The badge of Nature's Royalty, from angel hands above.

"I go to deck the wreath that binds a fair, imperial brow,

Whose whiteness shall not be the less that mine is purer still;

For though a band of sparkling gems is set upon it now,

'Twill be the fairer that the Church in me beholds her will."

"I claim a loyal suitor's touch," the Rose ingenuous said,

"And he will choose me when he seeks the bow'r of lady fair,

To match me, with a smile, against her cheek's betraying red,

And place me, with a kiss, within the shadows of her hair."

And next the proud Camellia spoke: "Where festal music swells,