Quoting from Twitter or Tumblr or Reddit or something.
They are indeed purple, but one thing you missed: the concept of "purple" didn't always exist.
Some cultures lack names, for a color you see.
Hence good ol Homer, and his "wine dark see".
A usage so quaint, a phrasing so old, for verses of romance, is sheer Fu**ing gold.
So roses are red, violets once were called blue, I'm hugely pedantic, but what else is new?
Person 2:
My friend, you're not wrong, about Homer's wine-ey sea! Colors are a matter, of cultural contingency.
Words are a flux, and meanings they drift, but the word purple, you've given a short shrift.
The concept of purple, my friends, is old. It refers to a pigment, once precious as gold. By crushing up molluscs, from the wine-dark see, you make a dye: imperial decree! Meant that in Rome, to wear PURPRA, was a privilege reserved, only for the emperor!
The word 'purple', for cloths so fancy,entered English, in the 9th century!
Then why are violets, 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, yet new. The dye is red, so this might be true:
Roses are purple, and violets are blue.
Person 3:
While this song makes me merry, Tyrian purple dyes many a hue. From magenta to berry, and true purple too. But as fun it is to watch, this poetic race, the answer is staring you right in the face:
Roses are red, and Violets are blue,
Because nothing Fu**ing rhymes with purple.
