Thoughts After Lighting A Fire Poem by Jan Struther

When to this fire I held a taper,
First flared the impressionable paper;
I watched the paper, as I stood,
Kindle the more enduring wood;
And from the wood a vanguard stole
To set alight the steadfast coal.
So, when I love, the first afire
Is body with its quick desire;
Then in a little while I find
The flame has crept into my mind-
Till steadily, sweetly burns the whole
Bright conflagration of my soul.