Post #2154573
2026-02-14 23:38 UTC
User: ineptshieldmaid
"My friend you’re not wrong
About Homer’s wine-ey sea!
Colours are a matter
Of cultural contingency;
Words are in flux
And meanings they drift
But the word purple
You’ve given short shrift.
The concept of purple,
My friends, is old
And refers to a pigment
once precious as gold.
By crushing up molluscs
From the wine-dark sea
You make a dye:
Imperial decree
Meant that in Rome,
to wear purpura
was a privilege reserved
For only the emperor!"
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Replies (1)
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@shivers@mastodon.ie 2026-02-14 23:40
(continued ineptshieldmaid post) "The word ‘purple’, for clothes so fancy, Entered English By the ninth century Why then are voilets Not purple in song? The dye from this mollusc, known for so long Is almost magenta; More red than blue. The concept of purple is old, and yet new. The dye is red, So this might be true: Roses are purple And violets are blue" 5/6