Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

What's the origin of "Roses are red; violets are blue"?

There seem to be a lot of cliches, made famous I think, by hollywood, but their origin is completely unknown, and the cliche itself endures, though technically it's no longer a cliche. Where did the old cliche love letter "Roses are red; violets are blue" come from? And did I even punctuate that correctly?

Public Comments

1. The origin is known.