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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 12 (March 2, 1936)

Progress

Progress.

There was peace in the vale; and the stream swam by,
With a murmurous dash and a bubbling sigh
O'er the smooth-worn rocks, thru’ the eddying bay,
Where the waters of time had carved their way
From the Earth… There was peace that day.
There was peace in the bush where the tui sang,
In the sweet-dank depths; in the sunny tang
Of manuka blooming on the dry, steep hill.
There was peace in the blue of the sky, in the still
Hot air… And the fern-bird's trill.
There is clamour and bustle in the valley now,
And feverish haste; and the highpitched sough
Of the saw in wood, and the axe's ring.
But ask the hewn bough, the broken wing,
What gold… and man can bring.
I see a city where a valley stood,
Where the bird once sang, where grew a wood
Of restful green, its top splashed red
With rata bloom. Beneath man's tread
That past, that peace, are dead.