Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/169

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The March of Te Rauparaha.
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Hipe heard, and, dying, cried in triumph,“Warriors and women of my hapu,He shall lead you, he, Te Rauparaha.He shall do the things that he has promised.He may fail; but think how grand his failure!He alone can lift against the tempestThat proud head of his, and hugely daring,God-like, hugely fail, or hugely conquer!”
Still he spoke, but suddenly the lizardMade a greenish ripple through the darkness,And was gone! Upon the long lone journeyTo Te Reinga and the world of spiritsIt had started with the soul of Hipe!
Then the plaintive wailing of the womenQuavered through the darkness, and a shudderTook the slaves that in a horror waitedFor the mercy of the blow to send them—Ah! the sombre, slowly-stepping phalanx—To the twilight world with Hipe’s spirit.

Arthur H. Adams.

LXXIX.

The March of Te Rauparaha.

  Rauparaha’s war chant,  Rauparaha’s fame-song,  Rauparaha’s story  Told on the harp-strings,
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