198 MODESTY. 
For though the rose has more perfuming power, 
The violet (haply ’cause ’tis almost lost, 
And takes us so much trouble to discover,) 
Stands first with most, but always with a lover. 
It is interesting to notice how widely the 
violet is distributed over this blooming world. 
They spring at the foot of the Alps, and 
bloom on the very summit of the Allegha- 
nies :—their sweets are borne upon the spicy 
gales of Araby the blest; and they put forth 
their cerulean flowers in the Persian gardens 
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 beau¬ 
tiful, which suggested the modest violet as a 
poetical reward. A golden violet was announ¬ 
ced 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. 
