NEW ZEALAND

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 135, 9 June 1928, Page 14

NEW ZEALAND

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF A VISITOR (By Una A. Maw.) "Tis fairer Hian I thought 't could bo This Island rising from the Sen, These Isles where suit spray creams the spume , Caressing tass'llrd ice plant bloom, "Which grows near tussock on the sand As gold as whore JVlidas did stand. Beyond the purple of the hills Aloft a little skylark trills In ether clear as diamond eye. Here nearer to the sea gulls cry, Whilst wheeling over tangled marsh, Where straying sheep nip grasses harsh, Accentuated in the glow; Oh! hear the tide turn at the low! A childish laugh with its delight Is carried high as is his kite. Where old volcanoes used to burn Grow flowering shrubs, and trees of fern. Light winds a whisper softly croon Through titrco branches, where . the moon Has hung her sickle 'gainst the night, As twinkles here and there a light . . . Is that a factory whistle's blastf And are those trains which hurry past? I dream! 'tis hard to visualizo Those rocky wastes, I rub my eyes! . . 'Twas here the distant line of blue, The rising peaks came into view When Maori Fathers long long since Had come to their inheritance; Like unto madmen had they laughed As pnllcd they harder in the- craft. Called they their Gods, yet spat an oath, .For dead and living were they both! Come from far Isles, they scarce knew whence, Those weary braves, in consequence The tale is lost, this other talo Is ever now, 'tis never stale, Of how old England sent her sons To reap and plough and hew; it runs Of how her daughters, as they do Went forward, ever faithful, true, To make a home in alien land With cheering smile and helping hand. 'Tis to these women that we owe Our gratitude, and be it so That they acknowledgement receive, This were no Eden without Eve!.