted from the way of life she knew as a child and which she pro fesses to be ideal— a simple country life close to nature— during her exile in Paris. (Although Colette's divorces and multiple lovers also differentiate her from Sido, matters such as these do not determine, in the works in question, the purity of the narrator nor that of Colette's other characters.) Colette's use of imagery of sky or earth in relation to the theme of purity remains consistent with the explanation given above. We have seen that the sky, which she calls pure, is associated with her longing for an ideal. In the passage quoted above, the earth ^Colette ou la naissance du lour, p. 9. 102 metaphorically represents the less-worthy activities— impurities in a vein of ore ("le fillon parallele, inferieur, amalgame de grasse terre")— which have distracted Colette from gathering the true riches of life. We have found in our investigation of sky imagery that the sky in general, sky colors and celestial bodies relate to various of Colette's literary themes, some of which are also expressed by air imagery. Many Images of air and of the sky are conspicuously con nected to Sido and to the past. Two thematic associations seem to predominate among sky images, namely the theme of the ideal and that of mystery and the unreal, the former being expressed by images of ascent and the color blue while the latter is related to blue coloring and to the moon. A marked concern with advancing age, while strongly expressed in conjunction with Images of the planet Venus and of sail ing as a parallel to flying, remains limited to Colette's later works. The "fanal bleu" brings us to the third major category of images in our study, those of light. To the poetic mind— the use of Imagery being largely a poetic concern— light remains associated with the sky and celestial bodies (and with fire, although Colette does not often present fire in terms of light). Let us next, in view of the above discoveries about Colette's use of air and sky images, examine the role of light in her literary world. CHAPTER III IMAGERY OF LIGHT A third group of Images, those related to light, joins the air and the sky as a source of Imagery In Colette's literary production. These three categories of Images can easily be associated by the imag ination, since light shares the seeming Immateriality of the air and emanates from or Is reflected by celestial bodies. A relationship between these three phenomena exists In Colette's work In that some of the same themes which were associated with both air and sky Images reappear in our consideration of light. In L'Alr et les songes, Bachelard affirms the correspondence between air, sky and light: "Les Stres de l'alr," he states, include "le vent, l'odeur, la lumlSre, les Stres sans forme" (p. 49). Elaborating on the relationship between light and ascent to the sky, he remarks, "... c'est la mSme 'opera tion de 1'esprit humain' qui nous porte vers la luml&re et vers la hauteur, ..." (p. 55). Colette uses Imagery of light to describe her mother, daughter and a number of friends, many of whom she also associates with air, as in the case of Hil&ne Picard: "Chez cette fille de la solalre Ariige, qui se couchait tot, s'Sveillait avec les perruches, la luniire du matin mQrlssait un poSme" (E.V., XIII, 251).* ^•Colette associates the following Individuals with light: Sldo (M.C., VII, 124), "Bel-Gazou" (C.E., V, 389 and 392), Germaine Beaumont (E.V., XIII, 212-213), Marguerite Moreno and her son (F.B., 103 104 Of all the natural phenomena, It Is light that provides the richest source of imagery for Colette; light images— particularly, as we shall see, those relating to dawn— remain the most beautiful and significant in Colette's work. Images of light appear more consis tently throughout her work than do either those of air or of the sky, and her literary preference for light seems particularly Intense. During a wartime shortage of kerosene for lamps and of candles, Colette wrote about "Bel-Gazou," as she nicknamed her young daughter, " . . . il y a, derriere la porte, dans cette chambre noire, mon der nier tresor de lumlSre : la voix, les rires de Bel-Gazou" (C.E., V, 392). In Les Vrllles de la vigne she praises "la lumiere merveil- leuse" (III, 213) and promises: "D'une danse involontalre et chaque jour ralentie, je salueral la lumiere qui me fit belle et qui me vit aimee" (p. 215). Within a few pages she again marvels, "Quelle lumiere, quelle jeunesse impatlente exaltait toute cette journee!... " (p. 218).2 As with both air and sky, Images of light in Colette's work relate closely to memories of the past, "le beau passe raye de soleil" (P.P., p. 10), as she describes it. Once again in the case of light imagery, as in that of air and sky, Colette's evocation of the past centers on Sido, who "vecut balayee d'ombre et de lumiSre" (M.C., VII, XIV, 97 and 112), Aristide Briand (M.Cah., XIII, 393) and Jean Coc teau, through his plays (P.P., p. 137). 2Images of light figure prominently in the writing of Victor Hugo, a few of whose works Colette read. According to Huguet's study, La Couleur, la luml&re et 1'ombre dans les metaphores de Victor Hugo. Hugo's metaphors demonstrate his sensitivity to all nuances of light. 105 124). In the following quotation Colette's use of light follows wide spread tradition in representing spiritual and intellectual quali ties. 3 Regarding Sldo she writes, "Je celebre la clarte originelle qui, en elle, refoulait, eteignait souvent les petites lumieres peni- blement allumees au contact de ce qu'elle nommait 'le comnun des mor- tels'" (S., VII, 189). The theme of the primordial absolute manifests itself once more in this reference to "clarte originelle." Sldo's critical judgment, a creative force, is associated with both light and flight through the air: "Elle happait au vol le trait marquant, la tare, slgnalalt d'un eclair des beautes obscurs, et traversait, lumi- neuse, des coeurs etroits" (S., VII, 175-176). Disappointed occasion ally by her children, Sido "ne se decouragealt pas et nous coiffait d'une nouvelle aureole" (S., VII, 226). Claudine's Garden Yet another aspect of the author's past is linked to Images of light: the garden of the house in which she grew up.^ She remembers, "Hors une come de terre, . . . tout le chaud jardin se nourrissait d'une lumidre jaune, & tremblements rouges et violets, ..." (S., VII, 181), and "... les goQters du chaud jardin, l'ete, . . . se perdaient dans un excds de lumiere et de chaleur" (J.R., XII, 79).3 3For an explanation of the symbolic value of light, see Cirlot's A Dictionary of Symbols, p. 179. ^The family house still exists in the rue de l'Hospice, renamed the rue Colette, in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye. 3Llght also constitutes an important detail in Colette's descriptions of other gardens, as in V.V., III, 217; V.E., VI, 329 and N.J., VIII, 118. 106 Even at night, the garden Is bathed In moonlight: "violace de lune" (M.C., VII, 82).6 The garden In Salnt-Sauveur remains one of the most important childhood memories evoked in Colette's work; she affirms in Pavsages et portraits. "Une memoire infaillible ne guide mon souvenir qu'd tra- vers le jardin embrouille de mon enfance" (p. 12). In La Maison de Claudine she describes the house itself disparagingly: "Grand maison grave, reveche avec sa porte a clochette d'orphelinat, son entree cochere S gros verrou de geole ancienne, maison qui ne sourlait qu'a son jardin" (M.C., VII, 10), and after the opening pages she seldom mentions the house again. "Le Jardin de Claudine" would provide a more appropriate title for the work since all the nostalgia and fan tasy of Colette's childhood center on the garden. "Claudine-Colette" reminisces, "Comme si je les decouvrais ensemble, je saluai, insepa rables, ma mere, le jardin et la ronde des betes" (M.C., VII, 53). In Sido, which continues the material of La Maison de Claudine. the nar rator remarks that whenever Sldo entered the garden, she "reprenait son tranqullle, son glorieux visage de jardin, beaucoup plus beau que son soucieux visage de maison" (S., VII, 183). The light and odors of the garden form an integral part of Colette's childhood fantasy: "Maison et jardin vivent encore, je le sais, mala qu'importe, si la magie les a qulttes, si le secret est perdu qui ouvralt — lumiere, odeurs, harmonie d'arbres et d'oiseau, murmure de volx humaines qu'a dejft suspendu la mort, — un monde dont ^The moonlit garden is evoked again in M.C., VII, 49. 107 j'al cesse d'etre dlgne?... " (M.C., VII, 10). A magical quality per vades the garden of her youthful memories.^ As If under Sldo's spell, the garden becomes metamorphosed before the child's eyes; referring to her mother, Colette writes, "De par sa suzerainete et sa solitude, les murs grandlssalent, des terres lnconnues remplaqaient les enclos que J'avals, sautillant de mur & mur, de branche & branche, alsement fran- chls, et j'asslstals aux prodlges famlllers: ..." (S., VII, 183). The gardens of Colette's fiction possess their own enchantment, as when Maugls describes Mlnne's withdrawn fantasies In terms of a gar den, the "jardin pervers, feerique, mal connu, ou erra toute son enfance de flllette mysterleuse... " (I.L., III, 130). Colette refers to the house and garden of her childhood as "un monde dont j'al cesse d'etre dlgne" (see complete quotation above.), and, thereby, suggests a comparison with the garden of Eden, that pri mordial paradise from which mankind was banished on account of orig inal sin; Colette's lyrical works express a feeling of unworthiness and a theme of banishment from her own "earthly paradise" In Saint- Q Sauveur. Remembering the priest who mistook her fascination with the ^Crosland makes brief mention of this magical quality In her biographical study, Colette: the Difficulty of Loving, p. 35. ^Several times she mentions the expressions "paradls" and "paradls terrestre": In relation to a garden with Its animals, undis turbed by mankind (B.S., p. 25 and A.Q., VI, 452), to a country-style garden In Paris (V.E., VI, 331), and in the titles of her works: Prisons et paradls (1932); Paradls terreatrea (published separately in 1932 and later republished with a subtitle as a part of Prisons et paradls; "Paradis terrestre," a chapter of En pays connu (1949). On other occasions she mentions the garden of Eden: V.E., VI, 318; F.B., XIV, 135; F.A., XIV, 353 and E.P.C., XIV, 380. Robert Phelps gave the title, Earthly Paradise, to the English translation of the autobiography he compiled with excerpts from 108 Q appurtenances of Catholic worship for faith, she links the fantasies of her childhood with a kind of paradise: "Engourdie par l'encens des fleurs chaudes, enchantee du parfum mortualre, de la pourrlture mus- quee des roses, j'habltals, cher homme sans malice, un paradls que vous n'lmaglnez point, peuple de mes dleux, de mes anlmaux parlants, . . . " (V.V., III, 211).10 Likening Eden to a fairyland ("feerie"), she conjectures that each individual imagines paradise as correspond ing to his or her own preferences; Colette's own idea of paradise includes animals (E.P.C., XIV, 381).^ It will be useful to pursue her theme of a lost paradise further, since it relates to other themes and images in our study. Colette's own writing (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Glrour, 1966). Crosland, among others, has commented on Colette's theme of the "earthly paradise that was lost" (Colette: the Difficulty of Loving, pp. 28, 180-181). In her book, Colette, Marks states, This period of childhood and adolescence became for Colette the equivalent of a para dise in which she had moved free and pure, for this paradise was lost, and her rupture with it was brutal" (p. 23). ^On another occasion she mentions "les pieges catholiques de l'encens, des fleurs, 1'engourdlssement des cantiques, le vertlge doux des repons" (F.A., XIV, 360). *^In La Chambre eclalrge Colette makes reference to "ce monde invisible que nous avons tous, jadls, merite, cree, puls perdu" (V, 393). ^Similar to the Biblical paradise, Colette's earthly paradise contains a sinister snake. The first section of "Paradis terrestres," in Prisons et paradls. holds the title, "Serpents," and the author here expresses her reaction to two pythons caged in a zoo. One of the snakes moves: "... alnsi la maree avance sur les longs sables, suspendue A la lune. Ainsi le poison se propage dans la velne, ainsl le mal dans l'esprlt" (VIII, 285). Considering title and subtitle, a reference to the diabolic serpent of the garden of Eden seems clear. "Fruits defendus" are mentioned in La Maison de Claudine (VII, 131). 109 The sense of unworthiness mentioned In the above-quoted pas sage from La Maison de Claudine (house and garden being "un monde dont j'al cesse d'etre dlgne") occurs again In that work with regard to the house of her youth; after a day of loud and rowdy play with the neigh borhood children, the child-Colette turns to enter the house but stops short because "... elle ne s'en sent pas dlgne" (p. 26). Usually, the sentiment of unworthiness refers to the author as an adult; as mentioned previously, her memories of the past reveal the person she would have wanted to be— that is, Sldo (C.H., XI, 365)— of whom Colette is but "son Impure survivance, sa grossiere Image" (N.J., VIII, 25). Also in La Naissance du jour, the author mentions times "ou je me sens lnferieure a tout ce qui m'entoure, menacee par ma propre mediocrite, ..." (VIII, 8). As opposed to this unworthiness of the adult, childhood repre sents for Colette "un etat de grSce" (P.P., p. 248). Her works Imply a fall from grace during maturity. What however, caused this apparent downfall? The works suggest at least a partial answer: the trans gression appears connected with the author's "impurity" during adult hood. Sldo, contrary to Colette, possessed a "coeur vif et pur" (F.A., XIV, 364) and the "purete de ceux qui n'ont pas commis d'effraction!" (N.J., VIII, 25). As mentioned in our previous chap ter, purity seems to represent a state of complete and unwavering dedication to some passionate Interest or to a way of life, as was the case for Sldo;. Colette, however, was drawn away from the "pure" life she had known during her childhood, by the "basses besognes" of her later life in Paris. (She calls herself Sldo's "servante fidSle 110 chargee des basses besognes," N.J., VIII, 25). In the same passage Colette criticizes "inconstance." The reason for the author's unworthi ness of her former garden of Eden can perhaps be summed up In the fol lowing statement In which she confesses having neglected her essential duty for frivolous distractions: Elle [Sido] m'a donne le jour, et la mission de poursulvre ce qu'en poete elle saislt et abandonna, comme on s'empare d'un frag ment de melodie flottante, en voyage dans l'espace... Qu'importe la melodie, 2 qui s'enquiert de l'archet, et de la main qui tient l'archet? (N.J., VIII, 25). As we shall see, Colette indicated in La Nalssance du jour that her way of life was coming to again resemble that of her childhood. This would seem to indicate a return to purity, to worthiness and to the 12 garden of paradise. Colette's garden as a lost paradise, with its accompanying suggestions of a fall from the state of grace and resultant banish ment, constitute an additional manifestation of her theme, treated previously in our study, of the search for an absolute. Her nostalgic view of the past dwells longingly on the primordial happiness of her childhood spent in a garden to which she cannot return. To be sure, the garden itself remains in existence; however, its "magic," the carefree innocence of youth which transformed the garden into paradise, has forever departed. For the author, the garden of her memories I O represents an ideal of parental love, happiness and security. J We ^Ketchum notes a "souci de retrouver la purete originelle de l'enfance" in Colette's works appearing between 1920 and 1926 (Colette ou la nalssance du jour, p. 201). ^Alaln of La Chatte also felt himself expelled, by marriage, from his personal Eden, which was, in this case also, the garden sur- Ill will later connect another facet of this desire for ideality— the theme of purity— with imagery of light. On occasion Colette mentions light in reference to hope. Of life in the Nazi prison where Maurice Goudeket, her husband, was con fined, whe wrote, "... l'amitie fut la seule lumiere, la chaleur unique" (E.V., XIII, 301). In another work she comments on the cheer fulness of "les Stres dont la vie a un but, une chlmere, une lumiSre, . . . " (F.B., XIV, 46). Using the word, "light," figuratively, she writes about "... la foi & la lumiere de laquelle il est plus facile de subir la menace etrangere, ..." (E.V., XIII, 194). Per haps it is this connotation of hope which makes imagery of light so appealing to the author. Exiled from the Edenlc garden of her child hood, Colette may well identify light imagery with a sort of symbolic promise of redemption, an attainment of the absolute and readmittance into the idyllic life of her early years.^ We will show later, in an examination of dawn and the theme of personal renaissance, that the author's return to the simplicity of her early life and to rapport with nature is symbolized by the light of the rising sun. Light from the Sky The sky and its phenomena constitute the primary sources of light Imagery in Colette's works through illumination from the sun and the moon. (The latter appeared previously in our treatment of celes- rounding the maison natale. •^Bachelard associated air imagery, to which that of light is closely related, with a hopeful state of mind (L'Air et les songes. p. 136). 112 tlal bodies.) In the following excerpt the author confers on light from the sky a physical presence: "Tout pendtre et dlvague dans la chambre ouverte, tout ce que les nults prodlguent au del de lumldres, la lune extensible, l'aube, l'eclair et l'etoile ..." (E.V., XIII, 183). Claude Chauviere, at one time Colette's personal secretary, seems to sense Intuitively the importance of sunlight in the latter'8 literary production, as evinced by her choice of quotations from the writing; ChauviSre cites the following passage from an unnamed work: "Je tends, d'Instinct, mon visage au rayon du soleil, comme pour qu'll l'embrasse."^ The significance of moonlight in Colette's work remains intimately connected with the garden of her childhood. Recalling a moonlit evening, she writes, "Un rayon, en touchant le noyer l'evellle : 11 clapote, remue jusqu'au basses branches par une mince rame de lune. . . . Le rayon de lune descend jusqu'a la terrasse dallee, y suscite une voix veloutee de baryton, celle de mon pdre" (M.C., VII, 49). As with the light of the sun— mentioned in the pre vious chapter— "la lumlSre froide" of the moon (M.C., VII, 83) exerts a mysterious power which seemingly sets astir the walnut tree and elicits a song from Jules Colette. As noted previously, the moon is also associated with jealousy. The rising sun provides by far the most significant source for Imagery of light from the sky in Colette's writing. Her Images of dawn are noteworthy both for their poetic beauty and for their fre quency of occurrence; in addition they relate to an Important theme, ^Colette, p. 186. 113 renaissance, not yet treated In our study• Frequently and enthusias tically Colette expresses her fondness for the sunrise, "feerique men- songe de lumlSre" which for a magical moment spreads its colors over earth and sky; describing fields and orchards at daybreak, she contin ues, "A cinq heures et demie du matin, sous le rayon horizontal et la roaee, le ble jeune est d'un bleu incontestable, et rouge la terre ferruglneuse, et rose du cuivre les prunlers blancs" (M.C., VII, 160). With religious devoutness she refers to "la devotion que j'eus tou- jours pour le jour levant" (B.S., p. 73).