Directions : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.

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 honor. 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.

Read the following statements and choose the correct option :
Assertion (A) : The poets did not declare the lily as the queen of flowers.
Reason (R) : The lily was pale coloured.

The correct option is (A) is true, but (R) is not the only reason for it.

Step-by-step Explanation:

1. Analysis of Assertion (A):
The extract states that the lily and the rose had long been rivals for the title of "undisputed queen" of flowers, and bards (poets) of power had sung their claims. Neither flower was single-handedly declared the undisputed queen by the poets, as opinions were divided between the two. Therefore, Assertion (A) is true.

2. Analysis of Reason (R):
While the text mentions "the pale lily with her Juno mien", the primary reason the poets did not declare the lily as the ultimate queen was the ongoing rivalry with the rose, which was considered equally "delicious" and worthy of high honor. Thus, while the lily's pale appearance is mentioned, it is not the sole reason for the poets' division. Therefore, Reason (R) is not the only reason for Assertion (A).

Hence, Assertion (A) is true, but (R) is not the only reason for it.