From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: Nineteen regular four-line stanzas, rhyming alternately. This piece, in M. Glinel's MS. collection of Dumas' poems, is equipped with seven notes, some of them fairly lengthy.
It appeared in "La Presse" for the 4th of May, 1862.
The following is an extract from some correspondence addressed to "La Presse" from Naples, on the 29th of April, 1862 :—
"Ce soir le roi ira au théâtre San Carlo; la foule sera énorme. Il n'y a pas en Italie de fête sans musique ni sans poésie. M. Prati, le poète national, qui a accompagné le roi dans son voyage, vient de faire, à l'occasion de son arrivés, une charmante poésie intitulée : 'La Fleur Sacrée.' Je l'ai entendu lire hier soir par lui chez M. Alexandre Dumas qui l'a traduite aussitot en vers français avec un rare bonheur. Je suis heureux de vous donner la primeur de cette traduction que M. Alexandre Dumas a bien voulu me communiquer.—J. Mahais." ("This evening the king will go to the San Carlo Theatre ; the crowd will be enormous. There is no entertainment in Italy without music and poetry. M. Prati, the national poet, who accompanied the king on his journey, has just composed, on the occasion of his arrival, a charming poem entitled : 'The Sacred Flower.' I heard him read it last night at the house of M. Alexandre Dumas, who immediately translated it into French verse with rare happiness. I am delighted to give you the first enjoyment of this translation, which M. Alexandre Dumas very willingly permitted me to forward.—J. Mahais.")
"La Fleur Sacrée" was dedicated to the King of Italy in Dumas' version, and, one imagines, in that by the original author also.
