True Royalty

by Rudyard Kipling

There was never a Queen like Balkis,
From here to the wide world's end;
But Balkis talked to a butterfly
As you would talk to a friend.

There was never a King like Solomon,
Not since the world began;
But Solomon talked to a butterfly
As a man would talk to a man.

She was Queen of Sabaea--
And he was Asia's Lord--
But they both of 'em talked to butterflies
When they took their walks abroad.

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(From "The Just So Stories.")

Every Saturday is Poetry Day here at the Literature Daily blog. Tomorrow look for another installment from the great Arab book Thousand and One Nights.