^^ Dawn frequently produces an emotional effect, as when she describes a particularly beautiful daybreak: "Void l'aurore. Elle n'est aujourd'hui que petites nues en pluie de fleurs, une aurore pour des coeurs delivres" (N.J., VIII, 60). Along with an adolescent's tears of delight, the flower-like unclenching of a new-born baby's hand, and a single note from an avian throat, rising so high as to become confused with the sweep of a shooting star, Colette lovingly includes the sunrise of mornings past among her cherished memories of "les spectacles d'autrefois dont j'avals etg le spectateur anonyme ou l'orgueilleux responsable" (N.J., VIII, 67). One of Colette's most delightful passages, of which we previ ously quoted fragments, expresses her attraction to this natural phe nomenon, sunrise, even as a young child: ^See also N.J., VIII, 21: "Retiring in the small hours of the morning she admits, " . . . Je regretteral, & mon rivell, d'avoir gaspillg 1'Instant ou le lait bleu commence A sourdre de la mer, gagne le ciel, s'y repand et s'arrSte I une incision rouge au ras de 1'hori zon. .. " 114 Car j'almals tant 1'aube, deja, que ma mere me 1'accordalt en recompense. J'obtenais qu'elle m'evelllSt & trols heures et demle, et je m'en allais, un panier vide d chaque bras, vers des terres maratchires qui se refugiaient dans le pll etrolt de la riviere, vers les fraises, les cassis, et les groseilles barbus. A trols heures et demle, tout dormait dans un bleu originel, humide et confus, . . . quand je descendais le chemln de sable, . . . C'est sur ce chemln, c'est a cette heure que je prenais con science de mon prlx, d'un etat de grace indicible et de ma conni vence avec le premier souffle accouru, le premier oiseau, le solell encore ovale, deforme par son eclosion... (S., VII, 181). Once again Colette refers to her childhood as a period of personal worthiness and a state of grace— under the protection of the dawn, so to speak— as in the quotation mentioned previously (P.P., p. 248). In keeping with her love of dawn, the author attaches great value to the early morning hours. In Paysages et portraits she terms morning "la meilleure partie du jour" (p. 117) and praises "l'alle- gresse du matin pur" as opposed to "la melancolle et la paresse de midi" (pp. 72-73).^ An early riser during much of her life— " . . . je decline avec le jour," she admits (N.J., VIII, 40)— Colette describes her attractiveness as a child to, in part, "ma supiriorite d'enfant evelllee sur les autres enfants endormis" (S., VII, 182). The author'8 preference for dawn and morning further illustrates her theme of a primordial absolute, examined earlier in our study. Another person besides Colette, perhaps the only other one in ^?In another work Colette terms the sun's overhead position at midday as "le morne zenith" (N.J., VIII, 126). However, she charm ingly evokes the Bois de Boulogne during the early hours of the day: "Matins de pluie plus bleus que le beau temps, matins roses comme le culvre nauf, depolis par la gelee blanche, matins de mai ou tout est emotion, etlrement vegetale, fSbrlle travail de bees et d'alles, balancements des chenilles filandieres au bout de leur brin de sole invisible ..." (P.P., p. 117). 115 her non-fiction, is closely associated with the sunrise: her beloved mother, Sido. Of Sido's love for the early morning we have already taken note with regard to the theme of primordial absolute. Faying tribute to the aging Sido's persistent enjoyment of hard work and independence, Colette puts her under the sign of the rising sun, as if this celestial body were somehow responsible for her mother's stalwart spirit: Les heures du matin lul furent toujours elements; elle portait sur ses joues leurs couleurs vermeilles. Fardee d'un bref regain de sante, face au soleil levant, elle se rdjouissait, tandis que tin- tait I l'eglise la premiere messe, d'avoir deja goQte, pendant que nous dormions, 3 tant de fruits defendus. Les fruits defendus, e'etaient le seau trop lourd tire du puits, le fagot deblte & la serpette sur une bille de chSne, la beche, la pioche, et surtout l'echelle double, accotee & la lucame du bucher. ... A soixante et onze ans, l'aube la vit encore triomphante, non sans dommage. BrGlee au feu, coupee 3 la serpette, trempee de nelge fondue ou d'eau renversee, elle trou- vait le moyen d'avoir dej3 vecu son mellleur temps d'independence avant que les plus matineux alent pousse leurs persiennes, et pou- valt nous conter l'eveil des chats, le travail des nlds, les nou- velles que lui laissaient, avec la mesure de lait et le rouleau de pain chaud, la laiti&re et la porteuse de pain, la chronique enfin de la nalssance du jour (M.C., VII, 131-132). The closing words, "la nalssance du jour" were to provide the title and central image for a book written six years later, which we will examine shortly. Sido is linked with sunrise even in death, "son eternel crepuscule du matin" (N.J., VIII, 27), rather than with the traditional mortuary symbol of a setting sun. In spite of differences in their ways of life— Colette refers, perhaps, to her own divorces and sexual relationships or to a lack of consistency in her life— their shared love of dawn, of "des aurores que toi et mol nous aimons" (N.J., VIII, 26), provides a spiritual link between mother and daughter: 116 Maintenant que je me defals peu I peu et que dans le mirolr peu a peu de lul ressemble, je doute que, revenant, elle me reconnaisse pour sa fllle, malgre la ressemblance de nos traits... A moIns qu'elle ne revlenne quand le jour point A peine, et qu'elle ne me surprenne debout, aux aguets sur un monde endorml, evelllee, comme elle fut, comme souvent je suls, avant tous... (N.J., VIII, 8). Sido's ghost, "chaste et serelne revenante" (p. 8), might well recog nize her daughter by her matlnal habits; studying her living off spring, the maternal spirit gives her approval: Mala, en lnterrogeant ton visage, ma fllle, je le reconnais A la fiAvre, A ton attente, au divouement de tea mains ouvertes, au battement de ton coeur et au cri que tu retiens, au jour levant qui t'entoure, oui, je reconnais, Je revendique tout cela" (N.J., VIII, 9).18 The sunrise imparts a characteristic hue to each of the cardi nal points, so prominent in Colette's literary domain. At daybreak in Saint-Tropez, "... chaque point cardinal, qulttant le bleu insta ble, choisit sa couleur celeste: l'est est violace, le nord d'un rose glacial, l'ouest rougeoyant et gris le sud" (P.H., XIV, 162).-^ It Is noteworthy that the author also frequently represents the cardinal points, as seen In chapter 1, by Imagery of the corresponding winds. One direction, the east, is mentioned more frequently than the others and, which we noted previously, assumes a special Importance as "l'ennemi" and "ce point glace, traltre." Even the blue of the east- ent sky assumes exceptional attributes of being "despotlque et pur" 8Colette had written previously, in La Maison de Claudine, "S'11 est un lieu oil l'on attend aprAs la vie, celle qui nous atten- dit [Sido] tremble encore, A cause des deux [enfants] vlvants. . . . elle erre et quSte encore, invisible, tourmentee de n'Stre pas assez tutelalre: ..." (pp. 13-14). ^On other occasions the east is described as "violette" (N.J., VIII, 45) and "violacA" (V.V., III, 228). 117 (B.S., p. 51).^® The symbolic value which Colette assigns to the east seems to arise primarily from personal connotations. As the direc tion of the rising sun, this cardinal point represents almost univer- 21 sally the origin of light and the source of life; as such It Is sur prising that the author does not utilize the east to symbolize a theme of capital Importance In her production, that of renaissance, of spir itual rebirth, which she has carefully linked to the dawn of a new day. Dawn: Symbol of Birth and Rebirth For Colette the Image of the rising sun takes on the tradi tional symbolism of creativity and rebirth. Dawn brings with It the color of birth, "le rouge profond, austere, la sanguine et dechirante couleur de presque toutes lee naissances, qui denounce l'approche du 22 soleil, se change vite en or, ..." (M.Cah., XIII, 423). In describing a voice which appears to be that of Sido,23 Colette again ^®For examples of the wind mentioned In conjunction with the cardinal points, consult the following sources, mentioned in chapter 1: S., VII, 193, 197; B.S., p. 43 and P.P., p. 248. 21 On this subject see Cassirer's Mythical Thought, p. 98. 22 Bachelard expresses this correspondence between sunrise and the idea of birth when he mentions "une lumidre naissante, une lumiere d'aurore ou s’unissent du bleu, du rose et de l'or (L'Alr et les songes, p. 138). Cassirer states that the symbolism encompasses an even more fundamental process; "... in the creation legends of nearly all peoples and religions the process of creation merges with the dawning of the light" (Mythical Thought, p. 96). ^Although the author doesn't mention Sldo by name here, in another work she attributes to her mother a similar Interest in the signs of nature as a portent: "'Sido' n'avait point sa pareille pour feullleter, en les comptant, les pelures micacees des oignons. 'Une ... deux... trols robes sur l'olgnonl' . . . C'est signe de grand 118 links dawn with the idea of renaissance: "... une voix faite pour porter, en tremblant d'exaltation et d'espoir, des nouvelles de resur rection, d'aube heureuse sur le monde" predicts, in a manner charac teristic of Sido, "Les olgnons n'ont que deux pelures, au lieu de six l'autre annee : c'est signe d'hiver court et clement!... " (C.E., V, 409). Rebirth constitutes, in Colette's work, a theme of exceptional importance, one which she expresses through several symbols, dawn o / being the primary symbol of this theme. Spring, traditionally representing regeneration, brings renewal with seemingly magical speed: "Tout est nouveau. Le nouveau, le renouveau viennent pendant que j'ecris. ... La vapeur verte, suspendue aux ormes, n'est plus une vapeur, c'est la feuille de demain. Si vite! Oui, c'est encore 25 une fois la brusque saison" (E.V., XIII, 316). Autumn corresponds to a second spring, the second renewal of the year: "... nous revons," Colette writes, "parce que c'est octobre, parce qu'il faut parer A l'hiver, nous r@vons de falre mieux, d'etre s'll se peut, nouveau. . . . Grand souffle d'octobre, qui pousse vers Paris tous ceux qui le 26 qultterent, inspire-les d'etre dignes de lui... " (B.S., p. 103). hiver" (S., VII, 185-186). ^Fire, capable of being revived from embers, provides Colette with an example of rebirth: "Je n'aime que les magnificences qui durent, et le feu qui s'endort pour renaltre de lui-meme" (E.P.C., XIV, 406). She terms a long, torrid summer, "cet ete furieux, inter minable, renalssant de ses flammes" (F.B., XIV, 35). ^During a visit to Geneva for medical treatment, the author's strength returns, as if restored by the approach of spring (F.B., XIV, 14). The desire of aging women to rejuvenate themselves, "envie non seulement de durer mala de nattre,” constitutes "le tardif printemps des coeurs" (V.V., III, 292). 119 Colette's emphasis on spring, the first season of nature's annual cycle, lends support to her theme of a primordial absolute, treated earlier with regard to images of both flight and ascent. With this season she associates rebirth, a new beginning for the individ ual being. Her yearly anticipation of spring seems to run parallel, then, to her yearning for a primordial absolute. Likewise, the author's devotion to the dawn reinforces her thematic search for "the beginning." As indicated earlier the sunrise becomes a symbol of 27 renaissance, of renewal during the personal cycle. ' Other themes related to the yearning for a primordial absolute Include the author's love of the early morning hours and her nostalgia for her own begin ning: childhood and, ultimately, her mother. The various images and themes connected to Colette's longing for the absolute in time and origin emphasize her dedication to Sldo, her own origin. Let us exam ine again the author's statement in the preface to La Maison de Clau- dine: 26jn Journal A rebours Colette links autumn with renewal in nature: "Septembre! Septembre! II n'€talt pas 14 encore, mais 11 souf- flait sa forte haleine de corruption delicate, un renouveau qui sentait la prune, la fumee, l'ecale de nolx. BientSt septembre! Les enfants renalssalent sous la plule, l'Ouest ballonne versait une lumlSre bleue, menagee, abregee. . . . Encore huit jours, et les pSches mQres tombaient, et les sauges rouges etiraient leur epl, et l'aigre raison opaque tournait 1 l'agate transparante... Encore qulnze jours, et les deux chattes ponctuelles accouchaient le mSme jour, attestant la presence, cette fois, de septembre" (XII, 75). ^Daybreak has long been Interpreted in mythological thought as the rebirth of the sun; on this subject see the Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols (Gertrude Jobes, ed.), II, 1,485. 120 • • • [depuls] La Malson de Claudlne puls Sldo, je n'al pas qultte un personnage qui peu 3 peu s'est Impose d tout le reste de mon oeuvre : celul de ma mdre. . . . [Elle] se fait mleux connaltre a mesure que je vielllis. Son premon abrege brllle, depuls Sldo. dans tous mes souvenirs. La Nalssance du lour me servlt I glori- fier ses lettres, a m'en enorgueilllr.L'etolle Vesper lui reclame parfols un appoint de jeunesse... (VII, 7). Our study of symbolic Imagery Illuminates the full significance of this admission, for even the basic foundation of Imagery In Colette's work firmly supports her joyous celebration of her mother. As we have seen, all but one of the images and themes related to the primordial absolute are closely connected to Sldo. Colette links imagery of flight both to her mother and to subconscious, pre natal memories. Sldo metaphorically ascends a ladder of time, awaking earlier and earlier to finally reach the opening hours of the new day. Moreover, Sldo treasures the first rays of dawn. Colette's early years, spent under Sido's benevolent spell, constitute one of the author's major themes. (We may yet find Sldo associated with the theme of spring also.) These images of flight, ascent and dawn, sym bolizing themes of primordial absolute, renaissance, spring and child hood, all linked to Sldo, in effect designate her as a primary con- 28 cern, perhaps the ultimate concern, of Colette's lyrical writing. 2&D. H. Lawrence's attempt to define the unconscious mind and Its origin provides an Illuminating comment on the importance of the mother in the development of the unconscious: "When a child leans its breast against its mother it becomes filled with a primal awareness of her— not of Itself desiring her or partaking of her— but of her as she is in herself. This is the first great acquisition of primal objective knowledge, the objec tive content of the unconscious" (Psychoanalysis and the Uncon scious [New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1921], pp. 77-78). Analyzing childhood memories which may assume significance in literature, Gaston Bachelard calls the mother, "le plus grand de tous les archetypes." He explains, 121 Throughout some of her most Important works— those mentioned In the preface to La Halson de Claudlne, quoted above— Colette pays hommage to Sldo. A study of the correspondence between theme and Imagery of light aids greatly In explaining a number of ambiguities In La Nals sance du lour and in clarifying the author's Intentions. Ketchum refers to this book's complex symbolism but doesn't Indicate the full extent of Its significance in the work.^ Renaissance, on the psycho logical level, provides the basic theme for this remarkable work which is rightly considered to be one of Colette's masterpieces; the sym bolic Image of the sunrise, supported by a number of secondary sym bols, provides the book with Its primary representation of rebirth as well as with its title. The renaissance in question, an emotional one, concerns the narrator's^O new attitude towards her relationships "Sur le trajet qui nous ramSne aux origines, 11 y a d'abord le chemln qui nous rend A notre enfance, A notre enfance reveuse qui voulait des Images, qui voulait des symboles pour doubler la rea- lite. La realite matemelle a ete tout de suite multipliee par toutes les Images de l'intlmlte." He believes that, "... tous les lieux de repos sont maternels" (La Terre et les rgveries du repos [Paris: Jose Corti, 1948], pp. 122, 124). ^"Ainai cet ouvrage est beaucoup plus, et beaucoup mleux, que l'apologie du renoncement qu'on 8'est generalement borne A y voir. Que ceux qui doutent encore que l'art de Colette pulsse s'etendre au- deia du boudoir d'une jolie femme lisent La Nalssance du .lour. Encore faut-11 savolr lire, car cette oeuvre, d'un symbolisme profond, ne livre pas alsement son secret" (Colette ou la nalssance du lour, p. 230. ^Narrating in the first person and in her own name, Colette encases a brief plot, within lengthy lyrical passages. In Douceur de vleillir Goudeket states that the plot of La Nalssance du .lour is largely fictional. Although the character, Vial, is based on an antique-dealer whom Colette knew, the feelings expressed by the nar- 122 with men, an acceptance of them as friends, no longer principally as lovers nor as the cornerstone on which to build her own identity. Putting an end to what she calls her "vie de militante" (pp. 13, 18)— a state of combat called "love" in which man was her adversary (p. 75) — Colette surmises, . . . il me semble qu'entre l'homme et moi une longue recreation commence... Homme, mon ami, vlens resplrer ensemble?... J'al toujours aime ta compagnie . . . Tu regardes emerger, d'un confus amas de defroques feminines, alourdie encore comme d'algues une naufragee, . . . ta soeur, ton compere : . . . Une des grandes banalites de l'existence, 1'amour, se retire de la mienne (p. 18). 31 The mature Colette, with "l'encolure assez epaisse, une force corpo- relle d'ou la grace 1 mesure se retire," rising out of a sea of cast off garments from her past role, some still hanging, like seaweed, from her neck, successfully caricatures the birth of Venus Anadyomene; the goddess of love and beauty is here reborn a mature woman seeking release from feminity as frills and love as dependence. This attempted transformation of Colette's relations with the other sex, reversing her previous behavior, constitutes, in her mind, nothing less than a spiritual metamorphosis: Faire peau neuve, reconstruire, renaltre, ;a n'a jamais etd au- dessus de mes forces. Male aujourd'hul 11 ne s'agit plus de faire peau neuve, il s'agit de commencer quelque chose que je n'ai rator are not those of Colette herself (p. 116). The author twice warns her readers not to take the book as autobiography: "Imaginez- vous, 1 me lire, que je fais mon portrait? Patience, c'est seulement mon module" (epigraph and p. 33). 3*Page 22 of La Nalssance du jour expresses a similar senti ment. Crosland, in her biographical study, Colette: the Difficulty of Loving, examines Colette's disappointing relationships with her first husbands, her thirst for affection and the influence which this aspect of Colette's personal life had on her literary work. 123 jamais fait. . . . c'est la premiere fols, depuls que j'al passe ma seizieme annee, qu'll va falloir vlvre — ou meme mourlr — sans que ma vie ou ma mort dependent d'un amour. . . . Tu com- prends, 11 faut desormals que ma trlstease si je suls triste, ma galte si je suls gale, se passent d'un motif qui leur a suffl pen dant trente annees : l'amour. J'y arrive (p. 99). Love, suggests the narrator, depletes the stronger partner's strength: "N'importe quel amour, si on se fie & lui, tend 1 s'organi ser i la manlire d'un tube digestif (p. 29).^ Her vehement distrust of romantic love is further emphasized by her mention of "demons translucldes" which accompany the dawn of new love (p. 125). The closing pages of the book express a feeling of accomplishment at Colette'8 having passed the first test of her psychological renewal; her newfound friendship with the male sex is still shakey, yet the initial hurdle has been crossed: "0 cher homme, notre amitle diffi cile est encore trebuchante, quel bonheurl... " (p. 123).^ A series of sunrises is woven into the plot and lyric medita tion of La Nalssance du lour. In the opening pages, after citing an excerpt from one of Sido's letters, Colette evokes her mother's love of dawn and her own resemblance to Sldo in this respect (p. 8). Tomorrow, promises the author, " . . . je surprendral l'aube rouge sur les tamarls mouilles de rosee saline, ..." just as she did during the early years of her life (p. 11). While dawn approaches, she con- Colette supposes that Sido might have compared the man Colette cared for, she being the more Independent member of the cou ple, to an unnatural graft or to a parasite: "Rejette ton ente un peu monstrueuse, ma fllle, le greffon qui ne peut prosperer que par tol. C'est un gul. Je t'assure que c'est un gul" (p. 27). 