THE BOOKMAN

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 138, 7 December 1918, Page 10

THE BOOKMAN

NEW ZEALAND HISTORY IN VERSE. "A South Sea Saga." By S. H. Strong:. G. B. llooro and Co., Dalston, London. This book, published in 1912, has only just reached The Post. The causa of tho delay is unknown. It consists of 183 pages of verse in the style of "Hudibras"; but, unlike that work, is neither humorous nor satirical. It is, in, fact, solemn, serious history of New Zealand and of its social development. The work is that of an exceedingly wellread and in many ways a cultured writer. In i3le proem the writer recalls the pioneers, who came to New Zealand, their long and weary voyage, and their first meeting with the Maoris, who gave them kindly welcome, and their settlement in the new land when Waitangi's trashy being- signed, Our pioneers Jeit unconnncd, Each to allotted task repaired. New Zealand, according to the singer of th« "South Sea Saga, waa discovered by Poseidon when —voyaging afar Across the ocean in his car, Descried an isolated shore Ne'er visited by him before. Its exploration pleased so well He spedl his courses back, to tell The Olympian household—wearied long Of their old classio home of song. Poseidon'a .story of these fortunate isles certainly impresses the gods, who debate before Zeus what shall be done with them. Demeter, Persephone, Bacchus, Ares, Aphrodite, Eris, Pan, all take part. Finally Hermes— —with obeisance low, Which served to hide a cunning brow, A Belial both and Mammon, he, In language clothed in euphony ■ And eloquence, addressed his sire. Hermes paints nil the' niches and dignity of commerce; the gods approve; Pallas and Apollo say their say, then Zeus speaks—■ Ethereal essences that seem In princely mortal guise to gleam [ Upon, the thoughts of man below, | It now behoves me to avow Decision on your grave debate. Since first Deucalion was by. fate With Pyrrha saved from watery grave To people earth again, their brave And active race from time to time— As narrowed fast each crowded clime— Oi in pursuit of wealth or change, Or enterprise a wider range Attempted; nearer shores at first— As reason was—then those dispersed. The distant lands that 'scaped the flood, Inhabited by Gaia's brood— Since less'n'd down to mortal build— Await their turn to be fulfilled' Of tenure by a shrewder r»c»j This factor present to efface The principles of crude pretence— ! Sufficing them through lack of cense Of higher aims—*nd to inspire Their simple minds with keen desire For all the virtues that pertain Good lives, becomes our care; but vain Or little use our pretence there Till mortal aid the way prepare, For, fashion is a potent charm To sway the mob for good or harm. The time approaches when the land We now consider will command Advertency by slow degrees From old-world rovers of the aeas j But if you list to make essay Some few Olympiads ere that dity 'Twould ill appear to mo to damp Tho wick that feeds your glowing [ lamp."

Thvm Zeus concludes, wid "a brimming beaker" is presented to him by Ganymede, while the rest are refreshed by "blooming Hebe." : Not only the history of N«w Zealand is sung by the Bard, but th*t of the world from Tannin's time, with reference* to the struggles of Whigs and Tor- i ies, the origin of the balloon, the voyages of Cook, the early whaling days of South Sea whaling—in which a, vwy fine description of the taking of a cachelot is introduced. Chartist riots are touched upon, and then follow the early Maori risings. Sir George Grey appears and with him peace in the islands that Poseidon discovered in the forgotten past of his dominion. More of the «t©ry of New Zealand 1! manhood is unfolded, until the gold digging dayi are reached, •nd life on the fields ia thu* depicted ; Here brawny meu of low degree, With twigs from stocks of pedigree Whom "yellow fever" caused to ro»m ; ! Others from desk and counter come; I Here ripe scholar and legal limb, | And physic's student, to the brim In vicioui courses steeped, arrive In motley swarm to fill the hive. ! The commissariat i» bfent Of gory butcher, baker clean, And huckster sedulous und keen Comes, too, the courtesan with shsra* Of bartered virtue on her n»me. From high heaven Zens «eea the mortals in this New Island home of theirs winning from the land its wealth m pasture, field and mine j sees them making laws and governing themselves after their own fashion. Appeals among ! the "Senate numbering men of worth, of •übstanoe, culture, gentle birth"— Sir Julias Vogel! With honeyed words and fertile brain There occupies the premier place A scion of that ancient race That rules th« parse strings of the world, By fickle fortune hither whirled. Once more the gods are met, but this time upon Aorangi, the Olympus of the South. Stern Zens presides. One by one the gods describe the changes that h»vo taken place in New Zealand since the white man has lubdued the knd. Alas! j All has not gone well with the mortals, j Aphrodite finds "love—true love is well-nigh dead!" ; Heatia learna that— j This race of mortals long content With method of my management Has latterly become pos«eesed ] With auch extravagant unrut, I Its constant craving is to do, Or hear, or witness something new. Athene deplores "the laxity of all r«- ] straint," and the limitation of families; Ares complains of the substitution of science for personal bravery in war- j fare; Demeter regrets to see "expensive habits that imbue tho modfern social scale." God of God speaks, and all it not right with the mortal worW m they see it. Finally Zeu* thunders, and j conclndes^— ' Men's luat ot self must be subdued. "Except a man be born again iiis hopes of heavenly bliss ar* vain," And no monopoly of place Cart influence the Spirits' trace. In short, the lesson too singer would teach is saKHned up in the word* ot Isaiah, "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." This is all brought oat in the measure of which a sample is given in tb» above quotations. "South Sea Saga" i» likely to have but a limited vogue. People are impatient of verse in these days, except it ba ihort and crisp.