Te Tangi Mo Te Heuheu.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 February 1901, Page 396

Te Tangi Mo Te Heuheu.

Drooping and lone are the Birds of the morning, For thou, 0 sire, are gone ! Depart, 0 mighty one, On winter's icy breath. My sad lament is this, My sighing tale of woe — For thou art gone, A sacred offering to the gods. Vanished art thou In the dim day dawning — A nestling on the altar high, Fed to the cruel gods. While I, like snowy-breasted shag, Bird of the stream and lake, Swoop swiftly o'er the plains, and view Thy battlefields again. But now below we sadly mourn, For thou art gathered up by Tv, "The all-consuming god of war.

Depart thou by thy sacred way, The pathway of the fleeting soul To the great dwelling of the gods While shades of evening fall. 0, sweet- voiced bird ! My cherished Kokomako — c ! 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-priest Of visage dark. By Qenuku, vengeful of the gods, Devoured art thou ! Alas, alas !