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.

Early violets blue and white
Dying for their love of light.

Early violets blue and white
Dying for their love of light.

Cold blows the wind against the hill,
And cold upon the plain;
I sit me by the read more

Cold blows the wind against the hill,
And cold upon the plain;
I sit me by the bank, until
The violets come again.

Surely as cometh the Winter, I know
There are Spring violets under the snow.

Surely as cometh the Winter, I know
There are Spring violets under the snow.

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 eyes of spring, so azure,
Are peeping from the ground;
They are the darling violets,
read more

The eyes of spring, so azure,
Are peeping from the ground;
They are the darling violets,
That I in nosegays bound.

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 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.

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.