Love came to Flora asking for a flower That would of flowers be undisputed queen, The lily and the rose, long, long had been Rivals for that high honour. Bards of power Had sung their claims. "The rose can never tower Like the pale lily with her Juno mien"— "But is the lily lovelier?" Thus between Flower factions rang the strife in Psyche's bower.

"Give me a flower delicious as the rose And stately as the lily in her pride"— "But of what colour?" — "Rose-red," Love first chose, Then prayed, — "No, lily-white, — or, both provide;" And Flora gave the lotus, "rose-red" dyed, And "lily-white", — the queenliest flower that blows

Fill in the blank with the correct option: The beauty and stateliness of the lily is similar to that of

Question

Love came to Flora asking for a flower That would of flowers be undisputed queen, The lily and the rose, long, long had been Rivals for that high honour. Bards of power Had sung their claims. "The rose can never tower Like the pale lily with her Juno mien"— "But is the lily lovelier?" Thus between Flower factions rang the strife in Psyche's bower.

"Give me a flower delicious as the rose And stately as the lily in her pride"— "But of what colour?" — "Rose-red," Love first chose, Then prayed, — "No, lily-white, — or, both provide;" And Flora gave the lotus, "rose-red" dyed, And "lily-white", — the queenliest flower that blows

Fill in the blank with the correct option: The beauty and stateliness of the lily is similar to that of

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 3:
The correct option, Juno, is derived directly from the poetic context provided. In the excerpt from "The Flower" by Toru Dutt, the poet describes the lily with the phrase: "Like the pale lily with her Juno mien." To understand why this makes Juno the correct answer, we must delve into the literary context of the allusion. Juno is a major goddess in Roman mythology, known as the queen of the gods, the patron goddess of marriage and childbirth, and often associated with the peacock, symbolizing majesty, regality, and great dignity. The word "mien" means a person's look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating character or mood. Therefore, "Juno mien" directly attributes a queenly, majestic, and stately bearing to the lily. The question asks what the lily's beauty and stateliness are similar to, and the poem explicitly draws a parallel between the lily's appearance and the majestic aura of the goddess Juno. The comparison serves to elevate the lily from merely a flower to a symbol of supreme classical beauty and regal stature, reinforcing its claim to be the "undisputed queen" of flowers, alongside the rose. The lily’s paleness is thus not meekness, but the severe, dignified beauty befitting a queen like Juno, making this mythological figure the only option that directly relates to the lily's stateliness as described in the lines.

The incorrect option is 1:
The Rose is a central rival to the lily for the title of "undisputed queen" of flowers in the poem. The poem contrasts the rose's "delicious" nature with the lily's "stately" quality, highlighting their differences rather than their similarities in beauty and stateliness. Therefore, while both are contenders for the highest honor, the specific characteristic of stateliness is contrasted with the rose's towering inability, not compared to it.

The incorrect option is 2:
Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers and the one Love petitions to choose the queen flower. Flora is an active character in the poem's narrative, but she is the recipient of Love's request and the one who ultimately provides the lotus, not a figure whose appearance is used to describe the lily's specific "mien" or manner of being. The lily’s stateliness is an intrinsic quality compared to Juno, not Flora.

The incorrect option is 4:
The Lotus is the flower that Flora ultimately creates and crowns as queen, as it possesses the deliciousness of the rose and the stateliness and pride of the lily. Although the lotus embodies the lily's stateliness, the poem establishes the comparison *first* by using Juno as the standard of regal beauty and *then* states that the lily possesses this quality. The question asks what the lily’s stateliness is similar to, and the direct, explicit comparison used for the lily is Juno, which precedes the introduction of the lotus.