3^After a ten-year friendship, Colette married Maurice Goude- ket in 1935; the relationship, which lasted until her death in 1954, was a happy one. In her later works she refers to him as "mon meil- 124 alders taking leave of man In his role of lover or husband, beginning a new stage In her life, symbolized by the breaking day: "Adieu cher homme, et blenvenue aussl I tol. Une lueur bleu s'avance sur mon lit de blen portante, ..." (p. 22). Colette admits, referring perhaps to her divorce and second marriage of which Sldo disapproved, that she did not remain faithful to Sldo'r example either In her relationships with men or In devotion to the rising sun. She would have wanted to say to her mother, now deceased, "Vols ce que je fais. Vois ce que cela vaut. . . . Cela vaut-il que, detournee des aurores que tol et mol nous aimons, je me consacre i des paupieres que J'eblouls et a leurs promesses de levers d'astres?" (p. 26). Comparing herself with her mother, the author finds her own life's treasures to be of a baser metal than those of Sldo (p. 32).^ From her acquaintance with Vial, her would-be suitor in the book's rudimentary plot, the narrator seeks only friendship. She awaits the dawn and her new comradship with the male sex. "Allons done i la rencontre, la chlenne, la chatte et mol, de la grande couleur vlolette qui signale l'Est et qui monte de la mer," she proposes (p. 45); again she exclaims, "Que l'aube est proche!" (p. 48). It is to the dawn that Colette must return in order to feel worthy again because, as she wrote in a work published one year later, describing her childhood love of walks at sunrise, " . . . c'est & cette heure que je prenais conscience de mon prix, leur ami." ^Colette indicates that she feels inferior to Sldo on more than one occasion; on page 25 she terms herself Sldo's impure survivor and her crude replica. 125 . . . " (S., VII, 181). The simple narrative episode concerning Valere Vial, his admirer, Heldne Clement, and the woman he admires, Colette, serves to test the sincerity of the narrator's intentions. True to her decision to seek friendship rather than romance, she resolves to discourage Vial's advances: Voild le fruit, a une saison de la vie ou je n'accepte que la fleur de tout plaisir et le mellleur de ce qu'il y a de mieux, pulsque je ne demande rlen, le fruit dessalsonne que murissent ma prompte famlllarlte . . . Et si j'allais desormais etre moins douce, & moi-meme et a autrui, . . . (p.59). With this resolution, daybreak arrives to illuminate yet another stage in this psychological rebirth. During the next encounter with Vial, she seeks to explain her changing attitudes and disinterest in his romantic sentiments; the force of old habits still tempts her— "J'ai encore, figure-tol, le reflexe de l'amour, j'oublie que j'ai rejete mon fruit" (p. 100)— yet her resolve remains firm. Expressing her newfound self-sufficiency, she reveals, as the sun rises over the ocean, "Comprends done, Vial, c'est la premiere fois, depuls que j'ai passe mon seizlSme annee, qu'il va fallolr vivre — ou m@me mourir — sans que ma vie ou ma mort dependent d'un amour" (p. 99). Turning to her family origins as a means to self-knowledge, Colette suggests that the first rays of the morning sun, besides illu minating the physical world, enlighten the mind: Docilement, je remets mes pas dans la trace des pas, & jamais arr@t£s, . . . Sur cette vole foulfie, eclairee d'un rayon fauchant et baa, le premier rayon du jour, j'espSre apprendre pourquoi il ne faut Jamais poser une seule question au petit marchand de laine, — je veux dire Vial, mais c'est le meme parfait amant — pourquoi le vrai non de l'amour, qui refoule et condamne tout autour de lul, est "leg£ret€" (p. 118). 126 The excerpt contains another symbol derived from Sldo's letters, the "petit marchand de lalne," Sldo's chess partner, who she believes has 55 greater personal depth than he shows. In the lyrical passage which closes this book, the narrator meditates on her renunciation of a potential lover. As she often does In the book, Colette looks to the wisdom of Sldo's letters for guid ance: one must at times give up an Immediate pleasure In order to prepare a lasting joy. Again the dawn approaches, this time to sig nal the completion of a new stage In her life: L'aube vlent, le vent tombe. De la pluie d'hler, dans 1'ombre, un nouveau parfum est ne, ou c'est mol qui vals encore une fols decouvrlr le monde et qui y applique des sens nouveau?... Ce n'est pas trop que de naltre et de creer chaque jour. . . . L'avare amour ne voulalt-il pas, une dernlere fols, m'empllr le creux des paumes d'un petit tresor racomi? Je ne cueilleral plus que par brassees. De grandes brassees de vent, d'atomes colores, de vide genereux, que je dechargeral sur l'aire, avec orguell... L'aube vlent. . . . Un bleu d'adleux, etouffe, etale par le brouillard, penetre avec des bouffees de brume. . . . Le bleu frold est entre dans ma chambre, tralnant une trds falble couleur camee qui le trouble. Rulsselante, contractee, arrachee I la nult, c'est l'aurore. La meme heure demaln me verra couper les premiers raisins de la vendange (pp. 125-126).37 ^ In characterizing Vial and the wool dealer as "parfaits amants," an expression with which she associates "la pudeur" and "l'effroi des contacts appuyes" (p. 40), Colette refers, perhaps, to the conception of neoplatonlstlc love expressed In such works as La Parfalte amle (1542) by Antoine HeroSt and Marguerite de Navarre's Hept"«*ron (1558), whose nineteenth story explains her Idea of "1 amour"parfait." ■^The conclusion of the narrative episode was anticipated early in the book; on page 24 Colette muses over Sldo's precept that, like the butterfly which, once touched by an eager observer, Its many- hued wings flutter helplessly, many things are better possessed by abstention. Colette cites Sldo's own decision to renounce playing chess with her "petit marchand de lalne" when senility will have diminished her skill (p. 124). 127 Henceforth, she will seek, as did Sldo, only the true riches of life: a simple house, closeness to the phenomena of nature, work, books. The principal theme of La Nalssance du rlour, that of personal renaissance, Is represented by still another symbol. A cactus that blossoms once every four years Is mentioned In a letter from Sldo which serves as the opening paragraph of the book; at the age of seventy-six Sldo postpones a visit to Colette and her husband In order to see the flowering of her plant, which will probably not recur before her death. The cactus, through Its periodic blossoming, con stitutes a second symbol of rebirth; the words "eclore" and "eclosion" are used In two Instances to refer to human development (pp. 97, 117). Sldo's devotion to her pink-flowered cactus provides a lesson for her daughter: "Confinee dans son village entre deux marls successlfs et quatre enfants, elle rencontralt partout, lmprevus, suscltes pour elle, par elle, des apogees, des icloslons, des metamorphoses, des explo sions de miracles, dont elle recuelllalt tout le pris" (p. 24). Colette enigmatically associates Sldo's pink cactus with an unnamed man, later presented as Vial. The deceased Sldo's spirit might well return and, finding her daughter shamefully protecting "une ombre d'homme si mince," might declare, "Demeure, ne te cache pas, et qu'on vous lalsse tous deux en repos, tol et lul que tu embrasses, car 11 37 Dawn as a representation of psychological transformation also occurs in La Malson de Claudine, published six years earlier. Feeling unworthy of entering the house after a day of rowdy play with neighborhood children, "Minet-Cheri," as Colette was called as a child, "attendra que se lSve, sur son visage chauff£, noir d'excita tion, cette pftleur, cette aube interieure qui fSte le depart des bas demons" (VII, 26-27). 128 est blen, en verite, mon cactus rose, qui veut enfin fleurir" (p. 9). The preceding passage suggests early In the book a second sym bolic meaning for the pink cactus. Colette views Sldo's attachment to It as a transformation of love, In particular, of Sldo's affection for her deceased second husband; to the author, love transformed— she uses the word "exorcised"— and applied to other objects remains preferable to a love which entails dependence and which drains one's precious energy and talents. The above excerpt hints at such a metamorphosis for Colette's own love. In the final pages of La Nalssance du jour the symbolic value of the pink cactus becomes explicit; referring to the renounced Vial, the narrator soliloquizes, Fuis mon favorll Me reparais que meconnaissable. Saute la fen§- tre, et en touchant le sol change, fleuris, vole, resonne... Tu m'abuseras vingt fols avant de la tromper, elle [Sldo], mais quand meme purge ta peine, rejette ta dipoullle. Loreque tu me revien- dras, 11 faut que je puisse te donner, £ 1'example de ma mere, ton nom de "Cactus rose" ou de je ne sals quelle autre fleur en forme de flamne, 1 ecloslon penlble, ton nom futur de creature exorclsee (p. 124). In the closing paragraph of the work, Colette awaits the new day and personal renewal, which will come about when Vial's transformation is completed, that is, when her own "love reflex" is transformed into a general passion for nature and for self-realization: Qu'elle prenne patience, la falm profonde du moment qui enfante le jour : l'ami ambigu qui sauta la fenStre erre encore. II n'a pas, en touchant le sol, abdique sa forme. Le temps lul a manque pour se parfalre. Mais que je l'assiste seulement et le void halliers, embruns, mSteores, livre sans bornes ouvert, grappe, navlre, oasis... (pp. 126-127). The symbol of the periodically blossoming "cactus rose," then, pro vides a parallel to the image of sunrise as a symbol of personal ren- oo alssance in La Nalssance du jour* 129 A double symbolism of autumn as renewal and as maturity occurs in this book when Colette appears in the middle years of her life— corresponding to the middle months of the year— and during a personal time of rebirth. (We will return to autumn as a symbol of maturity later in our study.) While she is still uncertain of her new rela tionship with men, Colette considers the possibility of a love affair during this autumn of her life (" . . . un automne n'est jamais pur de passion," she later wrote [J.R., XII, 81]): "II n'est vendange que d'automne... " Peut-Stre qu'en amour aussl. Quelle salson pour la devouement sensuel, quelle trSve dans la suite monotone des luttes d'egal A egal, quelle halte alors sur un sommet ou se baisent deux versants! II n'est vendange que d'automne, — une bouche ou persiste, en figure de larme sechee, la goutte violatre d'un sue qui n'etait pas encore le vral vin, garde le privilege de le crier. Vendange, jole preclpitee, urgence de mener au pressoir, en un seul jour, raisin mGr et ver- jus ensemble, rythme qui laisse loin la large cadence rSveuse des molssons, plaisir plus rouge que les autres plaisirs, chants, crl- aillerie enlvree, — puis silence, retraite, sommeil du vin neuf cloltre, devenu intangible, retire des mains tachees qui, misAri- cordieusement, le vlolentArent... J'aime qu'il en aille de m§me pour les coeurs et les corps : j'ai fait le depSt necessaire, remls ma toute-pulssance derniere qui gronde A present dans une jeune prison virile (p. 30). It is when the season of autumn approaches that she decides to renounce a potential lover in favor of personal renewal. Rhythm of Light and Seasons Imagery of light, besides appearing directly in Colette's work, influences her literary universe in another more subtle way. 3®Another of Sldo's letters provides a recurring symbol in this work. Referring to straw burning in a neighbor's barn, Sldo writes, "Comme Je ne peux servir A rien en personne, et qu'il ne s'agit que de paille, je puis done m'abandonner A mon amour pour les tempetes, le bruit du vent, les flammes en plein air... " Burning straw is evoked again in the book (pp. 75, 96) to represent a disagreeable sit- 130 Colette manifests an acute sensitivity to the rhythms of nature, in particular to the obvious rhythm of changing light: day and night and the lunar phases. (The constellations are mentioned less frequently.) "J'aime la nuit, les lunaisons, les saisons, ..." she writes during a visit to the "land of the midnight sun" (M.Cah., XIII, 421). Belles saisons expresses dramatically the author’s concern with rhythm and, in particular, with that of day and night. Concerning an adult's mem ories of childhood, she states, "II manque, a 1'authenticity de ces sortes de memoires, les rayures d'ombre et de lumiSre, les sursauts de douleur emportee et de folle allegresse, les heures intermlnables et les annees galopantes, bref le rythme perdu" (p. 47). A rhythmic conception of time is Implicit in the construction of La Nalssance du lour, whose imagery of dawn is used to represent personal rebirth. Just as the sun cyclically rises and sets, so, Colette suggests, has her life undergone periodic renewal. Let us recall the opening phrase of her explanation to Vial: "Faire peau neuve, reconstruire, renattre, ;a n'a jamais ete au-dessus de mes forces" (p. 99).^ Previously in our study, we described a spiral rhythm in Colette's use of time, in that, as her life progresses, she uation which, because it is of little consequence, one can enjoy. ■^Ketchum comments on rhythmic renewal, both in Colette's per sonal life— her flexibility in changing professions— and in her liter ary production: "... la progression dans le temps chez Colette lui est trSs particuliSre : toute son oeuvre tend en effet 3 montrer que l'Stre humaln — s'11 s'lnscrlt bien dans l'orbe et le rythme de la nature — peut connaltre, 3 1*image des plantes ou du PhSnlx de la mythologie, une sirie de renaissances, d'Sdoslons toujours diffe- rantes, comma par magle... " (Colette ou la nalssance du jour, pp. 145-146). 131 periodically looks to her past as a guide mark In her life. The pres ent usually fits Into line ("se raccorde") with her past, she suggests (N.J., VIII, 122). In connection with wind Imagery, we Indicated the Importance of the past— Colette's childhood, her mother, and the gar den In Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye— as a theme occurring throughout her literary composition. Deciding in La Nalssance du jour to renounce romantic love, she finds her way of life returning to the simple, healthful existence she knew as a child. Once again she will watch the sun rise. Noting the transformation in her life— new, yet remi niscent of her early years— she wonders, Aurais-je attelnt ici ce que l'on ne recommence point? Tout est ressemblant aux premieres annees de ma vie, et je reconnals peu & peu, au retrecissement du domalne rural, aux chats, & la chienne vieille, a l'emervelllement, & une serenite dont je sens de loin le souffle — mlsericordieuse humidlte, promesse de plule repara- trice suspendue sur ma vie encore orageuse — je reconnals le che- min du retour. Malnt stade est accompli, depasse. Un chSteau ephemere, fondu dans 1'elolgnement, rend sa place & la maisonnette. Des domaines etales sur la France se sont peu & peu retractes, sous un souhait que je n'osals autrefois formuler. Hardiesse sin- gulidre, vitalite d'un passe qui inspire jusqu'aux genies du pre sent : les serviteurs redeviennent humbles et competents. La femme de chambre b&che avec amour, la cuisinidre savonne au lavolr. Icl-bas, quand je ne croyals plus la suivre que de 1'autre cote de la vie, icl-bas exlste done une sente potagdre oQ je pourrais remonter mes propres empreintes? A la margelle du pults un fan- tome maternel en robe de satinette bleue demode, emplit-il les arrosoir8? Cette fratcheur de poudre d'eau, ce doux leurre, cet esprit de province, cette Innocence enfln, n'est-ce pas l'appel charmant de la fin de la vie? Que tout est devenu simple... (pp. 11-12) . Her life will again regain its childlike "innocence," a revealing word in view of her uneasy references to sexuality. Another passage in the same work provides a good example of the spiral movement of time. Now a mother in her own right since the birth of her daughter in 1913, Colette's thought still turns towards her past as she Imagines her 132 position with regard to Sldo reversed; referring to her memories of the deceased Sldo, she writes, " . . . je sentis remuer au fond de mol celle qui malntenant m'habite, plus legere 1 mon coeur que je ne fus jadis a son flanc... " (p. 83)• Having successfully undergone the test of her newly adopted relationship towards the other sex, she feels herself regaining the essential rhythm of her life, lost some time during her maturity: "L'aube vlent. . . . Je n'ai qu'il attendre la reprise d'un rythme interrompu pendant quelque temps" (pp. 125- 126). It is perhaps the loss of this "rhythm," by which she means a way of life, that occasioned her sense of unworthiness, mentioned pre viously. In "Flore et Pomone" she expresses the vital importance of living in accordance with one's essential rhythm: "Ce qui ment au rythme ment, presque, & 1'essence de la creature" (XIII, 132). Other forms of rhythm enter Colette's work besides the natural cycles of light. Her love of music, which she considered a legacy from her father, seems to have greatly influenced her literary tech nique.^ In an account of her early years in Paris she recalls the intoxicating effect music had upon her: Comme ma memolre musicale est vive (celle de mes frdres ne l'etait pas moins), je ne me d€livrais pas aisement de la rumeur, de la melodle, de 1'investissement. Couchee, regardant voleter au pla fond la tache p3le et all€e du gaz de la rue, je chantais au fond de mol, je battais des rythnes avec mes orteils et les muscles de mes mdcholres (M.A., XI, 119). 40With her first husband, Willy, she attended music festivals in Bayreuth and became acquainted with many contemporary French com posers, of which one of her favorites was Debussy; she was thought to have been at least half responsible for Willy's articles on music criticism (Crosland, Colette: the Difficulty of Loving, p. 61). 133 Her sensitivity to musical rhythm carried over to her literary art, and the following passage offers a revealing glimpse into her ideas on prose composition. Associating music with an Image of flight, she states, La tache voletante, l'aile de musique, le fragment melodique et nocturne qui m'echappait, peu A peu le mot, plus urgent, les a supplantes. Le dessln musical et la phrase nalssent du mSme cou ple evasif et lmmortel : la note, le rythme. Ecrire au lieu de composer, c'est connaltre la mSme recherche, mais avec une transe moins illuminee, et une recompense plus petite. Si j'avals com pose au lieu d'ecrire, j'aurais pris en dedaln ce que je fals depuis quarante ans. Car le mot est rebattu, et 1'arabesque de musique eternellement vierge... (M.A., XI, 119-120). The close relationship between the prose sentence and rhythm, which Colette Indicates above, appears particularly evident in her own lyri cal composition, as a number of critics have noted. Both Pierre Tra- hard and Nicole Houssa find that her sentence structure frequently / 0 assumes the rhythmic components of verse. Colette compares the structure of Cheri— whose protagonist she considers, along with the character of Sido, to be her highest literary achievement— to musical composition: 41 Describing her rapture while listening to a superb concert, she imagines the musical notes to be golden bubbles floating from the singer's mouth (V.V., III, 265), another use of air imagery— related to that of light— in connection with music. ^In L'Art de Colette Trahard states, "Soucieuse de mesure et de cadence, elle rythme la phrase, lul donne un balancement heureux, la rapproche de l'alexandrln ou des vers llbres" (p. 193). Houssa devotes a full chapter of Le Soucl de 1*expression chez Colette to rhythmic qualities of Colette's work: talcing a passage from Vrllles de la vigne. she analyzes its rhythmic structure and demonstrates that the author's style closely follows "le mouvement meme de la chose qu'elle veut decrire, de la sensation qu'elle entend nous faire par- tager ..." (p. 192). 