University of Virginia Library

THE VIOLET AND TULIP,

AN ALLEGORY.

Down in a little silent dell
A simple Violet loved to dwell,
To plain and rustic manners bred
She still hung down her bashful head;
Unfond to meet the gazer's eye,
For rural Nymphs are ever shy.
Yet still amid the homely croud
'Twas universally allowed,
That she had charms which well may vie
With many a flower of gaudier dye.
The Daisy at a distance sigh'd
While Primrose dangled at her side,
Constant as any modern beau
That feigns a pang he ne'er can know.
The Blue-bells from a noble race
Descended, own'd the flower had grace;
And might, if polished in the Town,
Put many a boasted flowret down;
Poor Periwinkles praised her air,
And Daffodils confess'd her fair;
It happened as the story goes,
That near the spot a Tulip 'rose,
A haughty German of high birth,
And used to grow in sifted earth;
But time that lays the proudest low,
Had here condemned the flow'r to blow;
By some rude Gard'ner cast away,
And doom'd to dwell in humbler clay.
Now like some vapoured city fair,
Order'd into the country air,
The Tulip plays off many a grace,
And proudly shews her painted face:
The neighbour plants amazed behold,
Her purple petals streaked with gold,
Her slender stalk of tenderest green,
Her graceful form and courtly mien;
And gape as folk are wont to do
(Poor country folk) at objects new.
While she despises this and that,
Calls some disgusting, others flat;
But most the vi'let she disdain'd,
And of her insolence complain'd;
I wonder such a minx, said she,
Could push thus into company;
Or with her little aukward ways,
Can think (poor silly wretch to please;
Pray know your betters, Miss, she cries,
And keep your distance if you're wise;
'Tis pretty time o'day indeed,
When I must talk to such a weed,
That thus so impudently grows
Beneath, forsooth, my very nose.
Madam, replied the modest flow'r,
We all confess your Sovereign power;
And own that with so rich a dye
'Twere vain for Violets to vie;
And humbly make but this request
Your ladyship may let us rest.
Just then a Bee came buzzing by
And on the Violet cast his eye,
Thrice humm'd around her azure breast,
Then on her lip a kiss impress'd;
Whilst Tulip all neglected lay,
Tho' blazing in her proud array;
Hence humbled vanity may see
'Tis only sweet attracts the Bee.—