Writers have often employed “English violet” not just to depict a flower but to evoke a particular, refined hue that speaks to delicate beauty and ephemeral charm. In some passages, the color is used to describe a luminous, almost otherworldly shimmer—as in the simile “they shine like the English violets” [1]—suggesting a grace that prefigures the soft light of dawn. Elsewhere, authors detail intricate hues in descriptions such as “the deep blue petals of a double English violet” [2], using that specific tone to cast an aura of tender melancholy and ethereal allure. Similarly, the phrase “a purple blotch of English violets” [3] encapsulates how this color infuses a scene with a transient, yet memorable vibrancy. In these instances, “English violet” becomes much more than a botanical reference; it functions as a subtle symbol for the intermingling of natural beauty with fleeting, poignant emotion.
- I love yours; they shine like the English violets which my father planted, like the violets shine before the sun has soaked up the morning dew."
— from Madame Gilbert's Cannibal by Bennet Copplestone
- From the deep blue petals of a double English violet came a delicate face, pale, serene, sad, but exceeding tender.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 08, June 1858
A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various
- Sometimes, among the beautiful familiar blooms, an alien flower smiled, a budding rose-tree, or a purple blotch of English violets.
— from The Breath of the Gods by Sidney McCall