New Zealand Verse/To the Makomako, or Bell-bird
LXXIII.
To the Makomako, or Bell-bird.
(Now rapidly dying out of our land.)
Merry chimer, merry chimer,
Oh, sing once more,
Again outpour,
Like some long-applauded mimer,
All thy vocal store.
Oh, sing once more,
Again outpour,
Like some long-applauded mimer,
All thy vocal store.
Alas! we now but seldom hear
Thy rich, full note
Around us float,
For thou seem’st doomed to disappear,
E’en from woods remote.
Thy rich, full note
Around us float,
For thou seem’st doomed to disappear,
E’en from woods remote.
Some say the stranger honey-bee,
By white men brought,
This ill hath wrought;
It steals the honey from the tree,
And it leaves thee naught.
By white men brought,
This ill hath wrought;
It steals the honey from the tree,
And it leaves thee naught.
The songsters of our Fatherland
We hither bring,
And here they sing,
Reminding of that distant strand
Whence old mem’ries spring.
We hither bring,
And here they sing,
Reminding of that distant strand
Whence old mem’ries spring.
But as the old we love the new;
Fain we’d retain
Thy chiming strain,
Thy purple throat and olive hue:
Yet we wish in vain.
Fain we’d retain
Thy chiming strain,
Thy purple throat and olive hue:
Yet we wish in vain.
Thy doom is fixed by Nature’s law;
Why, none can tell.
Therefore farewell;
We’ll miss thy voice from leafy shaw,
Living silver bell.
Why, none can tell.
Therefore farewell;
We’ll miss thy voice from leafy shaw,
Living silver bell.
Why should we ever know new joys,
If thus they pass?
Leaving, alas!
Wistful regret, which much alloys
All that man now has.
If thus they pass?
Leaving, alas!
Wistful regret, which much alloys
All that man now has.