XXIX
TO KALAKAUA
(With a present of a Pearl)
The Silver Ship, my King—that was her name
In the bright islands whence your fathers came[1]—
The Silver Ship, at rest from winds and tides,
Below your palace in your harbour rides:
And the seafarers, sitting safe on shore,
Like eager merchants count their treasures o'er.
One gift they find, one strange and lovely thing,
Now doubly precious since it pleased a king.
The right, my liege, is ancient as the lyre
For bards to give to kings what kings admire.
- ↑ The yacht Casco had been so called by the people of Fakarava in the Paumotus.
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