adj.
Its a
color, I suppose. A subtle shade of
red, somewhere striking off toward orange, but fierce and terrible and bright.
It isn't one of your everyday colors.
Vermilion is an
angel among colors. There is a light, and a purpose, to vermilion.
I don't believe there is a
crayon for vermilion, at least there shouldn't be. After all, it is just wax, isnt it?
And
blood is not vermilion. Blood is red. The sudden blood of a violently murdered child might be vermilion upon the ground, but only in early morning
starlight.
Silk is rarely vermilion. Most red silk is simply red. The silk of a legendary
geisha's kimono, hand embroidered with a thousand tiny gold
chrysanthemums has been correctly described as vermilion, I believe.
Fire comes in many shades of red, but rarely do you see vermilion fire. An
osprey or a
kestrel might see on the distant horizon see a brilliant spark as an ancient city burns to embers through the night. But how would we know if it were vermilion, for sure, or even what such a bird might see on such a night?
Vermilion is the color of my dreams.
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Editor's note. Originally posted by
Sky on 2000-06-06. It reached rep 5. Accidentally deleted by reparenting bug. This is an experiment in restoring it to the original owner, who has not been on E2 for a year.
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