MAUI’S FISH
I know of a place where the fish are as fern in the forest,
So many! and fat as fat pigeons, and sweeter than berry-fed pigeons, those fish!
Let us on!” And his tongue was of oil, and his words as a feast in the cooking;
(He knew what they wished) and their ears and their hearts were bemused.
On, onward they went:
Paddle and paddle, paddle and paddle and paddle....
The Sun looking on from the North, and Maui still baling and baling.
Till once more spake the Brothers:
“No man hath fished here since the days of our fathers; here anchor!”
“Not yet, Ah, not yet!” Maui said; “A canoe’s length, a little way further!
Ah, Brothers, those fish! So immense
That one piece of one fish will most nobly provide for our supper,
So bold, they will race to the hook, and two castings will fill us,
The wink of an eye see us full.”
Aha! Bright was his bait, and he knew what he wanted,
By the ear and the stomach he caught them, these Brothers, these fish!
Paddle on, paddle on, paddle on....
Now the land is gone from their gaze;
To the edge of the world they are come!
Now the Sea was their world,
And the Sun from the opposite side look’d upon them,
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