134 Je me feral sans doute mal comprendre en dlsant que Cherl est pour mol d'ordre symphonique. Son mutlsme comporte le pouvolr desagre- gateur de la musique, emprunte des desordres aux timbres instru- mentaux et surtout vocaux. . . . Le rapport, entre Cherl et la musique, apparalt d'autant moins etrolt que Cherl chante faux. S'11 chantait juste, son charme — le mot charme pris, ici, dans son sens malefique — serait deflnisaable, dlsons avouable. Je ne fais & Cherl l'honneur de le rapprocher de la musique que parce que celle-ci est le delectable agent de toute melancolie (E.V., m i , 278-279). Various themes or symbolic sense impressions, like the ringing door bell of L’Etoile Vesper, mentioned earlier, reappear at intervals In Colette'8 books, similar to a musical refrain. Even the pains of arthritis possess for Colette, a musical rhythm; stoically she com ments, "Je souffre d'une maniere tres supportable, sur un rythme d'elancements et d'ondes que je peux exploiter muslcalement, comne nous faisons des pistons d'un train" (E.V., XIII, 328).^ There is another rhythm in nature which has significance in Colette's work: "le cycle des saisons" (E.V., XIII, 175). The seasonal rhythm Imprinted its character upon her childhood, she reveals: "Ce rythme qui gouvema mon enfance comme les autres enfances, je me souvlens qu'il preclpltait le printemps dans l'ete, A grandes secousses capricleuses de beau temps, de retours 1 la neige, d'edosions et de retractions" (B.S., p. 47).^ As we shall indicate 43lhe discovery of rhythm within recurring pain is also expressed in E.V., XIII, 285 and F.B., XIV, 11. ^The names of the seasons and months appear frequently as titles and subtitles in Colette's work: "Octobre" (F.C.B., V, 264- 267); "Salon d'automne" (P.C.B., V, 301-302); "Quatre saisons," pub lished separately in 1925 and later as part of V.E., VI, 307-344; "Printemps de demaln,” subtitle in ’ ’ Quatre saisons" (pp. 313-315); "ArriSre-saison," (V.E., VI, 376-379); "EtS" (A.Q., VI, 450-453); "Printemps passt" (M.C., VII, 160-163); Belles saisons; "Fin Juin, 1940" (J.R., XII, 7-14); "Automne," (J.R., XII, 71-81); "Printemps de 135 later, light In Colette's work has distinctive qualities which corre spond to the seasons. Colette uses a comparison, frequently made in Western litera ture, between the annual cycle of seasons and the stages of human life. She occasionally mentions the expression, "une salson de la vie," in order to signify a particular period in her life (N.J., VIII, 58 and E.V., XIII, 212). In La Nalssance du lour she states, "C'est un tr§s beau temps de l'annee que je passe lcl. C'est, je te 1*assure, un tris beau temps aussl de ma vie" (VIII, 85) and again, "Je t'ai dit que je vivais ici une belle saison de l'annee, mais surtout une belle saison de ma vie... " (p. 99). Her works also mention seasons of love (P.I., IX, 89, 92, 98), seasons of jealousy (P.I., IX, 133) and of pain (M.C., VII, 124). Colette enriches the traditional symbolic cor respondence between the seasons and the stages of life with her own personal connotations.^ Two seasons, spring and autumn, show exceptional importance in Colette's work; the former has already been considered in terms of an ascending movement in nature and as the season symbolizing periodic renewal and rebirth. Spring, "cette folle, cette imprudence annuelle de la fleur et de la feuille" (M.C., VII, 161), remains the most con spicuous season in her work. She awaits its coming with impatience: Je ne peux pourtant pas avouer & mon mellleur ami que j'attends le guerre" (J.I., XIV, 288-291) and "Avril" (F.A., XIV, 334-340). ^Houssa notes Colette's sensitivity to the seasonal rhythm (Le Souci de 1'expression chez Colette, pp. 173-174), while Hatzfeld states that the seasons play a structural role in ChSrl (Trends and Styles in Twentieth Century French Literature, p. 53). 136 printemps. Qu'attendrals-je, slnon le printemps? Je suls sa cre- anciere, cette annee. II me dolt son revenez-y d'automne, que nous n'avons pas eu, . . . Le sentiment d'attente ne s'ajuste qu'au seul printemps. Avant lul, aprAs lul nous escomptons la molsson, nous supputons la vendange, nous esperons le degel. On n'attend pas 1'StA, 11 s'Impose; on redoute l'hlver. Pour le seul printemps nous deve- nons pareil A l'oiseau sous l'auvent de tulle, pareils au cerf lorsqu'une certalne nult 11 respire, dans la foret d'hiver, l'ino- pine broulllard qui tledlt l'approche du temps nouveau. Une pro- fonde credulite annuelle s'empare du monde, libAre trop tot la voix des oiseaux, le vol de l'abeille. Quelques heures, et nous retombons 1 la commune misAre d'endurer l'hlver et d'attendre le printemps . . . qui n'arrive jamais selon notre attente. II arrive — dislons-nous enfants — en voiture, c'est-A-dire qu'il roule et s'irrue sur un char de tonnerre. fouaille par de grands zigzags de foudre (E.V., XIII, 176-177).^ As might Proust, Colette attributes to the spring of years-gone-by a charm not to be found in the present, during which arthritis confines her to her Palais Royal apartment. She admits, "Tout s'elance, et je demeure. DejA ne ressens-je pas plus de plaislr A comparer le prin temps A ce qu'il fut qu’A 1'accueillir?" (M.C., VII, 161). The author follows longstanding literary tradition in associ ating spring with her youth; "... dans mon printemps je dormals d'un somme heureux et sans defiance: (V.V., III, 206), she remembers, in the allegory of the nightingale caught by growing tendrils of a vine. Yet her childhood memories of spring are ambiguous, as if fore- ^A similar sentiment finds expression in Belles saisons when, after a visit from a friend, the author muses, "Je ne lul enseigne pas que l'hlver n'a pas plus de fin que le printemps n'a de commencement, et que la terre ne connatt ni mort ni repos. . . . Chanter le printemps quand il me faut aller A sa rencontre lorsqu'il se met en marche A travers de longues tenA- bres, tStonne, se risque en aigrettes A l'alsselle des sureaux, en vertes oreilles au long des chSvrefeullles... Des provinces favo- risees m'arrivent ses premiSres nouvelles; la Bretagne a sea daph nes, Auray cuellle ses violettes sauvages: ..." (pp. 8-9). 137 boding future unhappiness. Of the bittersweet springtime of her youth, she writes, "Je revols une enfant sllencleuse que le printemps enchan- talt dejd d'un bonheur sauvage, d'une trlste et mysterieuse jole... " (V.V., III, 226). Inexplicably, with the joy of spring comes sadness. The clacking sound of pruning shears evokes spring, the April sun, the odor of a bee laden with apricot pollen et une certaine angolsse, 1'inquietude d'une de ces petltes mala dies d'avant 1'adolescence, qui couvent, tratnent un peu, dimi- nuent, guerisse un matin, reviennent un soir . . . Claquement des secateurs, sec dialogue d'oiseaux & bee dur... Ils parlent d'eclosion, de soleil precoce, de brGlure au front, d'ombre froide, de repugnance qui s'ignore, de confiance enfantine qu'on trompa, de suspicion, de chagrin rSveur... (M.C., VII, 162-163). The equivocal, happy-sad connotations of spring may find an explanation in another association of this season: love. "La saison de l'amour," as she calls spring (B.S., p. 9), occupies the narrator's thoughts even during the later years of her life, treated in L'Etoile Vesper: C'est le printemps rSti, qui accourcit l'herbe et les lances du ble. Vent d'est, pas de ros€e, le rosier perd ses boutons fermes, le cerisler ses cerises rid£es, l'ail jeune, l'echalote sensible pSment; pitie pour la fleur ailee du pols, qui prie pour que la pluie la change en gralne... A ce printemps vehement je superpose encore l'idee de l'amour, pour ne me rappeler que la durete interessee de la vue amoureuse, le petit groin rose de l'amour, son secret langage de corps de garde — quelle modeste jeune fllle, habituee d'amour, ne fletrit in petto sa rivale en la traitant de gueule de pou et de vache malade?... II est etrange que cette sorte de printemps soit encore au nombre de mes recreations mysterleuses de femne agee... (XIII, 180).47 A comment by the narrator in La Nalssance du jour suggests that love is not possible between herself and Vial because it is autumn, the wrong ^7In "Le KSpi," a letter is described as being "gravement, prlntanlirement plein d'amour" (XII, 174). season of the year and the wrong time In life, for love. Shortly before refusing a love relationship with him she mentions, "Tout de mSme, Vial, si c'etait le vrai printemps, comme la terre serait plus odorante!" (VIII, 72). To this traditional symbol of love the author adds a personal significance. Spring mentioned In connection with adult love posses ses the same joy mixed with sadness noted with regard to childhood memories of that season. This ambiguity appears in the following excerpt: "j'ai souvent parle des hlrondelles? Bien sur. De l'amour aussi. Et tous les ans je reparle du printemps? Certes. Avec jole, avec melancolie" (E.P.C., XIV, 384).4® The nightingale of Les Vrilles de la vigne sings "avec un air d'amoureux desespoir," (III, 206) and the narrator of the allegorical expression of disappointment in love and marriage resolves to avoid such snares in the future: "Pour me defendre de retomber dans l'heureux sommeil, dans le printemps ou fleurit la vigne crochue, J'ecoute le son de ma voix... " (pp. 206- 207). The association between love and spring, a bitter, feverish spring, occurs prominently in La Nalssance du lour: Un jour, je me verrai humant l'amour dans mon passe, et j'admirerai les grands troubles, les guerres, les fStes, les soli tudes... L'amer avril, son vent fievreux, son abellle prise A la glu d'un bourgeon brun, son odeur d'abricotier fleuri agenoullle- ront devant moi le printemps lui-mSme tel qu'il fit irruption dans ma vie, dansant, en pleurs, insense, meurtrl A ses propres epines... (VIII, 122).49 4®Marks notes that Colette always associates melancholy with love (Colette, p. 180). 49Colette describes spring as being bitter and feverish on other occasions, as in "la torpeur fievreuse dont nous enivra une journSe de printemps" (V.V., III, 217). "L'amer, le tardif printemps 139 As a result of the narrator's experience with love— eagerly awaited, as is the spring, b*t apparently disillusioning once arrived— the sea son, like the emotion, takes on a melancholy character. Autumn, next in Importance to spring for Colette's work, con notes abundance, she writes, both of agricultural products and of wild apples and nuts (F.A., XIV, 356-357). As previously noted, the fall represents a second renewal during the year; the author recalls that already in an elementary school composition, " . . . je l'appelais, moi, un commencement" (J.R., XII, 71). Comprising the central months of the year, autumn symbolizes, for her, the middle years of life. During Sldo's fourth decade, Colette writes, her mother "entra dans son automne de femme" (J.R., XII, 80); her family insisted that she avoid the bonnets and dark colors worn by older ladies, allowing her "1'automne, et rien de plus! Pour eux, elle tint A son honneur de faire que son octobre souvent se deguisSt en aoGt" (p. 80).^ The other two seasons play a relatively minor role in Colette’s work. Summer, the time of annual pilgrimage to the provinces, is termed the "saison belle entre toutes" (B.S., p. 16) but also "la sai son interminable" (B.S., p. 47). The summer displeases by excessive light, even in the garden at Salnt-Sauveur, of which she recalls, " . . . les goOters du chaud jardin, l'ete, les meringues farcies de crSme fratche, les framboises, se perdaient dans un exces de lumiAre des coeurs, et sa force qui deplace les montagnes" (V.V., III, 292) perhaps refers to love which comes during the later years of life. 50ln Le Fanal bleu, the author mentions the "extreme automne" of the aging Marguerite Moreno (XIV, 112). 140 et de chaleur" (J.R., XII, 79). (Nor, as we have seen does the author favor the strong light of noon or the almost continual sunlight of the Scandinavian summer; clearly, she associates herself with the gentle light of dawn.) Winter receives rather traditional treatment in her work as a symbol of advanced age: "Pourtant un corps Sge, le mien, s'agrippe a son hiver, 3 son mal familier, ..." (F.B., XIV, 28). In Colette's work, however, the winter months correspond not to appre hension of Impending death but to the approaching renewal of spring whose preparation Is already in progress; Colette assures us . • . que l'hlver n'a pas plus de fin que le printemps n'a de com mencement, et que la terre ne connalt ni mort ni repos. ... A ceux qui loin de la ville s'imprSgnent de ce qui varie et ne meurt pas, a ceux-11 seuls chaque jour apporte la certitude d'un change- ment, d'un travail qui cherche la perfection, d'une vie vegetale et animale qui proclame : "Je resplendis encore. Deji je me fais active, avide..." (B.S., p. 8). As if following nature's precept, Sldo and, later, her daughter remain cheerful and active even during the winter of their life (N.J., VIII, 81-82). The author characterizes the seasons, to a great degree, according to the nature of their sunlight. Spring and autumn share a similarity in light as well as in their correspondence with the theme of renaissance: "Sauf que 1'argent detrSne l’or dans la lumi£re mati- nale, septembre ne vaut-il pas juin?" (B.S., p. 35). Although June possesses a certain "galt€ dans la lumifere" (N.J., VIII, 71), the excessive light of summer confuses and fades our most profound memo ries and renders "ses fStes sans secrets" (P.P., p. 120). Winter arrives cloaked in "longues tenibres" (B.S., p. 8). Yet along with the short days of January comes the promise of increasing light: 141 Fetons done seulement janvier, premier mols qui nous hlsse vers une lumiSre plus genereuse et volt les jours grandlr. Car j'avoue que l'aube noire, la sombre matinee, les deux heures aveugles qui se pretendent aurore m'otent la devotion que j'eus toujours pour le jour levant (B.S., p. 73). Various rhythms in nature, including the seasonal cycle, lunar phases and the alternation of sunlight and darkness, contribute a dis tinctive character to Colette's literary vision of the world. As men tioned previously, these natural cycles form part of a rhythmic move ment of time in her works. The periodic recurrence of the seasons, day and night and the lunar phases provides a source of order for her literary universe, in which there is little mention of God or of Divine Providence.^ She does refer briefly to polytheistic gods on at least two occasions: "un paradis . . . peuple de mes dieux" (V.V., III, 211) and "Que les dieux m'accorde une chute [mort] harmonieuse, . . . " (V.V., III, 215). Certain natural phenomena themselves pos sess a supernatural magic and mystery— two words Colette uses fre quently— and exert an influence on the feelings and actions of both lyrical narrator and fictional characters. (We have already treated the pantheistic aspect of Colette's work.) In La Nalssance du lour dawn and autumn, with their connotations of renaissance, accompany, if not encourage, the narrator's efforts towards personal renewal. In the same work, wind and rain, mentioned in connection with air imagery, act upon Colette's life: she senses the "promesse de pluie repara- 51-The only mention of God that we have found during our study lies in the expression "Dleu merci," which hardly constitutes an affirmation of Christian faith. Marks also notes that God appears only once or twice in Colette's writing (Colette, p. 21). 142 trice suspendu sur ma vie orageuse" (p. 11); having found a new Inde pendence, she feels certain that "... aucun souffle pernlcleux, accouru soudain de 1'horizon, ne . . . fera toumer — cela c'est vu — ma vie dans un autre sens" (p. 12); she recognizes the wind as a symbol: "... l'enneml du travail, de la volupte et du sonmeil" (pp. 17-18); after rejecting Vial and deciding to return to the sim ple, natural life of her youth, she realizes that "le vent d'habitude, refroidit mes pensees, me detoume du present, et me rebrousse dans le sens unique du passe" (pp. 121-122). As did Sldo before her, Colette looks to nature— plants, the wind, lunar phases, subterranean water— for omens of the future (S., VII, 185-186); since plants and animals appear to foresee the approach and end of certain natural disasters, she wonders whether they can also predict the end of human cataclysms such as the First World War (C.E., V, 409-412). A Mythical View of Life Early in this study of Colette's imagery both Marcel Proust and Justin O'Brien were quoted concerning the significance of the par ticular vision of the world which a literary work presents. It will be helpful here to examine Colette's rapport with a specific mode of thinking— that of mythology— to aid in defining her own literary vision. As will be demonstrated, certain aspects of her use of Imagery from nature and many of the themes associated with these Images, especially as regards childhood, are better understood in the context of the mythical view of the world. Colette's turning toward nature as a symbol of the divine, the latter appearing in her works as mysterious natural powers, resembles the mythological conception of nature. Ernst Cassirer states that in classical mythology, the gods reveal themselves through nature; man may know them by observing the changes in nature and the periodic recurrence of its phenomena. In 52 contrast the monotheistic religions of the prophets*' taught that God makes himself known through revelation and that "... the divine will has created no symbol of Itself in nature, . . . "55 Colette's literary production obviously cannot be called mythology, which is, strictly speaking, the history of the gods; yet, a few aspects of the view of nature presented in her works resemble that of mythological thought. As mentioned above, the rhythmic conception of time apparent in Colette's work, in the form of periodically recurring natural phe nomena which exert a mysterious influence on Colette as narrator and on her fictional characters, resembles the rhythmic conception of time, and its associations with the divine, present in classical mythology; Cassirer calls it "a kind of biological time, a rhythmic ebb and flow of life.The correlation of outward and inward events in Colette'8 writing is also characteristic of mythological think ing.55 Colette's view of time resembles that of classical mythology in another regard, its orientation towards the past. In her work a 5^Cassirer refers here to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. 55Mythlcal Thought, pp. 119-120. 54Ibid., p. 109. 144 certain period of the past, namely her childhood, Is taken out of the continuum of time and assigned a sacred quality; we have already men tioned the analogy between the garden of her childhood and the garden of Eden. No other period of the author's past receives this treat ment. Cassirer describes a similar situation for the mythical past, as distinct from the past In historical time; the former constitutes an absolute past, singled out from other points In the sequence of previous events and does not require further explanation. In the world of myth, customs and events are rendered sacred by virtue of being situated far In the past. On the other hand, historical time— that of the monotheistic religions of the prophets— Is seen as a sequence of points In history. Unlike mythological devotion to the past, the orientation of thought In the monotheistic religions of the prophets Is towards the future, which for Christians holds the second coming of Christ and the possibility of an eternal afterlife In heaven.^6 Colette states a time preference closer to that of mytho logical thought than to the Christian culture In which she lived. As cited In our earlier study of the past in her work, she admits, "J'ai eu le temps d'eprouver que la tentatlon du passe est chez mol plus vehimente que la soif de connaltre l'avenlr" (C.H., XI, 365). In addition, Colette's attribution of a specific character to each cardinal point resembles the mythological attitude towards space, according to which "each particular spatial determination . . • obtains a definite divine or demoniac, friendly or hostile, holy or 56Ibid.. pp. 105-106. 