Part 4 (1/2)

Earth folds dark blankets round the violet blue.

--AUSTIN DOBSON.

Her mild eyes were innocent of ill As violets in sheltered nooks enshrined.

--CARRYL.

O violets, who never fret, nor say, ”I won't!” ”I will!”

Who only live to do your best His wishes to fulfil, Teach us your sweet obedience.

--CELIA THAXTER.

When beechen buds begin to swell, And woods the bluebird's warble know, The yellow violet's modest bell Peeps from the last year's leaves below.

--WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

I hold thy violets against my face And deeply breathe the haunting purple scent That fills my weary heart with sweet content And lays upon my soul a chrismal grace; The air around me for a little s.p.a.ce Is heavy with the fragrance they have lent, And every pa.s.sing wind that heavenward went Has held thy blossoms in a close embrace.

--MYRTLE REED.

'Twas when the spring was coming, when the snow Had melted, and fresh winds began to blow, And girls were selling violets in the town.

--ROBERT BUCHANAN.

My house is small and low; But with pictures such as these,-- Of the sunset, and the row Of illuminated trees, And the heifer as she drinks From the field of meadowed ground, With the violets and the pinks For a border all around,-- Let me never, foolish, pray For a vision wider spread, But, contented, only say, Give me, Lord, my daily bread.

--ALICE CARY.

How can our fancies help but go Out from this realm of mist and rain, Out from this realm of sleet and snow, When the first southern violets blow?

--THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH.

But one short week ago the trees were bare, And winds were keen, and violets pinched with frost; Today the spring is in the air.

--JOHN TODHUNTER.

Are there violets in the sod, Crocuses beneath the clod?

When will Boreas give us peace?

Or has Winter signed a lease For another month of frost, Leaving Spring to pay the cost?

For it seems he still is king, Though 'tis spring.

--CHRISTOPHER PEa.r.s.e CRANCH.

See, the violets call from out the gra.s.ses, Look, the purple answers from the ground; Azure melts and to that warbler pa.s.ses, Sudden, a sky-fleck on the fences found!

--CHARLES DE KAY.

I know that thou art the word of my G.o.d, dear violet.