THE LILY AND THE II 0 8 E. 
r- 
51 
This civil bickering 1 and debate 
The goddess chanced to hear. 
And flew to save, ere yet too late, 
The pride of the parterre. 
Yours is, she said, the nobler hue, 
And yours the statelier mein ; 
And, till a third surpasses you, 
Let each be deemed a queen. 
Thus, sooth’d and reconcil’d, each seeks 
The fairest British fair : 
The seat of empire is her cheeks, 
They reign united there. 
