Marguerite, Marguerite, my dear Marguerite,
I have brought you fresh treasures
from the graves of the kings
that lie deeper than sunbeams can pierce.

While I was away, I employed pearls as my eyes
to see your true nature in a clearer light
and these delicate gems of the ocean
yielded lavishly of their lustre.

I have prepared a place to revive our affections
so let us meet in the bay at Tambalagam, near Trincomalee.
We shall live on dates and kiribath cakes and, in the right season,
gather shell berries while holding sweet oil in our mouths.

Since our love is conceived from drops of rain,
the influence of thunderstorms cannot confound our breeding;
we shall frolic in such an immensity of thick water
and explore your exquisitely constructed coral cups.

I will retain my breath as I await your reply
for one hundred and eighty beats of the pulse,
Marguerite, Marguerite, my dear Marguerite.