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Tales of Banks Peninsula

Our Jubilee

page 385

Our Jubilee.

The years roll on in this new land that gems the Southern Sea,
As many an aged pioneer can prove right wearily;
Men that shaped out the future for the thousands of their race
Who needed sore in crowded homes a new abiding place.
They taught this stubborn earth to smile with Europe's plants and flowers;
They made the primal rocks reveai a Danae's golden showers;
They bridged the flood, they drained the swamp, they tore the forest down,
And made the golden corn to smile where waved the tussock brown.
Nor they alone the victory won, for by their sides there stood
Full many an angel of the wild, a heroine of the wood,
Who urged them forth to high emprise, or where misfortune fell,
Would many a word of peace and hope and gentlest comfort tell;
Whe, like the rata, when the pine is tottering to its fall,
Still held them in strong loving bands and made them tower o'er all;
And should not they who reap the toil of all those early days.
Give to the veterans their meed of due and hard earned praise?
Remember in luxurious days the trials of the past,
And trumpet forth these heroes' deeds with no uncertain blast.
'Tis more than fifty years ago that Waitemata heard
That this fair haven—Akaroa-had beautiful appeared
To sons of the fair land of joy, of chivalry and song,
Who meant to seize its favoured shores, and hold them firm and strong.
Then all the Viking spirit rose in that small British band:
What! Should they lose this favoured isle, this lovely southern land?
Perish the thought! Should England's might like this be trampled down?
A gem lost from her diadem, a jewel from her crown!
So on her mission of emprise the Britomart was sent;
True Argonauts were those brave hearts who in the vessel went,
For sure they searched not vainly, and the fruit their wa nderings bore
Was not a singe golden fleece, but many a million more!
page 386 We know the end—with high result the British dart was sped,
And in the race for empire, our doughty champions led.
They gained our shores; and loud the cheers that rang across our seas
As old St George's glorious cross flew bravely in the breeze.
A greater or a happier day Zealandia never saw
Than this, which bound to English rule her loveliest Southern shore;
But there has been one victory since—as great in thinkers' eyes
It brought no riches in its train, no vast material prize,
Yet was a triumph for our laws, a glory to our land,
That ne'er can fade while Britain's sons hold France's loving hand.
The men who came to claim the soil—whom we had deemed out foes—
Settled our shores" and speedily fresh rivalry arose—
The rivalry of industry, the striving each to prove
Supremacy in deeds of toil, of kindness, and of love;
And after working side by side for many a weary day,
At last the further time came round when they were called to say:
Will ye be' France or Britain's sons? ye know us now full well.
O noble was the answer that from their brave lips fell—
"We know you, and we love you, and this is our reply
Together we will fight and fall; together live or die."
And now that fifty years are past since that old faithful band
Raised the proud standard of our Queen upon this fertile strand,
We seek to brand it for all time—a landmark of our race—
So that, when in the distant years, historians shall trace
The records of the early days, when first this land of flowers
Was rendered by a daring deed for all the ages ours.
They can point out the sacred spot where first our standard braved
The winds that hover o'er the shores our peaceful waters laved;
Still tell how France and Britain here forgot the feuds of old,
And hand in hand, and heart to heart, did lovingly enfold.