145 unholy 'character. As noted previously, Colette personified the winds from the four cardinal points, assigning each direction a dif ferent significance: II me faut . . . rejouir ma peau du souffle d’Ouest, humide, organique et lourd de significations comme la double haleine dlvergente d'un monstre amical. A moins que je ne me replle haineusement devant la bise d'Est, l'enneml, le beau-froid-sec et son cousin du Nord (S., VII, 184). Colette's vision of the world resembles other aspects of mythological thought, as well. In An Essay on Man Cassirer explains that myth "is not a mere mass of unorganized and confused ideas; it depends on a definite mode of perception. Myth depends on emotion, 59 not on logic. Like myth, much of Colette's writing, though not all, exhibits a unity of feeling rather than of thought and progresses by association rather them by logic. This does not rneem that her work lacks ideas, of which she has been unjustly accused; her mythical vision constitutes a literary pose which she may slip into or out of, at will, even in the same work. Indeed her knowledge of the physical world and of many trades, an extensive vocabulary, profound psycholog ical insight and the wisdom expressed especially in her later books evince highly developed rational thought alongside the stratum of feeling.As an author, she does, however, eschew sweeping generali- 57Ibid., p. 98. ^®(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1944), p. 76. 59Ibld.. pp. 76, 81, 82. ^®Henri de Montherlant conments eloquently on the intellectual achievement which Colette's work represents and on her unjust neglect by the AcadSmie Franqalse: "... la chapelle litteraire qui pretend donner le ton en France 146 zations, including political and philosophical systems of thought: " 11 y a trois parures qui me vont tres mal : les chapeaux empa- naches, les idees generales et les boucles d'oreille. Je les fuirai done ici comme partout. Se peut-il, d'ailleurs, que la poesle et les podtes s'accommodent d'idees generales?" (P.P., p. 213). For mythical perception, states Cassirer, "All objects are — et qui le donne aux 'autres,' certesl — exprlme par le silence son dedain. On ne beche pas Colette, non; on la laisse de cote. Ou bien on loue, en marquant les llmites : 'Elle est relne dans le royaume de la sensation.' Ce qui veut dire, n'est-ce pas? que les choses de 1'intelligence lui sont fermees. Mais trente volumes ou toutes les notations sont vraies, humaines, trente volumes sans l'ombre de littgrature, de chlque, tant de poesie repandue, et dans la simpliclte et la sante, tant de finesse imperceptible, rien en deqd, rien au-dell, jamais une 'bStise', quelque chose de si parfait dans un tel manque de pretention, est-ce que cela n'est pas de 1'intelligence, de la vraie, celle qui est vivante, qui ne s'isole pas pour se regarder et s'admirer, et la seule intelli gence dont alent besoln ceux qui vivent? On nous montre les llmites de Colette. Mais un Valery, qui ne sent pas l'homme, et qui ne sent pas la nature, quelles ne sont pas ses llmitesI Et un Gide, dont 1'oeuvre ferait croire qu'il n'a pas de coeur et qu'il n'a pas de sens, qui n'est pas romancier (createur de personnages vivants), qui n'est pas pogte, qui n'est pas auteur dramatlque, qui n'a pas d'esprit, qui n'a pas de comique, et qui s'efforce laborieusement de faire croire qu'il a ou qu'il est tout cela, quelles ne sont pas ses llmites1 La difference de classe entre une Colette et un Gide, e'est la difference de classe entre un Saint-Simon et Anatole France. Voici maintenant une raison plus valable au demi-silence des doctes sur Colette. Quand on referme Cheri. on dit : 'C'est $a.' Deux syllabes, mais nul autre iloge ne les vaut. Seulement, cela ne suffit pas au critique. On ne peut pas faire des Cahiers Colette avec un 'C'est $a'. Aux llvres de Colette pourquoi des gloses? Et quels commentaires? Le critique ne salt ou se prendre, parce qu'il n'y a rien £ expliquer, rien £ critiquer; 11 n'y a qu'£ admirer. Je crols n'avoir imprlmd le mot genie qu'il propos de deux ecrivains franqals vivants (dans deux articles parus 11 y a quel que quatre ou cinq ans). L'un de ces ecrivains etait Marie NoSl, du molns la Marie No£l de la premiere partie des Chansons et des Heures. L'autre £tait Colette" (Carnets : 1930 I 1944 tParla: Galllmard, 1957], pp. 165-166). 147 benignant or malignant, friendly or Inimical, familiar or uncanny . . . We have already noted this trait in Colette's portrayal of natural phenomena: the east wind as "ennemi," the west wind as "monstre amical," the moon as part of a "blason de jalousie," the dawn as a revelation of young Colette's personal worth, the color blue associated with the pure and the eternal, to name but a few examples. This emotional view of the physical world applies even to Colette's household objects: Pourquoi n'ai-je que des coupe-papler InfldSles? Autrefois, je les achetais dans les bibliothAques des gares, par dlx ou douze, en bois blanc. Alors ils s'evadaient par dix ou douze. La pointe du crayon se rompt et me saute au nez. La sonnette est un acces- oire de theStre, un fll sans volx. Ma montre est cardiaque, je l'al dejA dit. Le journal du soir fond, s'evade... Accidents de famille, heredltaires; men pere ne domptait la folle conduite du journal Le Temps qu'en s'asseyant dessus. Encore, ce poids suffi- sait 1 peine. Quel emplol falt-on d'une gomme A effacer? Quel, d'une rAgle? Les objets conqus en vue de faclllter le travail ne furent jamais puissants A m'aider. Mais leur malice ne vaut pas la mlenne, qui conslste A me passer d'eux (F.B., XIV, 74). Colette's writing displays another of the qualities which characterize the mythological outlook on life as Cassirer describes it: in this mode of thought, man does not ascribe to himself a unique and privileged place in the scale of nature. The consanguinity of all forms of life seems to be a general presupposition of mythical thought. . . . Man is not endowed with outstanding rank. . • . Men and animals, animals and plants are all on the same level. Goudeket testifies to Colette's belief that all forms of life are essentially similar.^ Colette as narrator calls animals "mes sem- ^An Essay on Man. p. 76. 62Ibid., pp. 82-83. 63Goudeket, PrAs de Colette, pp. 35, 40-41 and 275. 148 blables* (F.B., XIV, 134) and admits even a preference for animals over human beings: On n'alme pas 1 la fols les bStes et les hommes. Je devlens de jour en jour suspecte I mes semblables. Mais s'11s etaient me8 semblables, je ne leur serais pas suspecte . . . Au point de vue humsin, c'est 1 la connivence avec la bSte que commence la mon- struosite. . . . Encore s'il n'y avait que la connivence... Mais 11 y a la preference... Je me tairai ici (N.J., VIII, 41-42). In the world of mythology the solidarity of life manifests itself In yet another fashion. "There Is," according to Cassirer, no specific difference between the various realms of life. Noth ing has a definite, invariable, static shape. By a sudden meta morphosis everything may be turned into everything. If there is any characteristic and outstanding feature of the mythical world, any ^w by which it is governed— it is this law of metamorpho sis . The metamorphosis of one life form into another appears in Colette's work, although in a more restrained manner. Objects as well as living creatures are imagined momentarily transformed into other objects or creatures of somewhat similar shape; a cat appears to take on both animate and inanimate forms in this fantasy: La chatte a prls un lezard vert I Elle a prls un lezard vert dans la vigne. Venez voir, tous! Peut-on dire qu'elle l'a pris? La chatte Stait couchee. Tout a coup elle s'est changge en dragon, en flamme, en polsson volant, et j'ai vu sous son ventre, entre ses pattes d'argent, un lgzard vert, comme si elle venait de l'inventer 1 1'instant mSme (P.E.P., VIII, 299). Metaphors comparing the human, animal and vegetal kingdoms occur regu larly in her writing. Colette herself situates the daydreams and fantasies of her childhood in a mythical paradise. Her youthful imagination trans- An Essay on Man. p. 81. 149 forms, however, the mythical Christian paradise into a private, pagan world Inhabited by the divinities of classical mythology. In a most revealing passage about her youthful attraction to Catholicism, she describes herself as a child: Une enfant superstltleusement attachee aux fStes des saisons, aux dates marquees par un cadeau, une fleur, un tradltionnel gateau... Une enfant qui d'instlnct ennoblissalt de paganisme les fStes chretiennes, amoureuse seulement du rameau de buis, de l'oeuf rouge de FSques, des roses effeuillees a la FSte-Dleu et des repo- soirs . . . Une flllette eprise du gSteau d cinq cornes, cult et mange le jour des Rameaux; de la crSpe, en carnaval; de l'odeur etouffante de l'eglise, pendant le mois de Marie... Vieux cure sans malice qui me donnStes la communion, vous pen- siez que cette enfant silencieuse, les yeux ouverts sur l'autel, attendait le miracle, le mouvement insaisissable de l'dcharpe bleue qui celgnait la Vierge? N'est-ce pas? J'etais si sagel... II est blen vrai que je revals miracles, mais... pas les mSmes que vous. Engourdle par l’encens des fleurs chaudes, enchantee du parfum mortualre, de la pourriture musquee des roses, j'habitais, cher homme sans malice, un paradis que vous n'imaginiez point, peupld de mes dleux, de mes anlmaux parlants, de mes nymphes et de mes chevre-pieds... (V.V., III, 210-211). Colette assigns, therefore, both Christian and classical elements to her mythical world. (We previously noted the Christian overtones of her feelings of unworthiness.) The preceding passage, containing fourteen expressions relating to Catholic ritual, attests the author's knowledge of terms from Christian worship. Yet, other than a few com mon words like "ange," "archange," "demon," and "miracle," Colette rarely uses other terminology from Christian belief. Words referring to classical mythology, if not more numerous, appear more generally throughout her writing and Include the following: "Promethee," "Erfcbe," "PsychS," "Mercure" [Ch€rl], "Parque," "MSduse," "Zephire," "Eole," "pythonisse" [Sldo], "sphinx," "sylphe," "nymphe," "sylvain," "genie," "dleux lares," "faune," "faunesse," "triton," "bacchante," 150 "cariatides," "paganism," " date fatldique," "destin," and "royaume des ombres."^ Colette's critics sense the mythical elements of her attitude toward nature. Although they do not analyse in depth the means by which she achieves this effect, they describe her writing as pagan, mythical, Dionysiac, pantheistic and animistic.^ Colette's references to mythology, both Christian and classi cal (and to magic as well) have a playful tone and form part of the author's literary persona. Myth and magic are not emphasized to the ^Colette's curiosity about the supernatural and the unknown extends also to occultism, folklore and extrasensory perception. She refers to this penchant as her "solf du prodigieux, de l'lrreel oppose 2 la realite" (P.P., p. 106). The wide scope of her vocabulary on these subjects gives some indication of her interest: "mystSre," "fee," "magie," "malefice," "sortilege," "sorcier," "sorcellerie," "alchimie," "mauvais charme," "enchantement," "envofltement," "incanta tion," "conjuration," "fantdme," "gnome," "elfe," "monstre," "dragon," "necromant," "hante," "cabalistiquement," "bottes de sept lieues," "philtre qui abollt les ann£es," "levitation magique," "grotte d'ogre," "sabbat," "tapis volant," "seconde vue," "telepathie," "divination," "voyance," "lecture des pensees" and "tarot." Ir2ne Frisch Fuglsang remarks that Colette's use of repetition and alliteration sometimes produces the effect of a magical incanta tion ("Le Style de Colette," Part IV: "Les Effets d'harmonie," Orbis Lltterarum. IV [1946], 238-243). ^^Madelelne Raaphorst-Rousseau refers to animism in Colette's treatment of objects and phenomena (Colette : sa vie et son art, p. 263); Jean Larnac terms her work "un hymne dionysiaque & la nature, A 1'instinct, 2 la voluptS, 2 la vie" (Colette, sa vie, son oeuvre, p. 216); other critics refer to Colette as "une primitive" (Pierre Tra- hard, L'Art de Colette, p. 15) and "une Bacchante." Leon-Paul Fargue calls her "one Pythie genSreuse" and mentions her "sagesse terrestre et paXenne" (Portraits de famllle. pp. 22-24); Gonzague True astutely calls her pagan, in the manner of the "paysans gallo-romalns qui ne se decldaient pas 2 siparer le Dieu nouveau des dieux anciens et confon- daient lngenument les saints et les satyres" (Madame Colette, pp. 52- 53); Robert Braslllach notes her "paganlsme romantique" which resem bles the romanticism of Virgil (Portraits, pp. 17-18); Julia Tidwell calls her view of nature pantheistic (‘ "imagery in the Works of Colette," p. 40). 151 same degree in all her writing. Works like L'Etoile Vesper. Le Fanal bleu. La Maison de Claudine. Paysages et portraits, Sido. and Lea Vrilles de la vigne provide many references to mythology and magic— along with numerous Images of air, sky and light— while the following contain less of the mythological atmosphere and fewer images: La chambre eclairee. En pays connu, La Fleur de l'Sge, Mes cahiers. Pri sons et paradls. Le Pur et l'impur. The works in which we have found the most pronounced mythical ambiance also fall among the most poetic of Colette's books. ^ Such a transformation of the world as we have seen in Colette's lyrical writing meets Paul Valery's description of true poetry: "... [la vraie pogsie] agit pour nous faire vivre quelque differente vie, respirer selon cette vie seconde, et suppose un etat ou un monde dans lequel les objets et les Stres qui s'y trouvent, oil plutot leurs images, ont d'autres liaisons que celles du monde pratique . . . The mythological elements noted previously are consistent with ^Noting that lyric poetry and mythology share the similarity of being based on feeling, Cassirer states his belief that ''lyric poetry is not only rooted in mythic motives as its beginning, but keeps its connection with myth even in its highest and purest prod ucts" (Language and Myth [New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1953], pp. 98-99)« See also An Essay on Man. pp. 52, 75. ^VariSte. in Oeuvres. Editions de la Plelade (Paris: Galll- mard, 1957), I, 450. Maurice Goudeket mentions that Colette and Paul Valery, during the infrequent occasions when they met, conversed in close agreement "de leur metier et de son alchimie, de ses tabous. Si diffgrents par l'origlne et 1'inspiration, ces deux artisans supgri- eurs se rencontraient sur des secrets de fagonnage, sur des tours de main, des nombrea d'or" (PrAsde Colette, p. 109). Concerning Colette1 a "transfiguration of nature by selected and rearranged details," see also Hatzfeld's Trends and Styles in Twentieth Century French Literature, pp. 212-213. 152 the other aspects of Colette's literary production which we have exam ined. As mentioned previously, Colette expresses a fundamental long ing for an absolute or Ideal, vaguely defined In her works. The gar den of her past childhood, seen as a kind of mythical paradise, repre sents the Ideal existence which brings love, happiness and the true riches of life. Colette apparently views Sldo as goddess or priestess, so to speak, of this personal garden of Eden; Sldo Indeed exerts magi cal control over the garden: as cited earlier, "de par sa suzerainete et sa sollicitude, les murs grandlssalent, des terres lnconnues rem- plaqalent les enclos ..." (S., VII, 183).^ In such works as La Marks points out the complex nature of Sldo's personality: although she has a "Christian" side, Sldo resembles "a very mysterious, almost primitive goddess of the earth" (Colette, p. 23). According to the Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols, the name "Sldo- nle," of which '^Sldo Is a shortened form, means ^enchantress" (Jobes, ed., II, 1,447). Colette likens her mother to an oracle, a priestess of Apollo at Delphi: "Le sens critique, en elle, se dressalt vlgoureux, versatile, chaud et gal conme un jeune lezard. Elle happalt au vol le trait marquant, la tare, signalait d'un eclair des beautes obscures, et traversait, lumlneuse, des coeurs etrolta. — Je suls rouge, n'est-ce pas? demandait-elle au sortir de quelque Ame en forme de couloir. Elle gtalt rouge en effet. Les pythonisses authentiques, ayant plonge au fond d'autrul, emergent A deml suffoquees. Une vlsite banale, parfols, la laissait cramolsie et sans force aux bras du grand fauteull capltonne, en reps vert" (S., VII, 175- 176). Colette also refers to Sldo's priestly "voix conjuratrlce" and listens to "les doux mots de l'exorcisme," as she terms Sldo's attempt to sof ten, for her young daughter, Emile Zola's grisly description of child birth (M.C., VII, 42). Colette admits inheriting her mother's gift of prophesy, "cette divination malicleuse, legs de Sldo, A laquelle je recours par jeu" (F.B., XIV, 65). Other women in Colette's work also have the gift of prophesy. It seems fitting that a literary world In which women play a positive and Important role (best seen In Colette's fiction) should be situated in an atmosphere of classical mythology which admitted women to the ranks of priestess and goddess, as opposed to Christian mythology 153 Malson de Claudlne (1922), La Nalssance du jour (1928) and Sldo (1929), the author looks to the past for a model to live by during the present. In her later works, as she turns more toward Intuition and sensory perception for guidance, the exemplary past diminishes In Importance but never completely disappears from her writing. In Belles salsons (Part I: 1945; Part II: posthumous publication In 1955), sensory perception of nature has become more prominent. L'Etoile Vesper (1946) and Le Fanal bleu (1949) seek guidance for the years of advanced age, during which her senses are losing their acuity, and these works evince a strong Intuitive Interest In occultism, the unconscious mind and extrasensory perception. We have shown that Images of air, sky and light lend surprisingly consistent support to this Interwoven pattern of themes. Sunlight In particular, as a per sonal symbol of hope and renaissance, as part of the cyclic rhythm of day and night and as a mysterious Influence on human affairs, plays an exceedingly Important role In Colette's literary world. Lamp Light Colette's work also contains some Interesting Images of man- made light sources. While these have far less significance than Imagery of light from the sky, nevertheless, there are a few relevant comments to be made concerning lamps. A passage In Paysages et por- whlch, except for veneration of the Virgin Mary and female saints, generally excludes the female sex from Identification with both god head and priesthood and, in addition, has long proclaimed women to be an inherent source of temptation and sin. Concerning the aggressive role of Colette's female characters, see Marcelle Biolley-Godino's L'Homme-oblet chez Colette (Paris: Editions Klincksleck, 1972). 154 traits refers nostalgically to the author's "regret d'un coin de France — celui-lS ou la lantpe a huile luit le solr, & une seule fene- tre, entre lea branches des chSnes severes et des chStalgnlers au tronc d1argent, ... 1 1 (pp. 125-126). Probably Colette's other lyri cal linages of lamps refer to oil-lamps also since electricity would not have been in widespread use during the first half of her life. And, as Gaston Bachelard states in one of his books, images of fire and burning candles often appear in literature, but an electric light bulb does not provide a fertile subject for poetic inspiration! The low flame of the lamp encourages, by Colette's own admis sion, daydreams of her most significant memories: "Les plus profonds, les plus tendres souvenirs, ceux qu'effare ou palit la grande lumiSre des etes heureux, jouent discretement entre le feu et la lampe, . . . " (P.P., p. 120).^ As with most other images in our study, it will prove useful to examine the correspondence between the lamp and Colette's memories of childhood. The following passage suggests, but does not define, a special significance for the lighted lamp. The author recalls her own youthful reaction and that of Sido to the dimin ishing days of autumn when darkness enveloped them a little earlier each evening: "'Mais c'est le soir! s'ecriait ma mSre. DSja la lampe!' En moi-mSme je disais: 'Enfln la lampe... '" (J.R., XII, 75). A passage of extraordinary sensitivity, from La Maison de Clau- dine, reveals one meaning of the lamp in Colette's work. From the ^Bachelard refers to a room illuminated by an oil-lamp as "un ilSt de lumlSre dans la mer des tenSbres — et, dans la m&molre, un souvenir lsolg dans des annees d'oubli" (La Terre et les rSveries du repos, p. 113). 