New Zealand Verse/Te Raupo

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LXIX.

Te Raupo.

Down in a valley,Hemmed in by mountains,Ripples a riverVivid 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 theeDown to destruction,Whispering softly:“Come tread my raupo,Safe it will bear theeO’er the morass.”Deaf to her charming,Deaf to her wooing,Pauses the wise man;Ay, though each raupoBends in obeisance,Whispering “Try us.”
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Down in the valley,Hemmed in by mountains,Vivid and verdant,O’er the morass.Bends to the East wind,Bows to the West wind,Wooing the strangerTo his undoing,Raupo kakino.

M. A. Sinclair.

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