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 viewThy 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 wayThe pathway of the fleeting soulTo the great dwelling of the godsWhile 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!
A sacrifice thou art,Where frosty breezes blow,On sacred ahurewa high,Impaled by the wizard-priestOf visage dark.By Uenuku, vengeful of the gods,Devoured art thou!
  Alas, alas!

J. Cowan.

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