The 'red cloth of dawn' could allude to the approaching red face of Mars. Its change in intensity can be interpreted as a sign of life (and death). The synodic period of Mars is 780 days and the planet is not synchronized in any obvious way with the solar year. However, 780 - 2 * 365 = 50 could possibly be one reason behind the old Roman calendar cycle with 350 (= 7 * 50) days. Furthermore, 50 is the number of days from April 16 to Rogo at the end of line Ca3:
"Kalaniopu'u put his own feather cloak and helmet on Cook, and in the British commander's hand the flywhisk emblem of the royal tabu status. When it came to his turn, however, the high priest of Lono dressed Cook in a mantle of red tapa cloth ... The King had represented Cook in his own social image as a divine warrior; whereas, the priest represented his own temple image as a divine Cook." (Islands of History) The fly-whisk of Kalaniopu'u could on Hawaii have symbolized how in spring the warrior Sun King (Mars is the god of war) subdued winter - possibly visualized by the Musca asterism (its right eye) and Algol (its left eye). Bharani rose heliacally in manzil day 350:
The handle of a Tahitan flywhisk. (Antony Alpers, The World of the Polynesians.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
