Boarding Secretly, Bound For The Pacific Poem by Kinsley Lee

By Syngman Rhee

November 1920,
A guest, seeking a distant journey from Hawaii, surreptitiously boarded
The ship, within the tightly sealed cabin, the lamplight glowed warmly,
Its wooden walls like iron fortresses, inside the darkness is casted
By tomorrow's dawn, it will be far out of reach, the rivers and mountains
But how monotonous will the passing years be before this night is over?
Over the Pacific, drifting lightly on the fair winds
Who could know in this vessel the next world is near?
(Translated by Kinsley Lee)