At first glance, these lines sound like a playful jab. The speaker imagines a pansy flower, whose dark markings often resemble a tiny face, pulling all sorts of ugly or animal-like expressions. It can manage weird grimaces and bestial faces, but there is one face it cannot imitate: the person being addressed. The joke lands as a backhanded compliment—your face is so uniquely strange that even a flower famous for funny faces can’t copy it. The final line adds a family dig, claiming this one-of-a-kind face was inherited from the mother. The mood is light, mischievous, and teasing rather than cruel. You sense the speaker is close enough to the listener to make fun of them, mixing mock insult with a wink. It reads like a compact comic epigram—short, sharp, and built around a single punchline.
The Pansy — Summary
The pansy makes such weird grimaces, And imitates all bestial faces — But there's a thing it couldn't do, And that is, make a face like you. I'm sure I've never seen another. And that you got it from your mother.