Maori Love Song.

O wake! The sky is shining like a shell
Over the lake that shadowed lay till now,
And on the darkness of the rata tremble
The Little Lamps of Crimson on each bough.
Dawn flashes like a bird above the toi tois,
Brushing the feathers of their plumes with gold.
The tui sings. O hear! for in his pleading
All the dumb longing of my heart is told.
Awake! The fires of morning burn the heavens,
Scattering the solitude and sleep of night.
So long my days have passed among the shadows,
Come now, O Heart of Dawn, and waken them to light.
Come now, O come! my Little Flower of Rata,
My heart its lonely vigil so long a time has kept.
Come with a touch, a look, and all the Lamps of Blossom,
Will spring from that which long in barreness has slept!

—Una Auld.

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