Symbolism of Violets December 4, 2007
Posted by Kim Crow in : Twelfth Night , add a commentA violet was a symbol for faithfulness, fidelity and constancy in love. The Shakespeare Garden by Esther Singleton offers an excerpt from the poem “A Nosegay always Sweet for Lovers to send Tokens of Love at New Year’s tide, of Fairings, as they in their minds shall be disposed to write” first published 1566:
Violet is for faithfulness,
Which in me shall abide;
Hoping likewise that in your heart
You will not let it slide,
And will continue in the same,
As you have now begun;
And then forever to abide
Then You My Heart Have Won.
Shakespeare’s Peddler explains that violets represent humility, innocence, modesty in needlework samples.