VIOLETS 267 



more real the clement minutes of our life. They 

 have created and spread in our world of sentiment the 

 fragrant atmosphere in which love delights. 



VIOLETS* 



BY LUCY LARCOM 



THEY neither toil nor spin; 



And yet their robes have won 

 A splendor never seen within 



The courts of Solomon. 



Tints that the cloud-rifts hold, 



And rainbow-gossamer, 

 The violet's tender form enfold; 



No queen is draped like her. 



All heaven and earth and sea 

 Have wrought with subtlest power, 



That clothed in purple she might be 

 This little fading flower. 



We, who must toil and spin, 

 What clothing shall we wear? 



The glorious raiment we shall win, 

 Life shapes us, everywhere. 



God's inner heaven hath sun, 



And rain, and space of sky, 

 Wherethrough for us his spindles run, 



His mighty shuttles fly. 



* By permission of the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



