This is an island, with birds and a tree.
The island is a mountain in the middle of the sea.
One person lives here, but it isn’t me.
I wouldn’t like to live in the middle of the sea.ı
—“The Island”
bascal edward de towaji lutui, age 4
1 In point of fact, Bascal Edward lived primarily on Tongatapu at this time. However, it is not clear that these statements are ironic, since the young prince, with many examples visible in the sea outside his bedroom window, may not have considered his home an “island” in the sense of the poem. A drawing accompanies the original text. —ed.