Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/177
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Te Heuheu’s Death Song.
141
While I, like snowy-breasted shag,
Bird of the stream and lake,
Swoop swiftly o’er the plains, and view
Thy battlefields again.
Bird of the stream and lake,
Swoop swiftly o’er the plains, and view
Thy battlefields again.
But now below we sadly mourn,
For thou art gathered up by Tu,
The all-consuming god of war.
Depart thou by thy sacred way
The pathway of the fleeting soul
To the great dwelling of the gods
While shades of evening fall.
For thou art gathered up by Tu,
The all-consuming god of war.
Depart thou by thy sacred way
The pathway of the fleeting soul
To the great dwelling of the gods
While shades of evening fall.
O, sweet-voiced bird!
My cherished Kokomako—e!
That once in dawning gaily sang—
Bell-bird from Pungarehu’s tangled brake,
Alas, thou’rt gone!
My cherished Kokomako—e!
That once in dawning gaily sang—
Bell-bird from Pungarehu’s tangled brake,
Alas, thou’rt gone!
A sacrifice thou art,
Where frosty breezes blow,
On sacred ahurewa high,
Impaled by the wizard-priest
Of visage dark.
By Uenuku, vengeful of the gods,
Devoured art thou!
Where frosty breezes blow,
On sacred ahurewa high,
Impaled by the wizard-priest
Of visage dark.
By Uenuku, vengeful of the gods,
Devoured art thou!
Alas, alas!