In literature the color lavender often appears as a soft, refined hue that imbues settings and characters alike with a delicate, almost ethereal charm. Authors use it to evoke subtle contrasts and gentle moods—for example, a garland is described as featuring “red, lavender, yellow, or other” colors, suggesting a careful balance of vibrancy and calm [1]. Lavender is also employed to evoke visual splendor in clothing and fabric, as seen in the portrayal of an angel in a “lavender linen frock” complete with a matching hat and parasol [2], and later on with well-detailed accessories such as socks [3] and ribbons [4] that enhance the character’s appearance. Natural and poetic imagery abounds as well: wild geraniums are depicted with lavender blooms nodding in harmony with their pink counterparts [5], the waters are “tinged with rose and lavender” [6], and even memories are “lavender’d” with a tender hue [7]. Other authors extend this chromatic motif, describing eyes of lavender [8], fabrics alternating between lavender and primrose [9], and even flowers with outer rays of bluish‑lavender [10]. Through these varied uses, the color lavender enriches the narrative palette, lending an air of gentle, understated beauty to the literary landscape.
- A garland of white flowers encircles the head, 399 and one of red, lavender, yellow, or other color is worn about the neck.
— from Seven Legs Across the Seas: A Printer's Impressions of Many Lands by Samuel Murray
- Beside him stood an angel in a lavender linen frock, and a lavender hat with a daring touch of black, carrying a lavender parasol with a white handle.
— from The Gay Adventure: A Romance by Richard Bird
- He had on his first long trousers, and a pair of lavender socks and a tie to match.
— from Bab: A Sub-Deb by Mary Roberts Rinehart
- When all are safely reversed, double one end of a bolt of lavender ribbon over one stalk, close to the top and begin to weave.
— from The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor Work by Mary Rogers Miller
- Side by side with the pink geranium of old-fashioned gardens the wild geranium nodded its lavender blooms in perfect harmony.
— from The Heart of the Range by William Patterson White
- The air was strangely still and under the pale sunshine the sapphire waters were tinged with rose and lavender.
— from Where the Sun Swings North by Barrett Willoughby
- What lavender'd memories, tenderly green, Lie hidden, these grosser of viands between!
— from Beechenbrook
A Rhyme of the War by Margaret Junkin Preston
- Princeton’s lavender eyes paled with uncertainty.
— from The Hospital Murders by Means Davis
- It was of silk, one side lavender and the other side primrose color.
— from Molly Brown's Sophomore Days by Nell Speed
- The outer ray flowers are bluish-lavender, and the tubular inner flowers are yellow.
— from Texas Flowers in Natural Colors by Eula Whitehouse