To Princess Kaiulani by Robert Louis Stevenson
A young Hawaiian princess of mixed heritage departs her sun-warmed tropical home to travel to Scotland. The poem bids her farewell with tender affection, noting that she is light of heart and bright of face, born of two bloodlines blended together. Her departure leaves a sense of absence behind. The beloved banyan tree under whose shade she used to play will stand empty, and those remaining will look for her in vain among its familiar shadows. The peacocks that cry at dusk, the palms swaying in the island wind, and her father sitting alone beneath that great tree all form a portrait of what she leaves behind. Yet the journey northward to Scotland, though it brings colder and rainier skies, is imagined with warmth and hope. The Scottish islands, ordinarily grey and storm-lashed, are envisioned brightening unusually at her arrival, casting aside their characteristic tempests to greet her with rare sunshine. The land itself is pictured smiling in response to her presence. The poem is accompanied by a prose dedication explaining that it was composed in April, during what is called the April of her life, meaning her youth. The dedication encourages the princess, when she arrives in Scotland and finds rain beating against the window as expected, to look at the poem as she might look at a pressed flower gathered from home. In doing so she will be carried back in memory to her islands, to the banyan's great shadow, to the sounds and warmth of Hawaii, and to the image of her father waiting there. The overall feeling is one of affectionate melancholy mixed with gentle optimism, celebrating the princess as a bridge between two worlds while acknowledging the bittersweet nature of her departure and the longing that separation brings to those left behind.
By Robert Louis Stevenson · First published 1889 · Genre: Poetry, Biographical Poetry, Elegy · 238 words
First lines
[Written in April to Kaiulani in the April of her age; and at Waikiki, within easy walk of Kaiulani's banyan! When she comes to my land and her father's, and the rain beats upon the window (as I fear it will), let her look at this page; it will be like a weed gathered and pressed at home; and she will remember her own islands, and the shadow of the mighty tree; and she will hear the peacocks screaming in the dusk and the wind blowing in the palms; and she will think of her father sitting there alone.
-- R. L. S.]
Forth from her land to mine she goes, / The island maid, the island rose, / Light of heart and bright of face: / The daughter of a double race.
What this Textopian page supports
To Princess Kaiulani is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, dated 1889 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Date: 1889 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Biographical Poetry, Elegy, Historical Poetry, Romantic Poetry
- Length: 238 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for To Princess Kaiulani by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is a poem written in verse form, demonstrating Stevenson's mastery of poetic structure and language.
- Biographical Poetry — The poem commemorates and reflects on the life and character of Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii, making it biographical in nature.
- Elegy — The poem serves as a tribute to Princess Kaiulani following her death in 1899, expressing mourning and reverence for her memory.
- Historical Poetry — The work addresses historical events and figures from Hawaiian history during the period of Western influence and colonial change.
Tags
poetry · lyric poem · dedication · Hawaiian royalty · Hawaii · Princess Victoria Kaiulani · nineteenth century · Victorian literature · tribute · admiration · friendship · youth
More by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Treasure Island (1883)
- The Pavilion on the Links (1909)
- Olalla (1885)
- A Child's Garden of Verses (1885)
- Father Damien, An Open Letter To The Reverend Doctor Hyde Of Honolulu (1914)
- A Lowden Sabbath Morn (1916)
- Songs of Travel and Other Verses (1908)
- Prayers Written At Vailima (1916)
- All works by Robert Louis Stevenson