VIOLET. 445 



" That strain again ; it had a dying fall : 

 O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, 

 That breathes upon a bank of violets, 

 Stealing, and giving odour." 



One of a pensive turn of mind might envy the dwelling 

 of fair Echo : 



" Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen, 



Within thy aery shell 

 By slow Meander's margent green, 

 And in the violet-embroidered vale, 

 Where the love-lorn nightingale 

 Nightly to thee, her sad song mourneth well." 



We are told, in the notes to Mr. Steevens' edition of 

 Shakspeare, that the Violet is an emblem of faithfulness : 

 to corroborate which, he gives some lines from a sonnet, 

 published in a collection printed in the year 1584 : 



" Violet is for faithfulnesse 



Which in me shall abide ; 

 Hoping likewise that from your heart 

 You will not let it slide." 



Burns speaks of the hyacinth as an emblem of fidelity ; 

 its virtue lies, it seems, in the colour, and may be extended 

 to all flowers of true blue. The insertion of the song will 

 be readily forgiven me. 



" O luve will venture in, where it daur na weel be seen, 

 O luve will venture in, where wisdom ance has been ; 

 But I will down yon river rove, amang the wood sae green, 

 And a' to pu' a posie to my ain dear May. 



" The primrose I will pu', the firstling of the year, 

 And I will pu' the pink, the emblem of my dear ; 

 For she's the pink o' womankind, and blooms without a peer ; 

 And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. 



" I '11 pu' the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view, 

 For it's like a balmy kiss o' her sweet bonnie mou ; 

 The hyacinth's for constancy, wi' its unchanging blue; 

 And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. 



