Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart.—Gray’s Bard.
Gray himself points out the imitation in Shakspeare:—
You are my true and honorable wife;
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.—Julius Cæsar, Act II. Sc. 1.
Otway also makes Priuli exclaim to his daughter,—
Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life,
Dear as these eyes that weep in fondness o’er thee.—Venice Preserved.
And leave us leisure to be good.—Gray: Ode to Adversity.