'One drop of ruddy human blood puts more life into the veins of a poem than all the delusive 'aurum potabile' that can be distilled out of the choicest library.' -- LOWELL. AH, yes, that 'drop of human blood!' -- We had it once, may be, When our young song's impetuous flood First poured its ecstasy; But now the shrunk poetic vein Yields not that priceless drop again. We toil, -- as toiled we not of old; Our patient hands distil The shining spheres of chemic gold With hard-won, fruitless skill; But that red drop still seems to be Beyond our utmost alchemy. Perchance, but most in later age Time's after-gift, a tear, Will strike a pathos on the page Beyond all art sincere; But that 'one drop of human blood' Has gone with life's first leaf and bud. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR LOVE'S SAKE, KISS ME ONCE AGAIN! by BEN JONSON FAREWELL TO CYNTHIA by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS TO THE RAILROAD MEN by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE YOUTH OF MAN by MATTHEW ARNOLD AN OLD TOMB OPENED by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON SUNRISE by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |