Quatrains 5
Nothing is judged according to its size,— Between the great, the small, Love sets no bar, And in the violet's purple incense lies All the immortal wonder of a star.
Thomas S. Jones Jr.
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)
Nothing is judged according to its size,— Between the great, the small, Love sets no bar, And in the violet's purple incense lies All the immortal wonder of a star.
In just four lines, Jones makes one quiet argument: size has nothing to do with worth. The speaker says that Love "sets no bar" between the great and the small, meaning it doesn't rank things by how big or impressive they look. Then comes the image that carries the whole idea. In the scent of a violet, a tiny flower, there is "all the immortal wonder of a star."
The comparison works because it pairs two things we'd normally place at opposite ends of the scale. A star is vast, distant, and seemingly eternal, while a violet is low to the ground and soon gone. Yet the speaker insists the wonder is the same in both. Calling the violet's scent "incense" adds a note of reverence, as if the flower were an offering at an altar.
The mood is gentle and reassuring. Nothing here is argued loudly. The speaker simply invites us to notice that love, attention, and awe can find something sacred in the smallest things.