A Pansy Posy for Shakespeare at Vassar College

On April 24, 1916, Vassar College honored Shakespeare on the 300th anniversary of his death by planting pansies.

Ah, the pansy! It is a modest bloom that carries a weight of history and symbolism quite out of proportion to its size.

It was a thrill to learn of Vassar College's tribute to William Shakespeare on the tercentenary of his passing. Students from Winifred Smith's Shakespeare class and Emmeline Moore's botany class planted the pansies in a garden on the school grounds.

What a fitting gesture to plant a garden of pansies, those sweet and thoughtful flowers so often mentioned in his plays. Shakespeare referred to pansies as the flower for thoughts.

The pansy is a harbinger of spring - and a symbol of hope and remembrance. Its ability to withstand the chill of winter's breath speaks of resilience and perseverance, qualities that Shakespeare himself embodied in his work.

A flower that can withstand the cold, pansies have a chemical, essentially nature's antifreeze, that allows it to fight those cold temperatures.

The Canadian naturalist Charles Joseph Sariol believed that pansies should be grown from seed.

And the author Beatrix Potter adored pansies.

There is something undeniably charming about the pansy's cheerful countenance and ability to brighten even the dullest days.

And who can forget the happy poet Edgar Albert Guest's delightful poem To Plant a Garden? In it, he extols the joy of tending to these delightful blooms:

If you'd get away from boredom,

And find new delights to look for,

Learn the joy of budding pansies,

Which you've kept a special nook for.

Pansies are a happy flower and a great way to honor Shakespeare.

So, let's raise a glass to the pansy and the memory of William Shakespeare.

May these humble flowers continue to bloom for centuries to come, a testament to the great work of William Shakespeare.