Wasted
That
cold
winter
evening
The
fire
would
not
draw,
And
the
whole
family
hung
Over
the
dismal
grate
Where
rain-soaked
logs
Bubbled,
hissed
and
steamed.
Then,
when
the
others
had
gone
Up
to
their
chilly
beds,
And
I
was
ready
to
go,
The
wood
began
to
flame
In
clear
rose
and
violet,
Heating
the
small
hearth.
Why
should
that
memory
cling
Now
the
children
are
all
grown
up,
And
the
house
-
a
different
house
-
Is
warm
at
any
season?
Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis, (born April 16, 1922, London, England—died October 22, 1995, London), novelist, poet, critic, and teacher who created in his first novel, Lucky Jim, a comic figure that became a household word in Great Britain in the 1950s. Amis was educated at the City of London School and at St. John’s College, Oxford (B.A., 1949). His education was interrupted during World War II by his service as a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals. From 1949 to 1961 he taught at universities in Wales, England, and the United States.