A LAY OF THE MAORI WAR. DEATH OF VOLKNER. (Waiuku Literary Association.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3133, 1 August 1867, Page 4

A LAY OF THE MAORI WAR. DEATH OF VOLKNER. (Waiuku Literary Association.)

" Say, minstrel, wby these notes of woe So sadly from thy harp's strings flow, And tale of love rang soft and low, Ne'er theme of poet's minstrelsy ? " What storm of grief hath snowed thy hair ? Why furrowed brow with pain and owe ? Why look'st so aged, and yet so fair ? Why harp'at bo weird a melody 1" " Oom'e, 'list my lay : heed not these teats; My looks are grey, but not with years $ Long, long I sang loves-h opes and fears, And lovers' madd'ning jealousy. "But now, whene'er my harp I string, Of peace, and joy, and love to sing; 1 Eaoh minstrel chord, doth wayward ring This lay of Maori treachery. "What rider, bespattered and torn, so wildly and so swift, Fliei, as a spirit all forlorn— as cloud along the lift ? It is the Arawa bushranger that yeatermorn. rode outt See ihe points to some hidden danger. Hark ! to his warning shout : 'Hauhaus, Hauhaus, with darkling brows, are sweeping through the gorge ; With whip and spur, all drenched in gort, their war 1 steeds swiftly urge ; , t I saw their leader's danoing plume, 1 heard his gathering cry King out the pakeW fell doom, ere dip of sun they'd die. ' They come ! They come i nor trump nor dram rings to their chargers' tread ; Each flax-gilt knight pants for the fight, a scalp or gory bed. At saddle-bow swings tomahawk, knows gleaming sword no sheath ; Whene'er the wind flings mantle back, shows scalping knife beneath. * Let's fly ! Let'd fly ! how vengeful cry Hauhaus in t yonder fern J ' / • •< Their wind-tossed, hair rolls far in air, their bearing ; dark 'and stern ; > Plumej sp'uf,' *YdV d n ? of now gl anoe * tt Hgn* : "wty stay your lingering feet ? There's glory in the thickest fight, there's glory in retreat.' <Oh soulless scout, why dread the foe 1 ' up spoke . ' brave Levi then, ' f Why shrink from shout, charge, thrust, and blow of flax-girt warrior men ! Strike where you see my crest dance free, this broadsword flashing wide; Hurrah ! Hurrah t on to the fray, and stem th advancing tide.' '- f "- '"' . ni'ifit "i i 'No carnal knife for deatb,f and, ,lile,' the gentle Volkner cried j r • 'By me is worn, or banner borne amid the battle tide. Christ's holy Cross alone I bear, God's blessed word my Bhield ; if need, the martyr's crown I'll wear ; seek ye th< battle-field.' As falls the pine down steep incline, when windi their fury pour ; As crash the wreck on reef and rook, where wavei contending roar ; So counsel sage, where many rage, from man to mai is tossed ; And where one head bad safely led, all, all is hopelesi lost. Behold ! the fiends are gathering fast round thai devoted man. What though he trembling wait aghast, what thougt his cheeks be wan ; Not death's grim phanton now he fears, from earth*! vain glory riven ; Grows ripe his soul for other spheres, the goldn plains of heaven. With glance of ire as hot as fire, stern Mokomoko 1 flew, Swift 'fore the rest, with panting chest, and out hit weapon drew ; One sudden bound, ono gurgling sound, right sooi had olosed the scene, But ere the knife could drink his life, stepped Kereop' between. ' O'er Meana the wing'd ships brought,' that darksoul'd chieftain cried, ' White-hearted men, in battle nought, of selfiahnesE the pride ; To heaven high they cast one eye, the other on our land; To heaven high let their souls fly, their cones to the sand.' He's caught him by his flowing beard, and swiftly knife raised high ; The martyr auswers not a word, he utters nofc a 1 cry. Too soon he strikes for death the blow, the lifeblood ne'er is found ; Wide Bhoots the knife, and» grovelling low, he clutches bloodless ground. Twice twenty blades like lightning leap, twice twenty blades high gleam, Twice, twenty blades are buried deep, in one red , , rolling stream ; Would quench these knives twice twenty lives, but one alone is dead ; And sunder'd swift, aloft they lift and toss his dripping head. That loathsome brood soon licked his blood, 'and out through fleih and bone, Mid' yells and cries scooped out his eyes, where the soul had lately shone, And they drank from his reeking skulli with a laugh like wolves the while ; And they crunched till their teeth grew dull, with a grim and ghastly smile; And they hacked him in pieces small, for their lordly , festival ; And they smacked his still smoking flesh, as ye suck the peach when fresh ; And they danced and they wildly sang, till the hills like sounds gave birth ; And they pranced and their war shoxits rang, till they grasped the trampled earth. There's mercy in the wild hawk's maw, the tiger hath his fill, The snake his prey can cease to slay, the shark forbear to kill, The lion's wrath some mercy hath, but the ruthless cannibal Can ne'er forget his teeth to whet for his royal festi. val. 'Tia sweet to die the brave man's death, far 'mid the battle-field ; 'Tis sweet to park with parting breath, bearing the Christian's shield. But oh ! to think that dogs will drink of life's blood crimson tide, And teeth will grate with demon hate : 'twas thus that Volkner died." The hoary harper ceased his lay ; His head sank down, his tresses grey Swept o'er the strings, as if to play "Revenge ! Revenge for treachery." The tide of song 'gain filled his soul, And through the strings his fingers stole, But still that strain did upward roll, " Revenge ! Revenge this butchery." " Why harp'st aye thus ?" " Thy soul engage, My locks are grey, but not with age ; Each lonely life hath some dark page — Mine, tale of treaoh'rous cruelty. " These hairs were black as midnight brow, Like fleecy clouds they're changed so now,—* That hour of death could whisper how, That hour of darkest misery. " But hark ! I'll sing some melting strain Of maiden coy and anxious swam, Encircled with Love's golden chain, In Nature's sweetest melody." For other strains his harp he strungBroke is each chord— aside is flung— 'But still' their latest accents rung „ ' " ' ' ■ « Revenge \ Revenge this bu^oßOTyO ' •-' • '