IV 



The Violet 



MILTON in his " Lycidas " speaks 

 of the " glowing violet." What 

 does he mean ? Partly, no doubt, 

 he would contrast the colder, 

 bluer tints of the Dog Violet with the 

 purple of the scented kind, a purple which 

 catches the eye in a dim uncertain way, 

 known to all Violet seekers, when the 

 flower lies half-hidden amongst herbage, 

 so that we doubt whether we have really 

 discovered one or no. This is Shake- 

 speare's "violets dim." But that is not 

 all. We find that a perfectly scentless 

 flower impresses us as cold. If the Rose 

 or White Jessamine were scentless, it 

 would seem cold like the Camellia or 

 Blue Gentian of the Alps. As it is, we 

 think them warm. This feeling, of course, 

 may be modified by other circumstances, 

 a smooth, glossy plant seeming colder than 

 a hairy or woolly one ; but the feeling 

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