Thursday, May 26, 2011

"To throw a perfume on the violet"

[Photo by KPA]

This looks like a meadow of violets, but is the garden in front of a home. The owner cultivates them (I'm not sure if it is to sell them) and told me that they spread "like wild fire."
William Shakespeare
King John, Act 4, Scene 4


To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.