How Violets Came Blue

Robert Herrick (1591-1674) (1591โ€“1674)

The Hesperides & Noble Numbers โ€” Hesperides

Love on a day, wise poets tell,Some time in wrangling spent,Whether the violets should excel,Or she, in sweetest scent.But Venus having lost the day,Poor girls, she fell on you:And beat ye so, as some dare say,Her blows did make ye blue.