Love in Idleness

Love in Idleness

Love-in-idleness is one of the many old names for the pansy. Shakespeare uses the name in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Act 2, Scene 1) where Oberon (Fairy King) takes revenge on Titania (Fairy Queen) and sends Puck to retrieve the flower:

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before, milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness.

The juice of the magical purple Love-in-idleness flower, when dripped into someone's eyes, was reputed to cause that individual to fall in love with the next person they see (or, in Titania's case, the next creature).

"Love in Idleness" can also refer to

* Canto IV, Book II of the long poem "The Angel in the House" (1854) by Coventry Patmore [http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/patmore/angel/index.html]
* an 1877 novel by Ellen Olney Kirk
* an 1891 painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (aka "Love Votaries") [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/paintingflowers/paintings/love_in_idleness_alma-tadema.shtml] , [http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/art.asp?aid=8&page=9&order=t]
* a 1998 song by Paul McCandless, Glen Moore and Ralph Towner
* a 2001 novel by Charlotte Mendelson
* a 2003 novel by Amanda Craig.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Love-in-idleness — Love Love (l[u^]v), n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe, L. lubet, libet, it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See {Lief}.] 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • love-in-idleness — Pansy Pan sy, n.; pl. {Pansies}. [F. Pens[ e]e thought, pansy, fr. penser to think, L. pensare to weigh, ponder. See {Pensive}.] (Bot.) A plant of the genus {Viola} ({Viola tricolor}) and its blossom, originally purple and yellow. Cultivated… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • love-in-idleness — trispalvė našlaitė statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Našlaitinių šeimos daržovinis, dekoratyvinis, maistinis, vaistinis augalas (Viola tricolor), paplitęs Europoje ir vakarų Azijoje. atitikmenys: lot. Viola tricolor angl. European wild pansy; …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • love-in-idleness — /lʌv ɪn ˈaɪdlnəs/ (say luv in uydlnuhs) noun the wild pansy, Viola tricolor …  

  • love-in-idleness — noun a common and long cultivated European herb from which most common garden pansies are derived • Syn: ↑wild pansy, ↑Johnny jump up, ↑heartsease, ↑pink of my John, ↑Viola tricolor • Hypernyms: ↑viola …   Useful english dictionary

  • Love — (l[u^]v), n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe, L. lubet, libet, it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See {Lief}.] 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre[ e]minent… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Love apple — Love Love (l[u^]v), n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe, L. lubet, libet, it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See {Lief}.] 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Love bird — Love Love (l[u^]v), n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe, L. lubet, libet, it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See {Lief}.] 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Love broker — Love Love (l[u^]v), n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe, L. lubet, libet, it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See {Lief}.] 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Love charm — Love Love (l[u^]v), n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E. lief, believe, L. lubet, libet, it pleases, Skr. lubh to be lustful. See {Lief}.] 1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; pre[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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