Hand in Hand/To-day is a King in Disguise

by Alice MacDonald Kipling

"To-day is a King in Disguise."

A KING, uncrowned and clad in poor attire,
His sceptre and his robes of state laid by,
He comes upon us, and our blinded eyes
See nothing regal in the mean disguise,
And have no power to pierce the mystery,
And find the Monarch in his majesty.

But, passed, our sight is cleared; all we desire
Of royal pomp and kingly might is shown;
He straight resumes the sceptre and the throne,
The ermined robes, and reigns triumphantly
A crowned King! The while a wondering world,
Unmindful of the new disguised To-day,
Cries out, as wide his banners float unfurled,
"Behold, a King was with us yesterday!"