Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/164

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128
The Coming of Te Rauparaha.
Writhing close to Hipe! Then a whisperOn the women’s dry lips hesitatedAs the ring of figures fluttered backwards;“’Tis the Spirit-Thing that comes to carryHipe’s tardy soul across the watersTo the world of stars!” And Hipe, grimly,Felt its hungry eyes a-glitter on him;Then he knew the spirit-world had called him;Knew the lizard-messenger must hasten,And would carry back a soul for answer.
Twenty days in silence he had listened,Dumb with thoughts of death, and sorely troubledFor his tribe left leaderless and lonely.
Now like sullen thunder from the blacknessOf the whare swept a voice untincturedWith a stain of sickness; and the women,Breaking backwards, shrieked in sudden terror,“’Tis the weird Thing’s voice, the greenish lizard,All-impatient for the soul of Hipe!”But the warriors in the shadow straightenedDrooping shoulders, gripped their greenstone meres,And the rhythmic tumult of the war-danceSwept the great pah with its throbbing thunder:While their glad throats chanted, “E, ’tis Hipe!Hipe’s voice that led us in the battle;Hipe, young, come back to lead us ever!”“Warriors and women of my hapu,”Whirled the voice of Hipe from the darkness,“I have had communion with the spirits;Listen while I chant the song they taught me!
“I have seen the coming end of all things,Seen the Maori shattered ’neath the onrushOf the white-faced strangers. Like the flashing
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