Duke had run out of verses that he could think of -- at least ones that didn't vaguely reference death, anyway -- so he stuck to that chorus a few more times, then threw out the last bit of Tahitian from the end:

"Ua Pau Te Maitai No Te Fenua
Re Zai Noa Ra Te Ora O Te Mitie."

He tilted his own head back. There were less stars here than many of the places he'd been, with Baltimore so close, but if it soothed her anyway, he wasn't going to complain.

"It means 'Nature lives, life to nature, have pity for the Earth, love the Earth.' Then, 'Bounty of the land is exhausted, but there's still abundance on the sea.'"