Lo, a Maori lad is singing,
On a mellow morning:
“Where is the wanderer?
Where is the Kotuku?
Where is the slow wing?
We are lonely in Waikato!
Are you down by old Wairoa?
Are you over the sea?
Often says my father,
'Sometime you will see him,'
But I have not seen you!
Where are you, Run-away?
Where are you, Here-and-there?
Where is the Heron,
The White Crane, the lost bird?
Lost is the Heron, lost, lost the Kotuku.
He Kotuku rerenga tahi!”

Lo, a Maori man is singing,
On another morning:
“Home is the Kotuku!
Home the Silver Heron!
Home is the slow wing!
We are proud in old Waikato,
We have heard a slow, slow flapping,
And the bird of love is come.
page 15 Often said my father,
'Sometime you will see him!”
Now at last I see you.
Welcome home, O Run-away!
Welcome, little Leave-the-Land!
Haeremai the Heron,
The White Crane, the lost bird.
Home is the Heron, home, home the Kotuku,
He Kotuku rerenga tahi!”