A ruddy drop of manly blood

The surging sea outweighs;

The world uncertain comes and goes,

The lover rooted stays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Essays. First Series. Epigraph to Friendship.

You are my true and honourable wife,

As dear to me as are the ruddy drops

That visit my sad heart.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Julius Caesar. Act ii. Sc. 1.

Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes;

Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): The Bard. I. 3, Line 12.