Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/175
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The Curse of Tuhotu.
139
Woe to Ariki the proud!
Humbled shall be her pride.
She smiles on the fair hill-side:
But I see the gathering cloud—
I hear the mutterings loud.
O God ! the cloud has burst!
In a rain of living fire
I see Ariki expire,
By sloth and sin accurst!
Humbled shall be her pride.
She smiles on the fair hill-side:
But I see the gathering cloud—
I hear the mutterings loud.
O God ! the cloud has burst!
In a rain of living fire
I see Ariki expire,
By sloth and sin accurst!
Woe unto Moura, woe!
She is dreaming of peace and rest,
Like a bird in its quiet nest,
While the blue lake lies below.
Her sons to folly wander;
The stranger’s gold they claim;
To the stranger’s vice they pander—
They sell her daughters’ shame!
God stamps His foot in anger,
The earth’s foundations shake:
For Moura weep,
She lieth deep
In Tarawera’s lake!
She is dreaming of peace and rest,
Like a bird in its quiet nest,
While the blue lake lies below.
Her sons to folly wander;
The stranger’s gold they claim;
To the stranger’s vice they pander—
They sell her daughters’ shame!
God stamps His foot in anger,
The earth’s foundations shake:
For Moura weep,
She lieth deep
In Tarawera’s lake!
Waitangi, thy waters of wailing
Are lamenting, unavailing,
Too late to avert thy doom!
Too late doth thy conscience waken,
For, in sin and shame o’ertaken,
Thy glory shall sink in gloom!
Mourn, ye weeping waters,
The fate of your sons and daughters
Who sleep in a nameless tomb!
Are lamenting, unavailing,
Too late to avert thy doom!
Too late doth thy conscience waken,
For, in sin and shame o’ertaken,
Thy glory shall sink in gloom!
Mourn, ye weeping waters,
The fate of your sons and daughters
Who sleep in a nameless tomb!
Deep and eternal shame,
Bitter and endless woe,
Bitter and endless woe,