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114
Te Raupo.
“Not waiting sadly to die a-cold,
My petals trampled in rotting mould,
But rapt and lost when my life is past
In the shining spaces of air at last.”

LXIX.

Te Raupo.

Down in a valley,
Hemmed in by mountains,
Ripples a river
Vivid and verdant.
Foot may not ford it,
Craft may not stem it;
Which way the wind blows,
So sets its current.

Home of the old witch,
Fain she would lure thee
Down to destruction,
Whispering softly:
“Come tread my raupo,
Safe it will bear thee
O’er the morass.”
Deaf to her charming,
Deaf to her wooing,
Pauses the wise man;
Ay, though each raupo
Bends in obeisance,
Whispering “Try us.”