Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/172
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136
The Last Haka.
“The Tuis came the Hawk to kill,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
And yet the Hawk is living still,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
The Hawk can soar, the Hawk can fight—
The Tuis tried to stay his flight—
The Hawk shall have a feast to-night,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
Kapai! Rauparaha!
And yet the Hawk is living still,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
The Hawk can soar, the Hawk can fight—
The Tuis tried to stay his flight—
The Hawk shall have a feast to-night,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
*****
“Slaves should have but little words,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
Little songs for little birds,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
Little Tuis should not try
With their little wings to fly
Where the Hawk is perched on high,
Kapai! Rauparaha!”
Kapai! Rauparaha!
Little songs for little birds,
Kapai! Rauparaha!
Little Tuis should not try
With their little wings to fly
Where the Hawk is perched on high,
Kapai! Rauparaha!”
LXXX.
The Last Haka.
And then they danced their last war-dance to gain
The physical fever of the blood and brain
That might their dashed and drooping spirit sustain,
Nor let their flagging courage fail or flinch.
Then formal frenzy in full play was seen;
The dancers seemed a mob of maniacs, swayed
By one insane volition, all obeyed,
Their mad gesticulations to enact
With frantic uniformity, exact
The physical fever of the blood and brain
That might their dashed and drooping spirit sustain,
Nor let their flagging courage fail or flinch.
Then formal frenzy in full play was seen;
The dancers seemed a mob of maniacs, swayed
By one insane volition, all obeyed,
Their mad gesticulations to enact
With frantic uniformity, exact