Note 220 — BOOK XI.

Red drops of blood. “This phenomenon, if a mere fruit of the poet’s imagination, might seem arbitrary or far-fetched. It is one, however, of ascertained reality, and of no uncommon occurrence in the climate of Greece.”—Mure, i p. 493. Cf. Tasso, Gier. Lib. ix. 15: “La terra in vece del notturno gelo Bagnan rugiade tepide, e sanguigne.”