l at last up-rose the Queen:

And caused the zephyr horns to blow
A truce, the victor's crown to show.
But like a garland on the ground
Of roses & of lilies found,
So linked & locked in strife they lay
Each silver stem & clinging spray,

The doughty champions could not rise
Before the Queen to claim her prize.
So to the field of battle down
She stepped, with rose & lily crown
Of silver & of gold fair wrought;
And thus Queen Summer spake her thought:

And to each warrior thus did say:
Read in the fortune of your fray
Fit emblem sweet of unity,
Nor Rose nor Lily plant on high,
But side by side in equal right,
And pleasant cheer the Red & White:

That men & maids be glad to see,
Always in pleasant company,

Life & Love close linked together,
And strong to bear times' wintry weather

Love not consumed in passion's heart
But golden flamed & stedfast, sweet:

Time's snows shall quench not, though they hide:
Each spring renews the rosy tide:

Each lover in his lady's face
Sees roses blent with lilies' grace:

The poet & the painter praise
This heraldry of summer days;

And every garden sweet that blows
Doth set the Lily by the Rose.

Peace, then in all my borders be,
Beneath the silvern olive tree."

Each rose, each lily's head bent low,
And each one sought his fallen foe:

And careful hands the wounded bore,
With balm and honey to restore:

And trimmed the grass & decked each seat,
And made all fit for dancer's feet;

Beneath the summer full-orbed moon,
Ruddy & gold that rose full soon,
Like rose & lily fused in fire,
Ere the sunset's torch expire.

Then forth each knightly lily led
A blushing rosy dame so red;

Nor lily hands or hearts denied
The rose-hued warriors erst defied.

Light-footed through the dance's maze,
Quick they moved like winged fays;
As measured music soft did swell,
And echoed deep from bosky dell,
Till, from the leafy forest side,
The sweet-tongued nightingale replied,
Dissolved in streams of silver sound,
Merged in the moonlight, lost & found;
Like the dancers, till in shade,
Of Summer's verdant night they fade.

* * * * *

[Illustration]

Cassell & Co: Lm:

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Queen Summer, by Walter Crane

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