The violets were past their prime,
Yet their departing breath
Was sweeter, in the blast of death,
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The violets were past their prime,
Yet their departing breath
Was sweeter, in the blast of death,
Than all the lavish fragrance of the time.

We are violets blue,
For our sweetness found
Careless in the mossy shades,
Looking read more

We are violets blue,
For our sweetness found
Careless in the mossy shades,
Looking on the ground.
Love's dropp'd eyelids and a kiss,--
Such our breath and blueness is.
- Leigh Hunt (James Henry Leigh Hunt),

And shade the violets,
That they may bind the moss in leafy nets.

And shade the violets,
That they may bind the moss in leafy nets.

The violet is a nun.

The violet is a nun.

The violets whisper from the shade
Which their own leaves have made:
Men scent our fragrance on read more

The violets whisper from the shade
Which their own leaves have made:
Men scent our fragrance on the air,
Yet take no heed
Of humble lessons we would read.

Violet! sweet violet!
Thine eyes are full of tears;
Are they wet
Even yet
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Violet! sweet violet!
Thine eyes are full of tears;
Are they wet
Even yet
With the thought of other years?

Welcome, maids of honor,
You doe bring
In the spring,
And wait upon her.

Welcome, maids of honor,
You doe bring
In the spring,
And wait upon her.

It had a dying fall;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes read more

It had a dying fall;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor.

And the violet lay dead while the odour flew
On the wings of the wind o'er the waters blue.

And the violet lay dead while the odour flew
On the wings of the wind o'er the waters blue.