Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/134
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98
Onawe.
Here once the mighty Atua had his dwelling
In mystery,
And hence weird sounds were heard at midnight, swelling
Across the sea.
In mystery,
And hence weird sounds were heard at midnight, swelling
Across the sea.
Here once the Haka sounded; and din of battle
Shook the gray crags,
Triumphant shout, and agonized death-rattle
Startled the shags.
Shook the gray crags,
Triumphant shout, and agonized death-rattle
Startled the shags.
And now such peace upon this isthmus narrow,
With Maori blood
Once red!— these heaps of stones,— a greenstone arrow
Rough-hewn and rude!
With Maori blood
Once red!— these heaps of stones,— a greenstone arrow
Rough-hewn and rude!
Gone is the Atua, and the hillsides lonely,
The warriors dead;
No sight, no sound! the weird wild wailing only
Of gull instead.
The warriors dead;
No sight, no sound! the weird wild wailing only
Of gull instead.
Come not the Rangitira hither roaming
As once of yore,
To dance a ghostly Haka in the gloaming,
And feast once more?
As once of yore,
To dance a ghostly Haka in the gloaming,
And feast once more?
Tena koe Pakeha! within this fortification
Grows English grass—
Tena koe! subtle conqueror of a nation
Doomed, doomed to pass!
Grows English grass—
Tena koe! subtle conqueror of a nation
Doomed, doomed to pass!