160 THE POETRY OF FLOWERS 
sweets are borne upon the spicy gales of Araby the blest; and 
they put forth their cerulean flowers in the Persian garden of 
roses. Humboldt gathered them in the valleys of the Amazon, 
and on the sides of the lofty Andes. The most lovely flowers 
are the most simple, and plainly the favourites- of nature, for 
they are the most widely diffused. 
It was a thought, as delicate as it was beautiful, which, sug¬ 
gested the modest violet as a poetical reward. A golden violet 
was announced as the prize to be decreed to the author of the 
best poem in the Provencal language,, in 1324. 
And in that golden vase was set 
The prize — the golden- violet. 
The Troubadour. 
The blossom that blooms in every land, 
Where laughs a summer-sky blue and bland ! 
As if to tell of that blessed heaven, 
Whose softest hue to its heart is given! 
f. s. o. 
The violet droops its soft and bashful brow,. 
But, from its heart, sweet incense fills the air; — 
So rich within — so pure without — art thou, 
With modest mien and soul of virtue rare. 
f. s. o. 
