Kneeling in the Autumn Garden

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I have to take issue with the statement that a fireplace only has a smell if it has been cooked in. There is a big difference between the smell of heated metal and stone mixed with the smell of burning wood and the smell of cold ash with bits of dead coals in it.  So for me the line is sound literally and metaphorically. Sorry, I just couldn't let that one pass.

I don't think a cold hearth (that means unused) has a smell, unless the narrator stick his nose to it.