Waitemata Dawn

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22949, 29 January 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

Waitemata Dawn

From my windows what see I? Merchant Vessel passing by; A black and red and rusty ship; A mooing castle riding nigh; A scow that glides, as in a dream, Without a wind, against the streams A high, a green, a sombre hill, With baby laughter in the sky; A shirting cliff, like Albion's own In moaning magic undertone; And weightless, held above the tide. Rocks and a tall red lighthouse ride• And like a fable read of old, As might have seen the pure and bold Of Arthur's questing band, As might Christian when at last All his journeying Was passed, As the opium pipe might tell The fallen victim of his spell— Spotlighted, like mad artist's rage Depicted on ethereal stage, Caught from beams the clouds among, Glows a City Beautiful. It is as if, one moment's span, Heav'n has blessed the works of man; As if man raised those columns white Clustered on a little height, To gain a smile from God. —Edmund L. Reed.