Violet

 

We are expecting an addition to our family today.

Her name will be "Violet".

 We have fallen in love with her already.

The Violet

Why better than the lady rose,
Love I this little flower?
Because its fragrant leaves are those
I loved in childhood's hour.

Though many a flower may win my praise,
The Violet has my love;
I did not pass my childish days
In garden or in grove:
My garden was the window seat,
Upon whose edge was set
A little vase, the fair, the sweet,
It was the Violet. 

It was my pleasure and my pride:
How I did watch its growth!
For health and bloom what plans I tried,
And often injured both.
I placed it in the summer shower,
I placed it in the sun;
And ever, at the evening hour,
My work seem'd half undone.

The broad leaves spread, the small buds grew;
How slow they seem'd to be:
At last there came a tinge of blue,
'Twas worth the world to me.

from The Lady's Book of Flowers and Poetry, 1842

by Miss Landon