Page:Poems Rossetti.djvu/401

 Not too stiff, and not too frail;
Those are best which rearrange as
 Fans, and spread or trail."

Spoke the Swan, entrenched behind
 An inimitable neck:
"After all, there's nothing sweeter
 For the lawn or lake
Than simple white, if fine and flaky
 And absolutely free from speck."

"Yellow," hinted a Canary,
 "Warmer, not less distingué?
"Peach colour," put in a Lory,
 "Cannot look outré."
"All the colours are in fashion,
 And are right," the Parrots say

"Very well. But do contrast
 Tints harmonious,"
Piped a Blackbird, justly proud
 Of bill aurigerous;
"Half the world may learn a lesson
 As to that from us."

Then a Stork took up the word:
 "Aim at height and chic:
Not high heels, they're common; somehow,
 Stilted legs, not thick,
Nor yet thin:" he just glanced downward
 And snapped to his beak.