| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | The Violet and the Rose | | By Joseph Skipsey (1832–1903) |
| | | THE VIOLET invited my kiss,— | |
| I kiss’d it and call’d it my bride: | |
| ‘Was ever one slighted like this?’ | |
| Sigh’d the Rose as it stood by my side. | |
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| My heart ever open to grief, | 5 |
| To comfort the fair one I turn’d: | |
| ‘Of fickle ones thou art the chief!’ | |
| Frown’d the Violet and pouted and mourn’d. | |
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| Then, to end all disputes I entwined | |
| The love-stricken blossoms in one; | 10 |
| But that instant their beauty declined, | |
| And I wept for the deed I had done! | | | | |
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