^ The Scented (garden fj£ 



of her own serene loveliness and ' apartness ' she is 

 at home with the lowliest, both human beings and 

 flowers. This attribute the two sovereigns of the flower 

 world have in common. One has only to look at the lilies 

 and the roses to know that between these queens and the 

 humblest inhabitants of the garden there is a bond of 

 mutual love and understanding. Whereas some flowers — 

 begonias for instance — look as though they had never 

 even heard of daisies ! The rose is intolerant of other 

 flowers being too near her, but the lily welcomes the 

 kindly ministrations of plants which afford shade to her 

 roots. The rose reigns, but the presence of the lily is a 

 benediction. The rose speaks of the beauty of this earth 

 but the lily dreams of a new heaven and a new earth. 



Small wonder that our mediaeval ancestors with their 

 deep love and understanding of flowers placed the 

 Madonna lily as a symbol of their lives in the hands of 

 the saints. Above all the lily is the flower of the Annun- 

 ciation. In the earliest representations of the Annun- 

 ciation the Angel Gabriel holds a herald's wand, and in 

 later Byzantine art the wand terminates in a fleur-de-lis, 

 a symbol of royalty since the days of ancient Assyria. 

 But by the great masters the Angel Gabriel is almost 

 invariably represented carrying a lily. The lily has always 

 been the symbol of purity. One recalls Chaucer's deriva- 

 tion of Saint Cecilia's name — ' Heaven's lily.' 



' First wol I you the name of Sainte Cecilie 

 Expoune as men may in hire storie see : 

 It is to sayn in English, Heven's lilie, 

 For pure chasteness of virginitee, 

 Or for the whitenesse had of honestie, 

 And grene of conscience, and of good fame 

 The swote savour, lilie was her name.' 

 164 



