I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light, where the hours are suns,
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the Spirit, clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the Spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.
What is precious, is never to forget
The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
Nor its grave evening demand for love.
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
Spender states the it is of great value to hold the truly great -and their impact on the world- in our memories. In describing the truly great as “the blood drawn from ageless springs”, Spender implies that God bestowed them with greatness using his divine power, represented by “ageless springs”; God’s power is ageless, and the “blood” of the great is drawn from His power. The “rocks in worlds before our earth” through which the “ageless springs” break symbolize Heaven, where the power of God existed long before humans did. “The essential delight” refers to the necessity for great people on earth, and that it is our pleasure to have them exist among us. To paraphrase the lines: It is crucial to never forget the significance of the truly great, created by God himself.