It's a warning to someone who is a bit of a "bright spark". Someone who's a little too full of clever answers and opinions. He's telling them that their transcendence is very much a temporary thing, that they're going to be burnt out by life's long struggle just like everyone else. Fire is often linked with bright life and energy, but here the comparison is to a discarded cigarette cast onto the road; a tiny, doomed flame in a big, dark world.
It's a warning to someone who is a bit of a "bright spark". Someone who's a little too full of clever answers and opinions. He's telling them that their transcendence is very much a temporary thing, that they're going to be burnt out by life's long struggle just like everyone else. Fire is often linked with bright life and energy, but here the comparison is to a discarded cigarette cast onto the road; a tiny, doomed flame in a big, dark world.