Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume II. Love. 1904. | | | | VIII. Wedded Love | | The Fire of Love | | Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset (1638–1706) |
| | From the “Examen Miscellaneum,” 1708 |
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THE FIRE of love in youthful blood, | |
| Like what is kindled in brushwood, | |
| But for a moment burns; | |
| Yet in that moment makes a mighty noise; | |
| It crackles, and to vapor turns, | 5 |
| And soon itself destroys. | |
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| But when crept into agèd veins | |
| It slowly burns, and then long remains, | |
| And with a silent heat, | |
| Like fire in logs, it glows and warms ’em long, | 10 |
| And though the name be not so great, | |
| Yet is the heat as strong. | | | |
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