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.

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.

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?

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?

The violets prattle and titter,
And gaze on the stars high above.

The violets prattle and titter,
And gaze on the stars high above.

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.

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 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 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.