Who are the violets now
That strew the green lap of the new-come spring?

Who are the violets now
That strew the green lap of the new-come spring?

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),

The violets were past their prime,
Yet their departing breath
Was sweeter, in the blast of death,
read more

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.

The violets thinks, with her timid blue eye,
To pass for a blossom enchantingly shy.

The violets thinks, with her timid blue eye,
To pass for a blossom enchantingly shy.

Hath the pearl less whiteness
Because of its birth?
Hath the violet less brightness
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Hath the pearl less whiteness
Because of its birth?
Hath the violet less brightness
For growing near earth?

Stars will blossom in the darkness,
Violets bloom beneath the snow.

Stars will blossom in the darkness,
Violets bloom beneath the snow.

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.

A blossom of returning light,
An April flower of sun and dew;
The earth and sky, the read more

A blossom of returning light,
An April flower of sun and dew;
The earth and sky, the day and night
Are melted in her depth of blue!

A vi'let on the meadow grew,
That no one saw, that no one knew,
It was a read more

A vi'let on the meadow grew,
That no one saw, that no one knew,
It was a modest flower.
A shepherdess pass'd by that way--
Light footed, pretty and so gay;
That way she came,
Softly warbling forth her lay.