155 garden, little Minet-Cheri (Colette's childhood nickname) looks Into the house at twilight, just as Sldo lights the oll-lamp: Un point rouge s'allume dans la malson, derriSre les vltres du salon, et la Petite tressallle. Tout ce qui, 1'Instant d'avant, etait verdure, devlent bleu, autour de cette rouge flamme Immobile. La main de 1'enfant, tratnante, perqolt dans l'herbe l'humidlte du solr. C'est l'heure des lampes. Un clapotls d'eau courante m§le les feullles, la porte du fenll se met A battre le mur comme en hlver par la bourrasque. Le jardln, tout & coup ennemi, rebrousse, autour d'une petite fllle degrlsee, ses feullles froldes de lau- rler, dresse ses sabres de yucca et ses chenilles d'araucaria bar- belees. Une grande volx marine gemlt du cSte de Moutlers ou le vent, sans obstacle, court en rlsAea sur la houle des bols. La Petite, dans l'herbe, tlent ses yeux fixes sur la lampe, qu'une breve eclipse vlent de voller : une main a passe devant la flanme, une main qu'un de brillant coiffait. C'est cette main dont le geste a suffi pour que la Petite, & present, soit debout, pSlle, adoucie, un peu tremblante comme l'est une enfant qui cesse, pour la premldre fols, d'etre le gal petit vampire qui epuise, incon- sclent, le coeur matemel; un peu tremblante de ressentir et d'avouer que cette main et cette flamme, et la tete penchee, sou- cieuse, auprAs de la lampe, sont le centre et le secret d'ou nalssent et se propagent en zones de moins en moins sensibles, en cercles qu'atteint de moins en moins la lumlAre et la vibration essentielles, le salon tiAde, sa flore de branches coupees et sa faune d'anlmaux palsibles; la malson sonore, siche, craquante comme un pain chaud; le jardln, le village... Au delA, tout est danger, tout est solitude... . . . Les yeux attaches au de brillant, 1 la main qui passe et repasse devant la lampe, Minet-Cheri goGte la contrition dell- cleuse d'etre — pareille A la petite horlogAre, A la flllette de la llngSre et du boulanger — une enfant de son village, hostile au colon comme au barbare, une de celles qui llmitent leur univers 1 la borne d'un champ, au portillon d'une boutique, au cirque de clarte, epanoui sous une lampe et que traverse, tirant un fil, une main blen-aim&e, coiffee d'un d£ d'argent (VII, 28-29). The Image of the lamp conveys a strong sense of security which is reinforced by the protective presence of the mother. In the passage, Sldo is metaphorically compared to the lamp, in that both her hand and the lamp flame "sont le centre et le secret" from, which originate and spread, in zones of lessening emotional attachment, the living room, house, garden and.village, like a series of<ever-widening boundaries 156 In Minet-Cheri's world. Like the lamp, Sido radiates warmth and light, to become a guiding beacon in the darkness of life.^ In this excerpt Sldo's hand illuminated by the lamp synecdochically becomes a symbol of the mother herself; her hand is mentioned five times within a brief space, and the episode ends with the child lovingly contemplating "une main bien-almee, coiffee d'un de d'argent." (This symbol reappears in La Chatte to represent prudish Alain's mother; this time the hand is spotlessly encased in a white glove.) Reflected Light There is one electric light which does assume symbolic and poetic significance in Colette's later work. The light in question is, however, not an ordinary one, being wrapped in the blue color with which the author associates things eternal. The "fanal bleu" also serves as a guiding light, as we have seen, this time for the author's passage from maturity into advanced age and infirmity; she explains the meaning of "fanal": "le nom d'une lumlSre qui sillonne les mers," a beacon used in navigation. Colette's blue lamp, illuminated day and night (F.B., XIV, 9), and the distant lamp of the Galerie Montpensler provide not only light but a source of wisdom; "sages fanaux de mes nuits," she calls them (E.V., XIII, 286). It is these two beacons in the darkness which inspired her to write a short story of dream and fantasy: C'est A eux qu'immobile au sein de mon obacurite j'ai demande le ^Bachelard states that a lamp burning in the distance is the sign of someone (La Flamme d'une chandelle, p. 101); in La Nalssance du lour it represents Vial (VIII, 78). 157 "Conte de 1'enfant malade." Feu & peu, 11s me l'ont accorde. J'al invente 1'enfant, et pour le reste j'allal du fanal vert [de la Galerie Montpensier] aux annaux d'or que le deml-sommeil enlace... (£.V., XIII, 286). Colette describes many objects as being shiny or sparkling; certain of the materials which reflect light have a special signifi cance for her which relates to our study of light imagery. She was particularly fond of glass beads, marbles, crystal, precious stones and gold: of the marbles called "sulfures" and "calots," "au sein desquels vire le serpent d'arc-en-ciel," she wonders, "Est-ce done si dur que d'eloigner une bllle coloree, le bibelot qui capte un rayon, une torsade d'or?" (E.V., XIII, 238).^ Rays of light reflected by a figurine of porcelain and gold, the metal for which she admits a pre dilection (F.B., XIV, 62), exert a hypnotic effect on the author: Un petit cheval dore, en porcelalne de Capo dl Monte, souffre encore par intervalles de ma mlsgre passe [during Goudeket's imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp]. C'est lui, c'est sa croupe d'or poll que premiSrement le jour levant tirait de l'ombre, et dejd dans l'ombre 11 portait le polds de mon regard qui ne le voyait pas. Aujourd'hui, il a besoin que je raisonne un moment, et que je le rappelle, exorcise, & son essence de petit cheval tres gentil, sur l'or duquel se posent le premier rayon du Jour, le dernier de la lune. Nous avons ete seule, lui et moi, dans le logis sans chef, et de mon lit je quetais, sur sa croupe, d'or vif, un hypnotisme impossible... (E.V., XIII, 247-248). Concerning the translucent blue glass beads of a necklace, she notes, " . . • chaque grain tratne derriere lui, en guise d'ombre, une petite tache de lumlire azuree" (V.E., VI, 343).^ Precious stones count ^^Ketchum comments that Colette "almait collectionner colliers de verroterie, 'sulfures,' boules de verre, calvaires de verre file en bouteille, papillons... " (Colette ou la nalssance du jour, p. 79). 73The smooth spherical shape of the beads confers upon them a magical quality, in accordance with the author's predilection for the "eternal simplicity" of circles and spheres: glass beads and marbles, 158 among the light-reflecting substances whose brilliance Colette appre ciates. Admiring the array of jewels set before her by her neighbor, a goldsmith, she notes, "Les murs de ma chambre resolvent des Aclabous- sures jalllles d'un conte persan, des bluettes dardees par l'inson- dable geometrie des plerres taillAes" (F.B., XIV, 131).^ With regard to the solitary Vial of La Naissance du jour the narrator compares, with a play on words, his brief indications of inner worth to the sparkle of a single diamond, traditional symbol of light and bril liance: "Solitaire... C'est un mot A belle figure, son S en tSte necklaces and bracelets "sont tous engendres, . . . par la sphere et la circonference, et ce n'est pas une magie negligible que cette simplicite Aternelle. Si la perle naissnit frappee de facettes, elle en seralt encore I se moquer du fameux impot. Un cristal de roche, tallle, nous attache moins qu'un globe sans defaut, suave A la paume, transpa rent, impenetrable, qui moule sur sa surface toutes les images terrestres, les deforme chimeriquement et les hausse vers la sor- cellerie... " (V.E., VI, 344). Other references to these shapes also indicate their special signifi cance to Colette; in her speech before the Academie Royale Beige de Langue et de LittArature Franqaises, upon being admitted to membership, she acknowledges her instinctive affinity for the sphere and circle: "Une longue route, celle de ma vie, une longue experience, celle de mon coeur, partent done d'ici [Belgium, where Sldo lived as a young woman], m'y ramAnent et, en quelque sorte, m'y fixent. Mon instinctif penchant qui se plait A la courbe, A la sphAre et au cercle, s'en contente superstitieusement. Tendre vers 1'achevA, c'est revenir vers son point de depart" (D.R., XIII, 449). Colette here relates these geometric curves to her cyclical view of life, providing another example of the admirable unity in her vision of the world. Goudeket confirms Colette's association of the circle with renewal: "Cette idAe, que la perfection ne s'accompllt que par le cercle, l'a hantee toute sa vie. Toute sa vie elle a aime les choses rondes, les sphAres, les boules de cristal, tout ce qui est en sol sa fin et son commencement, et Aternellement se recommence. II lui a AtA donne — peut-Stre parce qu'elle le meritait — de reve nir elle-mSme A son point de dApart, de tendre en mourant les bras A Sldo" ("Colette et l'art d'Acrire," p. 38). The curves of the oval and the sphere belong, in particular, to substances which are either translucent and valuable or succulent 159 dresse conme un serpent protecteur. Je ne puls l'lsoler tout & fait de l'eclat farouche qu'il reqoit du diamant. L'eclat farouche de Vial... " (N.J., VIII, 60). Water, whose properties as a fluid lend themselves to compari son with air, as we have seen, frequently appears in Colette's work as a reflector of light. The true riches of life Include "une joalllerie de reflets dans l'eau courante" (N.J., VIII, 32); living in Provence means having "de l'eau surtout . . . de l'eau pour la changer en luml3re" (B.S., p. 33); spring water "se haussait hors de terre par une convulsion cristalline" (S., VII, 182).^5 Such is the affinity and edible, she believes: "La forme eternelle de l'oeuf n'est meritee que par les nourri- tures succulentes, et les matiSres precieuses ou translucides. II convient qu'elle surprenne, flatte ou gmeuve 1'esprit. . . . Quant & l'oeuf d'opallne blanche que m'offrit Leopold Marchand, le temps ne saurait le dipoulller de l'agrement particulier qui s'attache 3 l'oeuf sans jaune, sterile, probablement maglque, trouble comme 1'orgeat, comme la perle du gui, comme l'oeil du chaton qui s'ouvre en son neuvi&me jour... " (F.A., XIV, 355). Alongside the wind and the color blue, oval, circle and sphere share the attribute, "Stemel." Bachelard notes that numerous authors describe life as being "round" (La PoStlque de l'espace [Paris: Presses Unlversitaires de France, 1970], pp. 208-209). Colette's list of spherical shapes Includes "astre," corresponding to her interest in heavenly bodies. For her the spherical shape of a peach evokes, in what Bachelard calls "cosmic reverie," the form of the earth itself: "Des pSches, oubliees dans une coupe, se rappel3rent 3 moi par leur parfum surl; l'une d'elles, oO Je mordls, rouvrit 3 ma falm et 3 ma solf le monde matiriel, spherique, bondie de saveurs: ..." (N.J., VIII, 98). Additional references to sphericity and roundness may be found in M.C., VII, 76; M.Cah., XIII, 366 and F.A., XIV, 349, 351. In La Terre et les reveries de la volonte (Paris: Jose Cortl, 1948), Bachelard states, > ( Le joyau est le point ofi s'aboil t 1'opposition de la matl3re 3 la luml3re. La matiSre rejoit la lumiSre jusqu'd son coeur et cease de Jeter une ombre... " (pp. 289-290). ^Light may assume the qualities of water, as water does of light: "... la lumi3re ruisselle comme moulllie... " (E.P.C., XIV, 379). 160 between water and light In Colette's work, that this liquid sparkles even underground: "Sourciere, elle [Sldo] allalt droit 4 ce qui ne brllle que secrdtement, eau qui languit loin de la lumiere, filon dor mant, coeurs & qui toute chance d'eclosion est retiree" (N.J., VIII, 117). Both water and transparency, like that of crystal, are associ ated with purity in Colette's literary view of the world. She estab lishes this correspondence in a capital text from Le Pur et l'impur: De ce mot pur qui tombait de sa bouche, j'ai ecoute le tremble- ment bref, l'u plaintif, l'r de glace llmpide. II n'eveillait rien en moi, sauf le besoin d'entendre encore sa resonance unique, son echo de goutte qui sourd, se detache et rejoint une eau invi sible. Le mot "pur" ne m'a pas decouvert son sens intelligible. Je n'en suis qu'd etancher une soif optique de purete dans les transparences qui l'evoquent, dans les bulles, l'eau massive, et les sites imaginaires retranches, hors d'atteinte, au sein d'un epais cristal (P.I., IX, 137). Water and transparent substances satisfy her visual need for purity.^ Water in the form of snow receives frequent mention as a source of purity. Like water and crystal, snow reflects light, resembling "une poudre de cristal plus tenue, plus pailletee que la brume irisee d’un jet d'eau... " (V.V., III, 212).^ The immaculate whiteness of snow frequently appears tinted with blue, a color associated with purity and the eternal, as we have seen. Snow likewise possesses both ^Bachelard considers water to be a natural symbol for purity (L'Eau et les rSves. pp. 181-182). Crystal represents the abstract quality of purity as evoked by a concrete substance: "Alnsi le cris tal evellle un mat€rialisme de la puretS" (La Terre et les reveries de la volontg, p. 294. 77 A snow-covered field in the sunlight becomes a vast "mlroir horizontal" (B.S., p. 50). The snow of one's childhood is pure, the author believes (B.S., pp. 108-109). 161 qualities: " . . . le soleil d'hiver connatt malntenant sa rlvale : la nelge pure, durable, bleue de reverberer l'azur qui la baigne" (V.E., VI, 316). "Royaume candlde, precalre, eternel, 8 nelge I" Colette exclaims (V.E., VI, 317). Besides this association with the two traditional colors of purity, snow possesses the author's personal criterion for purity. Covering all exposed surfaces, it changes the entire landscape and transforms it into what appears to be another world: Colette calls snow "un royaume" and, in the same passage, "une planSte," Like Sido, Cheri, the ladies of Llangollen and the other pure creatures of Colette's work, entirely devoted to their independ ent world, a person surrounded by a snow-enveloped landscape becomes entirely caught up in the effect of this phenomenon which is, thus, pure. A group of skiers in training participate in the purity of the snow kingdom; the author notes, "Ils n'ont pas songe A 1 'amour des femmes, nl souhaite le bien du prochain. Car tu les aimes purs, tes amants, o neige, et tu les purifies" (V.E., VI, 318). Like many other phenomena of nature that we have examined, a snow-covered landscape exerts magical power over humain affairs. Colette declares, "J'ai mesure son pouvoir des les premiAres gorgees d'un air qui porte jusqu'A la base des poumons une menthe subtile et glaciale. La neige, un pays? La neige, un cllmat? Non, une planAte. La convoitlse du conquArant, sur elle, s'arrSte et rSve" (V.E., VI, 316). Earlier in our study we saw that light from a small flame, that of an oll-lamp, possesses for Colette connotations of security and maternal protection in the surrounding darkness and evokes pro found memories of her childhood. A larger fire, as on the hearth, 162 rarely provides Imagery of light In Colette's writing; these Infrequent Images of hearth-flre light which may be found remain conventional and of little significance. In her early fictionalized animal stories, she calls fire, "Soleil" (D.D.B., III, 340), which may indicate a per sonal meaning, but she does not develop or repeat this comparison. The significance of fire Imagery in her work lies mainly in the move ment of flames in the air, which we examined previously. A long pas sage on fire In En pays connu does, however, link these phenomena to the author's interest in purity. Sitting before the hearth-flre, one becomes fascinated with it, totally absorbed in contemplation of it and thus, Colette believes, less fickle, more pure: . . . de s'asseoir au coin de mon feu, les vivants s'amendent, s'apaisent, se font plus lents, mentent moins. Qui parle au coin du feu parle en regardant le feu, cesse de refleter la changeante creature humalne. Un flamboyant dedale, 1'architecture des braises sont des spectacles qui purifient 1'esprit. . . . Soirs d'hlver longs, epures, . . . (E.P.C., XIV, 406). Darkness It should prove useful to consider whether darkness and night also have a special function in the work of an author so conscious of light. Although limited in number and scope, images of night and darkness do assume special significance in Colette's literary world. The "brSve nuit lnterieure qui succSde lmmediatement, icl, I l'heure de midi," mentioned at the beginning of La Naissance du lour, could refer both to the dark Interior of her house into which she withdraws to escape the noonday sun and heat (p. 63) and to her state of mind during her years of dependence on love and neglect of the dawn. As with late autumn and winter, twilight sometimes signifies advancing 163 age, whose triumphs are "crepusculalres” (P.P., p. 95). During the twilight of her own life the author shows a greater appreciation for the hours of darkness; at the age of seventy-three she writes, "Ayez un nombre maximum d'heures solalres", conseille l'hygldne. SI c'est au detriment des heures obscures, je proteste. . . . Sommes-nous d ce point bourrelSs, remords ou chagrins, que l'ombre nous soit une ennemie, et le noctambule ne supporte-t-il la nuit que blessee de mllle lumleres? (E.V., XIII, 285). Darkness and shadow frequently take on their traditional nega tive connotation in Colette's work. Chronic bronchitis casts an "ombre" on the voice of Leon-Paul Fargue (F.B., XIV, 40); a coach driver displays "tenebreux" ill will (P.P., p. 196); she terms individ uals having certain perversions "amis de l'ombre" (E.V., XIII, 320); decomposition and, by implication, impurity manifest themselves as "ombre" (P.P., p. 266). More frequently, however, shadow and darkness 78 are associated with mystery, the unreal and the unconscious. Dur ing a conversation between the narrator of La Naissance du jour and Heldne Cl&ment, the women's shadows, projected against the side of a building, gesticulate as if alive: HelSne s'elan$a, mm saislt au coude, et je ne vis plus, devant nous, que deux ombres d6mesurees d'un bleu d'encre, qui couchees et rampantes sur la terre se brlsaient au pled de la facade, 1 'escaladalent verticales et gesticulaient sur le tolt: . . . Sa longue ombre donna d mon ombre plus courte un baiser inco herent qui tomba quelque part dans l'alr, et elle me quitta en courant (VIII, 112). A similar scene exists in the novel, La Chatte. in which Camille's shadow appears to assume lifelike qualities. Occasionally, "shadow" ^^Hugust finds a similar significance for "l'ombre" in the work of Victor Hugo (La Couleur, la lumiSre et l'ombre dans les meta phor es de Victor Hugo, p. 366). 164 refers In a mythological sense to the spirit of a deceased person or animal, as with "l'ombre" of Sldo (M.C., VII, 93) and that of a dog (V.V., III, 229), death itself bringing entrance Into the "royaume des ombres" (V.V., III, 215). Nighttime and darkness provide a quality of mystery in Colette's literary world; she juxtaposes "l'ombre et le mystere" (P.P., p. 61) and refers to "la douzidme heure, celle qui porte un si beau nom sombre, riche de mystdre : minult" (P.P., p. 242). Commenting on the ease with which women writers divulge their "confidences d'amour" to the public, thereby concealing their most Important secrets, Colette associates the unconscious mind with darkness: En les dlvulguant, elle sauve de la publicite des secrets confus et considerables, qu'elle-mSme ne connatt pas trds bien. Le gros projecteur, l'oeil sans vergogne qu'elle manoeuvre avec complai sance, foullle toujours le mSme secteur feminln, ravage de feli- cite et de discorde, autour duquel l'ombre s'Spalsslt. Ce n'est pas dans la zone illumin€e que se trame le plre... (N.J., VIII, 56-57). In La Chatte darkness favors Alain's predilection for daydream and fantasy. Images of light and darkness set in opposition to each other express conflict or, in the case of Hdldne Picard, fundamental change. All light and airiness at first, "chez cette fille de la solaire Ari- ege, qui se couchait tSt, s'eveillait avec les perruches, la lumlere du matin mQrissait un podme" (E.V., XIII, 251). Describing the fatal illness which gradually overcame Picard, the author mourns, "... rien n'empSchera plus qu'une ombre funeste, peu & peu, a'avance sur elle, ternisse sa saine pSleur rosee, sa carnation de tubdreuse" (p. 258). 