The Violet
The Violet - meaning Summary
Unnoticed Longing and Demise
A tiny violet is personified as longing to be noticed and taken by a passing shepherdess. It imagines being picked and cherished, craving the brief intimacy of being held, yet remains hidden and unseen. The girl passes without knowing it; the flower is accidentally crushed and dies, mourning that its end comes by the very feet it longed to meet. The poem maps desire, anonymity, and tragic irony.
Read Complete AnalysesA violet in the meadow grew, Bowed to earth, and hid from view: It was a dear sweet violet. Along came a young shepherdess Free of heart, and light of step, Came by, came by, Singing, through the flowers. Oh! Thought the violet, were I, If only for a little while, Nature’s sweetest flower yet, Till my Beloved picked me, pressed Me fainting, dying to her breast! So I might lie, There, for but an hour! Alas! Alas! The girl went past: Unseen the violet in the grass, Was crushed, poor violet. It drooped and died, and yet it cried: ‘And though I die, yet still I die By her, by her, By her feet passing by.’
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