Pansy Glow

by Kathy Bassett

Title

Pansy Glow

Artist

Kathy Bassett

Medium

Photograph - Photography - Digital Texture

Description

On account of its popularity in both society and its recurring appearances in Romantic poetry, a variety of new nicknames for the flower began to circulate. Dorothea Lynde Dix proclaims that Perhaps no flower (not excepting even the queenly rose) claims to be so universal a favorite, as the viola tricolor; none currently has been honored with so rich a variety of names, at once expressive of grace, delicacy and tenderness.Many of these names play on the whimsical nature of love, including Three Faces under a Hood,Flame Flower,Jump Up and Kiss Me,� �Flower of Jove,� and �Pink of my John.In Scandinavia,[9] Scotland, and German-speaking countries, the pansy (or its wild parent Viola tricolor) is or was known as the stepmother (flower). This name rose out of stories about a selfish stepmother; the tale was told to children in various versions while the teller plucked off corresponding parts of the blossom to fit the plot.Pansy displaying the two upper overlapping petals, the two side petals, and the single bottom petal In Italy the pansy is known as flammola (little flame), and in Hungary it is known as cska (small orphan). In Israel, the pansy is known as the "Amnon v'Tamar", or Amnon and Tamar, after the biblical characters (II Samuel 13). In New York, pansies have been colloquially referred to as "football flowers" for reasons unknown. In some countries of Spanish language, the pansy is known as "Pensamiento" or "Trinitaria".
The name hearts-easecame from the woman St. Euphrasia, whose name in Greek signifies cheerfulness of mind. The woman, who refused marriage and took the veil, was considered a pattern of humility, hence the name humble violet The specific colors of the flower purple, yellow, and white are meant to symbolize memories, loving thoughts and souvenirs, respectively.Pansies showing typical facial markingsAnother name for the pansy is that of �herb trinity, with its three colorful petals acting as symbols for the Holy Trinity. The pansys connection to religion is also mentioned by Harte, who writes: From brute beasts humility I learned;/And in the pansys life Gods providence discerned�. Gifford evokes both Christian and classical undertones, writing how Pansies still,/More blest than me, thus shall ye live/Your little day, - and when ye die,/Sweet flowers! The grateful muse/Shall give a verse. Smart proposes Were it not for thee, oh sun,/Those pansies, that reclining from the bank/View through the immaculate, pellucid stream,/Their portraiture in the inverted Heaven,/Might as well change their triple boast, the white,/The purple, and the goldThe name love in idleness was meant to imply the image of a lover who has little or no other employment than to think of his beloved one.Pansies in a garden displaying foliage, markings, and budsThe name 'pansy' is derived from the French word pense meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought. Because of this the pansy has long been a symbol of Freethought and has been used in the literature of the American Secular Union. Humanists use it too, as the pansy's current appearance was developed from the heartsease by two centuries of intentional crossbreeding of wild plant hybrids.Yellow pansies
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) uses the pansy symbol extensively in its lapel pins and literature. The flower has long been associated with human manner, as one man cleverly stated: Nature sports as much with the colours of this little flower as she does with the features of the human countenance.The pansys particular connection to human thought and emotion is mirrored in one Dr. Evans poems, where he captures the whimsical, yet deep emotional roots of the pansys symbolism: Pied Pansy, - once a vestal fair/In Cerestrain, - now droops - /Stained by the bolt of love her purple breast,/And freaked with jet her party-colored vest.The shape of the petals, in particular its resemblance to the human face, it is not surprising that the pansy would come to be associated with deep contemplation. One man wrote in The Argosy: With its own symbolic meaning of thought, the pansy is also somewhat endued with a soft shadow, not necessarily of grief, but solemn and quiet, as thought should be.

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June 29th, 2013

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