"The Violet"

Down in a green and shady bed,
   A modest violet grew,
Its stalk was bent, it hung its head,
   As if to hide from view.

And yet it was a lovely flower,
   Its colours bright and fair;
It might have graced a rosy bower,
   Instead of hiding there,

Yet there it was content to bloom,
   In modest tints arrayed;
And there diffused its sweet perfume,
   Within the silent shade.

Then let me to the valley go,
   This pretty flower to see;
That I may also learn to grow
   In sweet humility.

Jane Taylor (1783-1824)




This tiny Dog-violet is growing under the front hedge at Mum's.  The heart-shaped leaves are no bigger than my thumbnail.  It is probably a wildflower, as I don't remember Dad planting it, and there are no more of these delicate little flowers anywhere else in the garden.  Interesting to note that we are only a few miles away from Colchester in Essex, where in 1806 the poet Jane Taylor is said to have written "The Violet" and another, more famous, poem called "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".