How did the term 'an old flame' originate?

Question

I wonder if there are equivalents literally in other languages. Examples, please. Thanks.

Answer 1

Because an "old flame" can rekindle!! Carefull don't underestimate fire!! Burn me once shame on you burn me twice shame on me!! Check this out--Kalish says her research has shown that a vivid dream about an old flame is the most common trigger of the urge for a reunion. Her subjects often interpret such dreams as a sign that they should contact their first love, but Kalish says such dreams speak to the power of those memories.

"These are good people mostly,'' she says of those who looked up past loves and wound up pursuing a renewed relationship. "They aren't looking for trouble. It seems safe. Very few people expected a romance.''

But often, that's exactly what happened. Old flames meet, they reconnect instantly and powerfully, and before long the situation has run away from them.

Old flames rekindling is nothing new, of course. But the typical story used to be of high school sweethearts, perhaps widowed or divorced, finding each other after decades apart.

That was before the Internet. In those days, Kalish says, tracking down a lost love was hard work, requiring hours on the telephone calling old friends, friends of friends, relatives. The digital revolution changed all that. What used to take days can be done in minutes, and anonymously.

Between 1993 and 1997, Kalish says, about 30 percent of those who reached out to an old flame were married.

Answer 2

An old flame is a long ago love that burned bright.

Answer 3

A wild guess out of the blue...from 'torch music' maybe??