Roses are red,
violets are blue.
That's what they say,
but it just isn't true.
Roses are red,
and apples are too.
But violets are violet,
violets aren't blue.
An Orange is an orange,
But Greenland's not green.
A pinky's not pink,
so what does it mean?
To call something blue
when it's not, we defile it.
But what the heck,
it's hard to rhyme violet.
from The Animaniacs
Orphaned at the coolest end of the rainbow, as vulnerable to frost as an April flower, distant from the passion and power of red, the colour violet remains misunderstood and fragile, suffering, through no fault of its own, for the sin of not being purple.
But it is its ineluctable confusion with purple that torments violet the most.
True violet can not be concocted by mixing red and blue.
The colour violet has long been associated with spirituality. In ancient times, when alchemists sought to change base metals into gold, violet was seen as a key to spiritual transformation.
The Count of St Germain, an 18th century courtier, adventurer and alchemist, used the violet flame for enlightenment and for achieving a state of unity with the Divine.
Leonardo da Vinci claimed his meditative powers increased tenfold when sitting under a a violet light coming through stained glass.
Richard Wagner used violet light in his surroundings when composing his operas.
Simple happiness seems to elude all who are tinted by it:
violets are blue.
That's what they say,
but it just isn't true.
Roses are red,
and apples are too.
But violets are violet,
violets aren't blue.
An Orange is an orange,
But Greenland's not green.
A pinky's not pink,
so what does it mean?
To call something blue
when it's not, we defile it.
But what the heck,
it's hard to rhyme violet.
from The Animaniacs
Orphaned at the coolest end of the rainbow, as vulnerable to frost as an April flower, distant from the passion and power of red, the colour violet remains misunderstood and fragile, suffering, through no fault of its own, for the sin of not being purple.
But it is its ineluctable confusion with purple that torments violet the most.
True violet can not be concocted by mixing red and blue.
The colour violet has long been associated with spirituality. In ancient times, when alchemists sought to change base metals into gold, violet was seen as a key to spiritual transformation.
The Count of St Germain, an 18th century courtier, adventurer and alchemist, used the violet flame for enlightenment and for achieving a state of unity with the Divine.
Leonardo da Vinci claimed his meditative powers increased tenfold when sitting under a a violet light coming through stained glass.
Richard Wagner used violet light in his surroundings when composing his operas.
Simple happiness seems to elude all who are tinted by it:
"Violet! Sweet Violet! Thine eyes are filled with tears.
Are they wet, even yet, with the thought of other years"
"A violet on the meadow grew
that no-one saw, that no-one knew..."
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This post stolen and excerpted from AVENUE COLOURS
nationalpost.com/colours to read more of the 7 part series on the exploration of colour
Love the poem...
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