| Samuel Kettell, ed. Specimens of American Poetry. 1829. | | | | To a Violet | | By Samuel Low (b. 1765) |
| | | THOUGH not the gaudy Tulip’s drap’ry fine, | |
| Yet thou, fair plant, canst Tyre’s rich purple boast; | |
| The beauty of the Amethyst is thine; | |
| Thy neat and simple garb delights me most; | |
| Unseen and shadowy forms, of tiny size, | 5 |
| Delicious dew-drops from thy surface sip, | |
| Feast on thy charms their microscopic eyes, | |
| And breathe thy sweets, as o’er thy leaves they trip. | |
| Emblem of innocence and modest worth, | |
| Who lov’st the eye of rude remark to shun, | 10 |
| Whose lovely, lowly form still tends to earth, | |
| Unlike the flower which courts the mid-day sun; | |
| Thou seem’st, sweet flow’ret, of his beam afraid;— | |
| Thus merit ever loves and seeks the shade. | | | | |
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