The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 77
To Otago
To Otago.
Let them vaunt of the cliffs that look rugged and bold,
With their bare, craggy sides and their summits of cold;
Give me the bold mountains with Nature's gay sheen,
Hills all covered o'er with mantles of green.
And where are the hills that in grandeur compare
With the heights of Otago, so lovely and fair?
Where the bush is aye green, ever Verdant the trees,
Ever fanned the clear sky with the sea-tempered breeze.
Where summer is smiling, and sweetly the flower
Hangs from the green twig in the quiet sheltered bower;
Nae foliage of Nature, tho' lovely it shine,
Ever blooming Otago is equal to thine.
Though few be the strangers thy fair climes explore,
And few be the homes that arise on thy shore;
From lands and from regions across the wide sea,
Are hearts that will venture, Dunedin to thee!
—A. M.
March 24, 1849.