165 Images of light and darkness are connected to the three princi pal characters of La Naissance du jour, each individual's affinity for either sun, moon or darkness emphasizing his incompatibility or con geniality with the other two characters. Clearly, Vial is associated with darkness and night. The narrator finds that the young man makes, "en depit d'un vetement blanc, une tache bien sombre dans mon enclos, . . . ” (VIII, 72). Thinking of Vial's departure, Colette imagines him "resorbe au passage par l'ombre d'un pin ou d'un espalier... " (p. 78). While dawn approaches, she reflects, "Mais, en mSme temps que la nuit, je me depouillais de langueur, bientSt d'ombres" (p. 95); she will shortly rid herself of Vial as well. Only at night does he take on a clearly defined personality: Colette imagines, "II doit §tre un peu gris le long des journees, mais tout phosphorescent l'ombre venue, et apte 1 l'amour, ..." (p. 95). She welcomed the dawn of the new day— and of her newfound independence— while Vial, on the contrary, "appartenait encore mollement 1 la nuit, ..." (p. 96). We have already indicated the narrator's close association with the rising sun in La Naissance du jour. Her dedication to sunlight conflicts symbolically with Vial's nocturnal preferences, since the sun "ne peut pas me tromper, je decline avec le jour," she states (p. 40). On the other hand, HdlSne Clement, to whom Colette willingly relinquished Vial, is symbolically related to the moon, natural com panion of the night. Clement's facial features, "joues et front decouverts, arrondls," appear "selSniens" (p. 67), after the Greek moon-goddess, Selene. By her jealousy also, Clement is associated with the moon, sometime symbol of this emotion in Colette's work, as noted previously. During the narrator's initial uncertainty towards her friendship with Vial, an unfriendly moon rises in the sky as if to forewarn her of a jealous rival: "... une vaste gueule de lune, assez effrayante, envahit le ciel, et elle n'est pas mon amie" (p. 48). Another lunar presage occurs while Colette vacillates in her inten tions toward Vial; just as her thoughts turn to suitor and rival, she again notices the moon, this time a rather pitiful moon, wasted like the lovelorn HelAne Clement: "Une vieille lune usee se prom&ne dans le bas du ciel, poursuivie par un petit nuage surprenant de nettete, de consistence metalllque, agrippe au disque entame comme un polsson A une tranche de fruit flottante... " (pp. 57-58). Clement's reaction to light intensity also corresponds to her lunar symbolism since she is partial to subdued light, "favorisee par la penombre" (p. 65). The more intense light of the sun, Colette's celestial symbol, disturbs her, as does the older woman's competition regarding Vial. (Imagery of sun, moon and darkness underscores interpersonal relations to a much stronger degree in the love triangle of La Chatte, published five years later.) We have seen that light, the most beautiful and forceful of Colette's images, represents many of the same themes related to image ry of air and sky: childhood, Sido, the primordial absolute, purity. The dominant character of light imagery arises, however, from themes unique to it alone. The association of dawn with rebirth and renewal provides Colette's writing with a note of hope. Light as a guiding beacon and as a source of self-worth adds to this hopeful tone, trust and confidence. CONCLUSION Our study of an intrinsic aspect of Colette's lyrical non fiction— her Imagery of air, sky and light— has demonstrated an admi rable degree of continuity, on a very fundamental level, among the works considered. We have found that many of the natural phenomena mentioned in her lyrical works have symbolic meanings not found in objective reality. Her presentation of the physical world, long praised as an example of careful observation, is thus shown to be a world transformed. As we have Indicated, the symbolic meanings Colette assigns to the natural phenomena in question include both personal and traditional elements. The images studied were found to be associated with basic themes, each of which occurs in numerous works, sometimes in the fore ground, at other times within an unobtrusive comment. Significantly, various images in Colette's work are interrelated by their association with the same themes, and many themes are seen to be mutually con nected as well. We have found that the lyrical works studied are best treated as a group since the symbolic meaning of an image in one work often runs parallel to its sense in other works. In this way one book provides clues to the meaning of another. Colette's writing evinces a keen sensitivity to the air. Designating olfaction as the most highly developed of her senses, she expresses her reaction to numerous odors, ranging from the fragrance 167 168 of perfumes and flowers to the differing scent of blonds and brunettes. She hints at a symbolic significance for the wind, revealing that this phenomenon turns her thoughts toward the past. Animated and personi fied, the wind sometimes appears transformed into a supranatural force which, like other natural phenomena in Colette's work, exerts a myste rious influence over mankind; the winds from the cardinal points thus possess distinctive qualities of being either friendly or hostile. The wind is eternal, Colette would have us know, and, appropriately, she ascribes to wind the color blue with which it shares this attri bute. The author implies primitivistic comparison between air and {mother phenomenon, fire, which seems to appear out of the air and whose movement resembles a blowing breeze. As with her treatment of wind, Colette animates the dancing fire and assigns to it a preternat ural power, occasionally that of a mysterious divinity. The sun, moon, rain and other aspects of nature participate in this pantheistic Influence over human affairs. Many of the images in our study are associated with the theme of the past. Indeed, we have seen that Colette's Proustian orienta tion toward past time Influences both the content and style of her works through evocation of memory by sense impressions. One particu lar aspect of her past, childhood, proves to be linked to most of the Images we have examined. It is during her youth, spent under the tutelage of Sldo, that the author situates the origin of her attrac tion to phenomena of the air, sky and light. Regarding the movement of matter supported by air, Colette 169 testifies to dreaming of oneiric flight and seems to suggest that man kind possesses an Instinctive fascination with flight by analogy with unconscious memories of prenatal floating in amniotlc fluid. In rela tion to both Sldo and Colette, Imagery of flight represents their desire for liberty, a quality which the author associates with her childhood. Imagery of flight Illustrates also the spiritual soaring of the poet, a revealing analogy since Colette lucidly recognizes the poetic quality of her own work, a tendency she long resisted but finally admits. Poetry, she realizes, may exist outside the confines of prosody as a state of mind. Concurrent with images of flight come those of lightness, levity of body as of soul, which Colette also associates with her mother and her brother, Leo. Images relating to the sky include those of vertical ascent; Sido, in particular, metaphorically ascends toward the sky. Images of ascent introduce the theme of longing for an ideal, in this case a desire for the primordial in time. Both the author's mother and child hood are associated with the sky itself in passages of lyricism or playful fantasy. The sky is also connected to the search for an ideal, here expressed in more general terms. Imagery of water offers a multifaceted analogy with air and 8ky by reason of its azure hue and its properties as a fluid. The comparison extends to the similarity between the sea and the sky, sail ing (or swimming) and flying, fish and birds. Still another of the four "elements" designated by Empedocles enters into comparison with air and the sky. Just as the blue sky represents purity to Colette, so the earth seems to signify impurity and may refer to certain of 170 Colette's differences from her exemplary and ethereal mother, of whom she feels unworthy. Blue, the color of the sky, takes on exceptional Importance in Colette's lyrical writing. As her preferred color, it brings her hap piness; significantly, Sldo often appears in blue. "Le bleu c'est mental," the author states; she goes on to explain that this color leaves one neither hungry nor "voluptueux." Blue and white connote purity, an ambiguous theme in Colette's work which apparently signi fies qualities of exclusiveness and continuity. Cerulean hues express an association with the absolute since Colette terms this color "eter nal." On other occasions blue, still supranatural, is the color of the unreal. Red and pink, less Important in Colette's works, appear in connection with dawn, sunset, fire and flowers. She adopts red, a sensual color, for her bedroom, we are told. Certain heavenly bodies hold an important position in Colette's literary world. The evening star, Vesper (as the planet Venus was called) symbolizes in L'Etoile Vesper the author's advanced age and the decline of her literary productivity. The sun plays an ambiguous role, sometimes beneficial, at other times adverse. With the moon, Colette associates the feeling of jealousy or a sense of the unreal. Light provides the most numerous and successful images in our study. As with other images, those of light take on connotations relating to the author's childhood as presented in her work. Sido lives "balayie d'ombre et de lumiSre," and the garden of the maison natale is bathed in light. During the "state of grace" which charac terized Colette's childhood, this garden represented an earthly para- 171 dlse and, as such, becomes one of her most Important themes. The author's nostalgia for this garden of Eden lost through adult unworthi ness may correspond, at least partially, to her longing for an Ideal, In particular, that of a primordial absolute. Light apparently pro vides a symbol of hope for achieving future worthiness and for recover ing her Ideal. The Image of the rising sun— light from the sky— possesses exceptional significance for Colette's work. Love of dawn bestowed upon her childhood a realization of self-worth, and this preference for early rising contributed to her youthful superiority (further evidence of primordial Ideality). Both sunrise and early morning are also closely linked to Sldo: the sun It Is which strengthens her stalwart spirit. Love of dawn constitutes a bond between Sldo and Colette. Dawn, (re)blrth of the sun In mythical thought, symbolizes one of the author's most Important themes, that of psychological rebirth, perhaps also that of birth. She poetically describes Sldo's voice, "made to bring glad tidings of renaissance and of dawn to the world." Spring, nature's season of renewal, lends additional support to the theme of rebirth, as does autumn, which Colette calls "a beginning" and "a second spring." Personal renaissance, symbolized by the Image of dawn and by Sldo's rose cactus, constitutes the primary theme of La Nalssance du lour. Repeatedly turning to Sldo's epistolary wisdom for guidance, the narrator reorders her relationship with men and resumes the simple life, close to nature, which she knew during youth. Once again she will pay, figuratively speaking, her early morning hommage to the way of life exemplified by Sldo and, by Implication, a restauration 172 of self-worth. The association of the major characters in the book with contrasting images of the sun, moon or darkness symbolizes the relationships between these characters. As we have seen, a number of Colette's images and themes appear related to her literary search for a primordial ideal: Images of ascent, flight and dawn and her thematic preference for the early morn ing and for spring (first in the cycle of seasons and symbol of child hood) , her fascination with her own childhood, and her devotion to Sido, originator of her life. Sido is related to all Colette's mani festations of the primordial absolute (with the exception of spring), and in a sense she stands at the culmination of the author's search for her origins and identity. In a preface added to the 1948-1950 edition of her Oeuvres completes, Colette pays tribute to her as the person who, starting with La Malson de Claudine, "asserts herself throughout all the rest of my work." In La Maison de Claudine, Sido and La Nais- sance du lour, in particular, Colette's mother constitutes an inspiring muse in her literary search for self-knowledge. The continual reminiscence on certain idealized aspects of childhood, evoked by various sense impressions indicates a cyclical— more specifically, spiral— rhythm in the author's conception of time. This cyclical time progression is emphasized by the prominent indica tions of the sun's rhythmic movement and that of the seasons. The lat ter frequently correspond to a period in human life, spring evoking bittersweet memories: the happiness of childhood as well as the melan choly of love and its disappointments. Images of lamp-light and of reflected light, while far less 173 Important In Colette's work than those of sunlight, have provided a number of Interesting observations for our study. The light of the oll-lamp evokes the "deepest and most tender memories"; Colette describes Sldo sewing beside a lamp which shines In the darkness like a protective beacon and which symbolizes Sldo's role as a spiritual beacon for Colette. The "fanal bleu" lighting the days and nights of her advanced age represents a guiding light, even a source of both wis dom and fantasy, for the author's last years. Reflected light from substances like water, crystal, precious stones and gold capture Colette's imagination. Transparent or light-reflecting materials such as water, snow and crystal evoke purity. In our study of air, sky and light we have seen that the author attributes to these natural phenomena a mysterious and magical Influ ence over human life, replacing, It would seem, the Divine Providence of God. Indeed, Colette characterizes her outlook as "ingenuous pagan ism tempered with superficial Christian influence. Her literary world shares a surprising number of similarities with that of classical mythology, in particular , the correlation between psychological events and the external world, and the manifestation of the divine through nature and its rhythms. Other mythical tendencies exist In Colette's literary vision: an emotional reaction to natural phenomena; an inter est in the past, from which she singles out and hallows one period; the differentiation of objects as either benevolent or inimical; unity among human, animal and vegetal forms of life; metaphoric transforma tion of one form of life into another. We have seen that the Images treated in our study and many of 174 the themes with which they are associated are consistent with Colette's mythical view of life and, indeed, help to produce this atmosphere in her literary world. The garden of Colette's childhood resembles, despite a few Christian traits, a mythological paradise inhabited by creatures of fantasy and governed by her mother who is apparently described in terms of a priestess or goddess. The qualities of magic and mystery which pervade Colette's work and her attraction to the unknown, the invisible and the unreal reinforces the mythical atmos phere. We have indicated in our analysis that images of the color blue and of darkness opposed to light often represent the unreal and that natural phenomena possess mysterious power. Colette's work evinces, as we have shown, the use of imagery as a stylistic device to emphasize thematic content. Far from the instinctive spontaneity to which her art has often been attributed, our study reveals Colette's literary style, with regard to Imagery, at least, to be the result of a conscious and highly effective technique. We have distilled from her lyrical non-fiction some of the symbolic associations between imagery and theme which poeticize her prose. We have also sought to convey a few aspects of the vision which makes Colette's poetic prose distinctive. I BIBLIOGRAPHY Works by Colette^- 1900 Claudine 5 l'ecole 1901 Claudine 5 Paris 1902 Claudine en menage 1903 Claudine s'en va 1904 Minne Douze dialogues de bStes 1905 Les Egarements de Minne 1907 La Retraite sentimentale 1908 Les Vrllles de la vigne 1909 L Ingenue libertine 1911 La Vagabonde 1913 L Envers du music-hall L'Entrave 1916 La Paix chez les bStes 1917 Les Heures longues, 1914-1917 (collection of articles) 1918 Dan8 la foule 1919 Mitsou ou comment 1'esprit vient aux filles 1920 La Chambre eclairee Cheri 1922 La Maison de Claudine Le Voyage ggolste 1923 Le B16 en herbe 1924 La Femme cach6e (collection of short stories) Aventures quotidiennes * 1925 L'Enfant et les sortileges (fantaisie lyrique; musique de Maurice Ravel) 1926 La Fin de Cheri *The following list presents Colette's major works according to the date of first publication or of a printing which contains extensive revisions. This list excludes ten prefaces, two stage adaptations of her novels, thirteen contributions to collective works, six volumes of correspondence, fifteen texts originally published tinder a separate title and later combined with other works, and numerous articles writ ten for newspapers and magazines, except for collections of articles published in book form. For details on Colette's minor works, on changes of title and on first editions of certain works, see the Introduction. 175 176 1928 La Nalssance du lour 1929 La Seconde Sldo (originally called Sldo ou les quatre points cardinaux) 1932 Prisons et paradis Le Pur et 1 lmpur (originally called Ces plaisirs) 1933 La Chatte 1934 Duo La Jumelle noire (theatre criticism) 1935 La DecapltSe (theatre) 1935-1936 Mes cahiers (originally published in four parts) 1936 Discours de reception & l'Academle Rovale Beige Mes apprentlssages 1937 Bella-Vista (collection of short stories) 1939 Le Toutounier 1940 Chambre d'hotel (collection of short stories) 1941 Journal i rebours Julie de Carneilhan 1942 De ma fenStre 1943 Nudit6 Le Kepi (collection of short stories) 1944 Gigi (collection of short stories and one short novel) Trois, six, neuf 1945 Belles saisons (Part I) 1946 L^toile Vesper 1948 En camarades (theatre) Pour un herbier 1949 Trait pour trait Journal intermittent Le Fanal bleu La Fleur de l'3ge En pays connu A portee de la main 1950 Melanges (collection of short texts and prefaces) 1955 Belles saisons (Part II, added posthumously) 1958 Paysages et portraits (collection of texts written from 1909 to 1953 and published posthumously) 1970 Contes des mille et un matins (collection of articles written from 1911 to 1914; posthumous edition) A Selected List of Critical and Biographical Works^ Alain. [Emile Chartler.] Cahiers de Lorient. Vol. II. Paris: Galllmard, 1964. ^The following works in whole or in part directly treat Colette. Apollinaire, Guillaume. [Wilhelm Apolllnarls de Kostrowitzki.] Con- temporalns pittoresques. Paris: Editions de la Belle Page, 1929. i Arland, Marcel. Essals et nouveaux essais critiques. Paris: Galli- | mard, 1952. w I I _______ . Lettres de France. Paris: Editions Albln Michel, 1951. Auden, Wystan H. "Short Novels of Colette." Perspectives USA, III (1953), 54-61. Aury, Dominique. "Colette." La Nouvelle N.R.F., 2e annee, No. 21 (September 1, 1954), pp. 508-509. _______ . "Colette ou le gynecee." Revue de la N.R.F., lere annee, No. 3 (March, 1953), pp. 505-511. _______ . "Le Masque du bonheur." L'Arche. 2e annee, No. 10 (October, 1945), pp. 168-171. Balaklan, Anna. "A Woman's Moments of Awareness." Saturday Review, May 7, 1966, pp. 89-90. Barney, Natalie Clifford. Aventures de 1'esprit. Paris: Emile-Paule, : 1929. _______ . Souvenirs indiscrets. Paris: Flammarion, 1960. j Barres, Maurice. Mes cahiers. Vols. II, V and VII. Paris: Plon, 1929. Bader, Gerard. Chroniques, 1934-1953. Paris: Galllmard, 1964. _______ . "Visages de Colette." Figaro Lltteralre, August 7, 1954, pp. 1, 4. ; i Beaumont, Germaine. "Colette de l'Academie Goncourt." Les Nouvelles ; Litteraires, No. 926 (May 3, 1945). “ i _______ . "Esqulsse pour un portrait de Colette." Les Nouvelles i Litteraires (August, 1954). _______ . "La Leqon de Colette." La Table Ronde, No. 82 (October, 1954), pp. 126-130. _______ . "Neuilly et l'Etoile." La Table Ronde, No. 38 (February, 1951), pp. 180-184. _______ , and Parinaud, Andre. Colette par elle-meme. Paris: Edi tions du Seuil, 1960. 