_The various references to the art and ideas of the poet Trirodov
and to the poet's tardy recognition are certain to be recognized as
autobiographical._

_I must add that in the original this first of "Created Legend"
novels is called "Drops of Blood," a phrase which recurs several times
in the course of the narrative in connexion with the problem of
cruelty in life._

JOHN COURNOS

_February_ 1916




CHAPTER I


I take a piece of life, coarse and poor, and create from it a
delightful legend--because I am a poet. Whether it linger in the
darkness; whether it be dim, commonplace, or raging with a furious
fire--life is before you; I, a poet, will erect the legend I have
created about the enchanting and the beautiful.

Chance caught in the entangling net of circumstance brings about every
beginning. Yet it is better to begin with what is splendid in earthly
experience, or at any rate with what is beautiful and pleasing.
Splendid are the body, the youth, and the gaiety in man; splendid are
the water, the light, and the summer in nature.