One can enjoy a wood fire worthily only when he warms his thoughts by it as well as his hands and feet.

Shepard suggests that the fullest pleasure in a simple comfort—a wood fire—requires more than physical warmth. To “enjoy…worthily” is to let the fire become an occasion for inward life: reflection, imagination, conversation, or a deepened awareness of one’s surroundings. The line contrasts mere consumption of comfort (warming “hands and feet”) with a more mindful, humane engagement that also warms “thoughts.” Implicitly, it praises contemplative leisure and the civilizing role of domestic rituals, where sensory experience can prompt intellectual and emotional renewal rather than distraction or passivity.