178 Beaunier, Andre. Au service de la deesse, easal de critique. Paris: Flammarlon, 1923. Benda, Jullen. Belphegor. Paris: Galllmard, 1947. "Blbliographle des oeuvres de Colette." Blbllo. 22e annee, No. 8 (October, 1954), pp. 10-12. Billy, Andre. "Le Brevet de Colette." Figaro Lltteralre, August 10, 1957, p. 2. _______ . "Colette, artiste en prose." Gavroche, May 10, 1945. "Colette de l'Academie Goncourt: une grande figure de la lltterature franjaise." Lltteralr Passport, No. 5 (Amsterdam, September, 1946), pp. 8-9. "Colette, Proust et Madame Arman." Figaro Lltteralre, September 5, 1959, p. 2. . Intimites litteraires. Paris: Flammarion, 1932. La Muse aux besides. Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1924. _______ . "Une Sorte de dandysme feminin." Figaro LittSralre, Janu ary 24, 1953. Biolley-Godlno, Marcella. L'Homne-objet chez Colette. Paris: Edi tions Klincksleck, 1972. Blanchard, P. Colette, son oeuvre. Paris: [n.p.], 1923. Bogan, Louise. Selected Criticism. London: P. Owen, 1958. Boncompaln, Claude. Colette. Lyon: Confluences, 1945. Bonnefoy, Claude. "L'AmSrique decouvre Colette: les ecrlvalns d'aujourd'hui lul donnent-lls sa vrale place?" Arts-Lolslrs. No. 71 (February 1-7, 1967), pp. 12-14. Bourgoyne, Beverly. "La Chatte par Colette: un pas de trois." Pro- ceedings of the Twenty-first Annual Meeting, Pacific North west Conference on Foreign Languages, XXI (1970), 24-26. Bouvier, Emile. Initiations A la littdrature d'aulourd'hui. Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1928. Brasillac, Robert. Portraits. Paris: Plon, 1935. _______ . Les Quatre leudls. Paris: Plon, 1944. 179 i Brophy, Brigld. Don't Never Forget: Collected Views and Reviews. London: Cape, 1966. Bruttin de Preux, Frangolse. "Des animaux dans 1'oeuvre de Colette." | Etudes de Lettrea. Serie II, Vol. V, No. 4 (October-December, ! 1962), pp. 259-274. | Bulletins de la Soclete des Amis de Colette en Pulsaye. I-XIV (Saint- Sauveur-en-Pulsaye, 1966-1974). Burniaux, Constant. "Actualite de Colette." Marglnales. No. 133 (August, 1970), pp. 58-59. C., J. "Colette journali8te." Figaro Lltteralre, March 2-8, 1970, p. 24. Caillet, Gerard. "Sido, Claudine, et Colette." France-Illustratlon. No. 414 (September, 1954), pp. 78-80. Le Capitole, Special Issue devoted to Colette, December, 1924. Carco, Francis. "Rien sans la douleur." Figaro Lltteralre, January 24, 1953. Champigny, Robert. Le Genre romanesque: essai. Monte Carlo: Edi tions Regain, 1963. Champion, Pierre. Marcel Schwob et son temps. Paris: Grasset, 1927. i I Chapelaln, Maurice. "Colette sera-t-elle aussi la Sevigne du vingtidmej siecle?" Figaro Lltteralre. July 27, 1957, p. 4. ; Charasson, Henrlette. Vingt-cinq ana de llttdrature francaise. Vol. II. Paris: Llbrairles de France, 1926. I Chaumeix, Andre. "Colette." Revue des Deux Mondes, June 1, 1928. I ChauviSre, Claude. Colette. Paris: Firmin-Didot et Compagnle, 1931. Claudel, Paul. Positions et propositions. Paris: Galllmard, 1929. Cocteau, Jean. "Colette." Figaro LittSraire, October 8, 1955, pp. 1, 5, 6. _______ . Colette: dlscours de reception A l'Academie Royale de Langue et de Litterature Francalses de Belgique. Paris: Grasset, 1955. "Colette parle." Biblio, No. 8 (October, 1954), pp. 7-8. ! 180 ' l Cocteau, Jean. Entretiens avec Andre Fraigneau. Paris: Union Gene- rale d'Editions, 1965. _______ . My Contemporaries. Edited by Margaret Crosland. New York: j Chilton Book Co., 1968. j Cogniot, Georges and Maublanc, Rene. "Ecrivains de toujours." La j Pensee, Nouvelle serle, No. 44 (September-October, 1952), pp. 135-142. Colplet, R. Demeures inspirees et sites romanesques. Vol. III. [n.p.T: Editions de 1 'Illustration, 1956. "Colette." Special issue. Point, No. 39 (Souillac, May, 1951). Croce, Elena Craveri. "Colette." Arethusa, No. 4 (1944), pp. 69-75. Crosland, Margaret. Colette, a Provincial in Paris. London: Peter Owen Limited, 1953. _______ . Colette: the Difficulty of Loving. London: Peter Owen Limited, 1973. Davies, Margaret. Colette. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1961. Delaunay, Claude, "Le Fanal bleu." Revue de la Mediterranee, VIII, No. 3 (May-June, 1950), pp. 344-348. i Del Castillo, Michel. "Un Devot lltteralre." Arts-Loisirs, No. 72 (February 8-14, 1967), p. 45. j Desonay, Fernand. Clartes sur le roman francais d'aujourd'hui. Paris: Casterman, 1943. _______ . "Notice sur Colette (1873-1954)." Annuaire de l'Academie Royale de Langue et de Litterature Francaises (Brussels, 1968)4 pp. 111-207. _______ . "Quelques themes d'inspiration chez Colette." Bulletin de ! l'Academie Royale de Langue et de Litterature Francaises, 1 XXXII, No. 3 (October, 1954), pp. 125-140. ! DorgSles, Roland. "Adieu d Colette." Figaro Lltteralre, August 14, 1954, p. 3. ; Duclaux, Agnes Mary Frances. Twentieth Century French Writers: 1 Reviews and Reminiscences. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Librar ies, 1966. ! Duhamel, Georges. "Le Souvenir de Colette." Mercure de France, i (October, 1954), pp. 289-291. Duhamel, Roger. "La Femme dans les lettres francaises." Part II: "Du XVIIIe siecle 1 nos jours." Le Canada Francais, XXIX (1941-42), 224-235. Dumay, Raymond. "Paradoxes de Colette." Preuves. No. 43 (September, i 1954), pp. 77-79. Escholler, R. "Le Drame secret de Sldo: du nouveau sur 1'adolescence de Colette." Figaro Lltteralre, November 17-24, 1956, pp. 1, 9. Ethler-Blais, Jean. Signets I. Montreal: Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1967. Fargue, Leon-Paul. Portraits de fam-nip. Paris: J.-B. Janln, 1947. Fernandez, Ramon. "Colette." Nouvelle Revue Francaise, No. 337 (March 1, 1942), pp. 348-353. Figaro Lltteralre, Special issue devoted to Colette, January 24, 1953. Fillon, Amelie. Colette. Paris: Editions de la Caravelle, 1933. Fischler, Alexander. "Unity in Colette's Le Ble en herbe." Modern Language Quarterly. XXX, No. 2 (June, 1969), pp. 248-264. Forestier, Louis. Chemins vers la 'Maison de Claudine' et 'Sido1: notes pour une etude. Paris: Societe d'Edition d'Enseigne- ment Superieur, 1968. Franc-Nohaln. Le Cabinet de lecture. Paris: La Renaissance du LivreJ 1922. Freustle, Jean. "Lectures d'un edope." Le Nouvel Observateur, No. 300 (August 10-16, 1970), pp. 30-31. Fuglsang, Irene Frisch. "Le Style de Colette." Orbis Litterarum. Part I: "Les Sensations et leur signification poetique.*1 Ill j (Copenhagen, 1945), 1-28; Part II: "Les Images pogtlques." j III (1945), 261-281; Part III: "Le Choix des mots et l'art dei les placer dans la phrase." IV (1946), 95-133; Part IV: "Lesj Effets d'harmonie." IV (1946), 229-252. Gandon, Yves. "Cheri." France-Illustratlon. No. 214 (November 19, 1949), pp. 567-568. : _______ . Le Demon du style. Paris: Plon, 1938. i Gavoty, Bernard. "Les Femmes ont-elles du genie?" Les Annales. Revue Mensuelle des Lettres Francaises, 76e annee, No. 219 (January, 1969), pp. 41-54. Genette, Gerard. "Structuralism and Literary Criticism." Translated by David MacDuff. Form, No. 10 (October, 1969), pp. 4-11. Gennarl, Genvieve. "Conment les romancleres volent les homines." La Revue: Litterature. Hlstolre, Arts et Sciences des Deux Mondes, No. 12 (June 15, 1959), pp. 655-671. Glde, Andre. "Hommage A Colette." Point, No. 39 (Soulllac, May, 1951). _. Journal. Paris: Editions de la Nouvelle Revue Frangalse, 1929. _______ . "Lettre A Colette du 11 decembre 1920." Figaro Lltteralre (January 24, 1953). _______ . Nouveaux portraits. Paris: Mercure de France, 1911. Goudeket, Maurice. "Colette A Renee Hamon: presentation de Maurice Goudeket." Figaro Lltteralre, No. 875 (January 26, 1963), pp. 13, 20. _______ . "Colette et l'art d'ecrlre." Extralts des annales de la Faculte des Lettres et des Sciences Humalnes d'Alx, XXXIII (1959). _______ . "Colette, ses chats, et Salnt-Tropez." Figaro Lltteralre, No. 996 (May 20-26, 1965), pp. 11, 18. _______ . La Douceur de vlellllr. Paris: Flammarion, 1965. _______ . "Orages et joies de la vie de Colette: lettres lntlmes du temps de la Vagabonde presentees par Maurice Goudeket." Figaro I Lltteralre, No. 784 (April 29, 1961), pp. 1, 11. _______ . Pres de Colette. Paris: Flammarion, 1956. _______ . "Sur Sldo et Colette." Figaro Lltteralre (December 15 and j 22, 1956), p. 7 _______ . "Trente ans prAs de Colette." Le Figaro LittAralre (May 19,j 1956), pp. 1, 5-7. I Gourmont, Remy de. Promenades litteraires. Serle IV. Paris: Mercure de France, 1912. Hatzfeld, Helmut. Trends and Styles in Twentieth Century French Liter ature. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 1966. Henriot, Emile. Maitres d'hier et contemporains. Vol. II: Courrler litteraireT XIX^-XXe slecles. Paris: ALbin Michel, 1956. Heriat, Philippe. "Colette et ses secrets." Figaro Lltteralre (March 11-17, 1965), p. 65. _______ . "Colette, la femme cachee." La Revue de Paris, 61e annee (September, 1954), pp. 9-15. Herisson, Charles. "A propos de Glgl: litterature et sociologle." French Review, XXXV, No. 1 (October, 1961), pp. 42-49. Houssa, Nicole. "Analyse d'un extralt du Fanal bleu de Colette." Revue des Langues Vlvantes, XXVI, No. 1 (1960), pp. 4-12. _______ . "Balzac et Colette." Revue d'Histoire Lltteralre de la France, LX (January-March, 1960), pp. 18-46. _______ . "Citations, references et allusions litteraires chez Colette." Marche Romana, VIII, No. 1 (Liege, January-July, 1958), pp. 23-51. _______ . Le Souci de 1*expression chez Colette. Brussels: L'Acade mie Royale de Langue et de Litterature Frangaises de Belgique, 1958. Jeune, Simon. "A propos de La Maison de Claudine." L1Information Lltteralre, 20e annee, No. 2 (March-April, 1968), pp. 84-85. Joubert, Andre. Colette et Cheri. Paris: Editions A.-G. Nizet, 1972 Jouhandeau, Marcel. Carnets de l'ecrivain. Paris: Editions de la Nouvelle Revue Fran$alse, 1957. Jourlait, Daniel. "Colette: La Maison de Claudine. Introduction & une lecture." Le Franqais dans le Monde, No. 68 (October- November, 1969), pp. 19-26. Keller, Fernand and Lautler, Andre. Colette, son oeuvre. Paris: Nou velle Revue Critique, 1923. Kemp, Robert. La Vie des livres. Vol. II. Paris: Editions Albin Michel, 1962. Ketchum, Anne A. Colette ou la naissance du lour: etude d'un malen- tendu. Paris: Lettres Modernes, 1968. Kfiberle, Martin. Moderne Tendenzen in Colette's Sprache. Munich: Hohenhaus, 1930. Labrosse, Rita. "Le ThSme de l'enfance dans 1'oeuvre de Colette." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Nice, 1968. Lacher, Walter. Le Realisme dans le roman contemporaln. Geneva: Imprlmerie Centrale, 1940. Lalou, Rene. "Chdre et grande Colette.” Homines et Mondes. No. 98 (September, 1954), pp. 161-166. _______ . Hlstolre de la litterature francalse contemporaine. Paris: G. Cres, 1928. _______ . "Qui etait Colette?" A la Page. August, 1964. Laporte, Rene. "II n'y a plus de Cheri." Gazette des Lettres, 5e annee, No. 100 (October 29, 1949). Larnac, Jean. Colette: sa vie, son oeuvre. Paris: Simon Kra, 1928. _______ . Histoire de la litterature feminine en France. Paris: Simon Kra, 1929. Le Hardouin, Maria. Colette. Paris: Editions Universitalres, 1956. _______ . "Image8 de Colette." La Revue: Litterature. Histoire, Arts et Sciences des Deux Mondes, No. 2 (January 15, 1956), pp. 328-341. Leroy, Paul. Femmes d'aujourd'hui: Colette, Lucie Delarue-Mardrus. Rouen: Maugard, 1936. Lesser, Simon 0. "The Wages of Adjustment: Cheri and The Last of Cheri." Minnesota Review. IV, No. 2 (Winter, 1964), pp. 212- 225. Les Lettres Francaises. Special issue devoted to Colette, No. 529 (August 12-19, 1954), pp. 1-6. Le Trung, Nhien. "Le Sentiment de la solitude chez Colette." Unpub- i lished Ph.D. dissertation, Paris, 1964. Marcel, Gabriel. "Duo." Europe Nouvelle, (January 12, 1935). Marsan, Eugene. Signes de notre temps. Paris: Librairie de France, 1930. I Martin du Gard, Maurice. "Colette academiclenne." Revue des Deux ! Mondes (June 1-15, 1968), pp. 334-337. | _______ . "Colette & l'Academie Beige de Langue et de Litterature Francaises." Ecrits de Paris (March, 1964), pp. 102-105. _______ . Impertinences. Paris: C. Bloch, 1924. j Martin du Gard, Maurice. Les Memorablea. Vol. I. Paris: Flammarion 1957. Martinez, Zelie. "Un Aspect de la vocation de Colette: recherche de sol 1 travers la creation lltteralre." Unpublished thesis (D.E.S.), Alx, 1961. Maulnier, Thierry. "Feuilleton lltteralre: L'Etoile Vesper." Hommes et Mondes. No. 16 (November, 1947), pp. 480-485. _______ . Introduction d Colette. Paris: La Palme, 1954. Mauriac, Frangois. "Colette." Cahiers d*Occident, (May 1, 1925). _______ . Le Nouveau bloc-notes. 1958-1960. Paris: Flammarion, 1961. _______ . "Le Roman d'aujourd'hui." Revue Hebdomadaire, February 19, 1927. _______ . "Votre quatrldme jeunesse chere Colette: hommage i Madame Colette pour ses quatre-vingts ans." Figaro Lltteralre (January 24, 1953). Mazars, Pierre. "Colette ou la fralcheur." Revue de la Pensee Fran- caise, 13e annee (October, 1954), pp. 5-9. "The Mind and the Heart." The Times Literary Supplement. No. 2,584 (August 10, 1951), p. 497. Mondor, Henri. "Hommage & Colette." Figaro Lltteralre (January 24, 1953). Mondrone, S. I., D. "Da Colette a Sagan." La Civlltd Cattolica, IV (October, 1954), 436-444. Monnler, Adrienne. Les Gazettes, 1925-1945. Paris: Julliard, 1953. Montherlant, Henry de. Carnets: 1930-1944. Paris: Editions de la Nouvelle Revue Frangaise, 1957. _______ . "En relisant Colette." Arts, No. 347 (February 22, 1952), p. 1 . Mora, Edith. "Trois lettres Inedltes de Colette vagabonde." Les Nou- velles Litteraires. No. 1,763 (June 15, 1961), p. 1. Mudrlck, Marvin. "Colette and Minne," Spectrum. VI, No. 3 (Winter- Spring, 1963), pp. 136-150. 186 j Mudrlck, Marvin. "Colette and Strether." Hudson Review, XV, No. 1 (Spring, 1962), pp. 110-113. _______ . "Colette, Claudine and Willy." Hudson Review. XVI, No. 4 (Winter, 1963-1964), pp. 559-572. Noallles, Anna de. Le Livre de ma vie. Paris: Hachette, 1932. O'Brien, Justin. The French Literary Horizon. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1967. Olken, Ilene Tova. "Aspects of Imagery In Colette: Color and Light." Publications of the Modern Language Association, LXXVII (1962), 140-148. _______ . "Colette: Aspects of Imagery." Unpublished Ph.D. disser tation, University of Michigan, 1960. _______ . "imagery In Cheri and La Fin de Cheri." French Studies, XVI (1962), 245-262. _______ . "imagery In Cheri and La Fin de Cheri: Sound and Touch." Studies In Philology. LX (January, 1963), 96-115. Parlnaud, Andre. "Colette: ma vie est une belle aventure." Arts, , No. 369 (July 24-30, 1952), pp. 1-12. Pavlovic, Mihailo B. Sldonie-Gabrielle Colette: le monde animal dans sa vie et dans sa creation lltteralre. Belgrade: Faculte de Philologle de l’Unlverslte de Belgrade, 1970. I Peyre, Henri. "Contemporary Feminine Literature In France." Yale i French Studies, No. 27 (1961), 47-65. j Phelps, Robert, ed. Autoblographle tlree des oeuvres de Colette. Paris: Le Club Fran§als du Livre, 1968. ! _______ . "Genius of Colette, an Appreciation." The New Republic (September 6, 1954), pp. 16-17. I Polrot-Delpech, B. "Cheri, d'aprSs Colette." Le Monde, March 25, 1969, p. 19. I Poulet, Robert. Partis prls: essals. Paris: Les Ecrlts, 1943. J I Pourrat, Henri. "Le Ble en herbe." Revue de la N.R.F. (September, j 1923). Prevost, Jean, ed. ProblSmes du roman. Brussels: Le Carrefour, 1943. 187 Proust, Marcel. Chronlques. Paris: Galllmard, 1927. , _______ . Correspondence. Vol. I: 1880-1895. Paris: Plon, 1970. i _______ . "Lettre I Colette." Figaro Lltteralre (January 24, 1953). j Queneau, Raymond. "Sagesse authentlquement feminine." Figaro Litte- ralre (January 24, 1953). Qulllot, Claire. "Colette, La Chatte et le metier d'ecrivain." Revue des Sciences Humaines, XXXIII (January-March, 1968), 59-77. Raaphorst-Rousseau, Madeleine. Colette, sa vie et son art. Paris: A.-G. Nizet, 1964. Rachllde. [Marguerite Valette.] Quand j'etais jeune. Paris: Mercure de France, 1947. Reboux, Paul. Colette, ou le genie du style. Paris: V. Rasmussen, 1925. Resch, Yannick. Corps feminin, corps textuel: essai sur le person- nage feminin dans 1'oeuvre de Colette.Paris: Editions Klincksieck, 1973. Rlcatte, Robert. "Aperqu bibllographlque commente." L*Information Lltteralre, No. 4 (September-October, 1967), pp. 181-182. Rousseau, Andre. Ames et visages du XX6 siecle. Paris: B. Grasset, | 1946. ! I _______ . "Colette aux derniers rlvages." Figaro Lltteralre, (Decern- | ber 13, 1958), p. 2. _______ . "Julie de Carnellhan." Figaro, January 17, 1942. _______ . Litterature du XX6 siecle. Vol. II. Paris: Albin Michel, j 1948. _______ . Portraits litteraires choisis. Geneva: Skira, 1947. Roy, Claude. "De Claudine 1 Colette." Lettres Francaises, No. 194 (1948). _______ . "Descriptions critiques: Colette." Poesie 47. 8e annee, No. 40 (August-September, 1947), pp. 76-85. j Roy, Jean. "De Colette Willy 3 Madame Colette." Les Temps Modernes. 6e annee, No. 57 (July, 1950), pp. 155-160. Senhouse, Roger. "On Translating Colette." Time and Tide, XXXV, No. 42 (October 16, 1954), pp. 1,380-1,382. "Sido et Colette." Figaro Lltteralre (December 22, 1956), p. 4. I Stansbury, Milton Hammond. French Novelists of Today. Port Washing ton, N.Y.: Kennekat Press, 1966. Stirling, Monica. "Colette, an Atlantic Portrait." Atlantic Monthly, July, 1946, pp. 92-95. "Subjectivity Was Her Art." London Times Literary Supplement, January 26, 1962, p. 52. Therive, Andre. Galerie de ce temps. Paris: La Nouvelle Critique, 1931. Thetard, Henry. "Colette et les fauves." Revue: Litterature, His toire, Arts et Sciences des Deux Mondes, No. 17 (September 1, 1954), pp. 76-81. Thiebaut, Marcel. "De Claudine a Colette." La Revue de Paris. 64e annee, No. 8 (August, 1957), pp. 95-110. Thoorens, Leon. "Grandeur et misere de Colette." Revue Generale Beige. 90e annee, No. 9 (September 15, 1954), pp. 1,917-1,924. Tidwell, Julia Brumbeloe. "Imagery in the Works of Colette." Unpub lished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Alabama, 1969. Tortel, Jean. "Colette." Cahiers du Sud, 41e annee, XXIX, No. 325 (October, 1954), pp. 437-439. Trahard, Pierre. L'Art de Colette. Paris: Jean Renard, 1941. Treich, Leon. Almanach des lettres francaises et etrangdres. Vol. I. Paris: G. Cres, 1924. True, Gonzague. Madame Colette. Paris: CorrSa, 1941. Valli, Enzi. "Colette, Gigl." Idea. VI (November, 1954), 4. Vassou, Athena. "Colette et l'envers du spectacle." Annales de l'Universite de Paris. 35e annee, No. 1 (January-March, 1965), j pp. 86-88. j Venaissln, Gabriel. "Colette toute bleue." Critique, No. 61 (June, j 1952), pp. 491-497. j i Voigt, Waltraut. Colette: Leben und Werk. Jena: [n.p.], 1935. i ......................... ..J 189 j West, Paul. The Modern Novel. London: Hutchinson, 1963. Willy. [Henry Gauthler-Villars.] Indiscretions et commentalres sur les Claudine. Paris: Pro Amlcis, 1962. j _______ . "Une Preface oubliee pour Claudine & l'ecole." Oeuvres ; Llbres. No. 387 (October, 1959), pp. 278-280. _______ . Souvenirs litteraires et autres. Paris: Editions Mon taigne, 1925. _______ . "Quelques details sur la collaboration Colette-Willy." Nouvelles Litteraires. (April 3, 1926). Wiraith, Marcel. Silhouettes. Paris: Editions Self, 1949. Wordsworth, Christopher. "Types of Ambiguities." The Guardian, May 10, 1968, p. 9. WQrmser, Andre. "Le Respect fanatique de la vie." Lettres Francaises, August 12, 1954.

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Core Title The Poetic Imagination Of Colette

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Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Goodrich, Norma Lorre (committee chair), Buchanan, Michelle (committee member), Durbin, James H., Jr. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-743576

Unique identifier UC11356701

Identifier 7501084.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-743576 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 7501084.pdf

Dmrecord 743576

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Virk, Rosemary Smith

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA