by Edwin Long (1829–1891)
of primroses has a sweetness that is faint and tremulous,
and yet possesses a sort of tragic intensity.
There exists in this flower, its soft petals, its cool, crinkled leaves,
its pinkish stalk that breaks at a touch, something which seems able to pour
its whole self into the scent it flings on the air.
Other flowers have petals that are fragrant. The primrose has something more than that.
The primrose throws its very life into this essence of itself
which travels upon the air.
― John Cowper Powys, A Glastonbury Romance
Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia Commons
[2] A short description of the painting and the model (American heiress Jennie Jerome,
mother of prime minister Sir Winston Churchill) by Yale Center for British Art
[3] A short article of the artist Edwin Long
[4] The Real Victorian's enhanced version of the painting (seen above),
downloadable as a 6" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG
Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.