Fragrance Quote
In Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino says music “breathes upon a bank of violets, / Stealing and giving odour.”
In the Playwright’s Words
“That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour!”
— Duke Orsino in William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene 1 (c. 1601)
Essential Details
Shakespeare on a Bank of Violets at a Glance
- Speaker: Duke Orsino, in a play by William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
- Source: Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene 1
- Status: Public domain
- Note: The First Folio reads “sweet sound”; some editions print “sweet south”
Why the Quote Resonates
Orsino compares a fading melody to a breeze over violets that takes and gives their scent. Violet is often described as an elusive smell that seems to come and go, which suits the image. Violet leaf is a separate, greener material used in perfume.
A Line With Two Versions
Editors disagree on one word: the First Folio prints “sweet sound,” while some later editions print “sweet south,” meaning a south wind. Either reading keeps the violets. For another poem that links violets with memory, read Shelley on Odours and Memory, and for the longer story of the flower in perfume see The History of Perfume.
Why it matters
Shakespeare used violets to describe a smell that arrives and slips away.