Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 293, 31 July 1865, Page 4

POETRY. THE LAY OF THE LAST MAOEI. WK6UB to this ABOBiGtruss’ paoTEcnoa B3METT. fFrom tlio N.Z. Herald.] i 'c • ®B».wajr was long, the wind was cold. The Maori was half-starved and old; i. His tattooed cheek and mour.nfui eye ' ' ' Told talcs of better days gone by; Around his neck, in blanket slung ' : His greenstone meri loosely hung. His prized Jew's harp, his only joy. Was “toted” bya haif-daste boy. , The last of ail the Maoris he Who fought for native monarchy. Alas! Ills race’s, date bad fled. . His brethren pai marircs dead; The pWlo-Maories—crafty knaves— Had brought their victims to their graves ; A»d he—the last remaining chief— From door to door now craved relief; And played, to please each settler’s ear ” The harp great Thompson loved to hear. Upon Mount Eden’s rising swell He paused, and gazed towards Parnell; Then turned his eyes'upon the Bay, . Where many a white-wing’d vessel lay, ■ ” His restless look, from sea and ship, ' Wandered to Niccol’s Patent Slip; He shook his head; then as ho viewed The busy hurrying multitude • / In Auckland’s streets, he heaved a sigh. And wept to think on days gone by. The settler marked the old man’s wo. • ‘ And to iris cottage bade him go; Where kaikal, in the shape of beef. Might give his troubled heart relief. * With beef and kumsras supplied, The old chief sooa was satisfied; Then’gau to rise his warrior pride, . And he commenced to talk anon Of crafty Thompson, dead and gone, Of Potatau and Eewi too— Braver than these ne’er soldiers slew; Of Kawau’s lord, who hard did strife The Maori race to keep alive; Of Shaftesb’ry—and the famous " Hall ’’ . Whose cantings worked the natives’ fall Of those who caused the Maori’s stir ; And Weld, the then Prime Minister. ’’ ‘ \ (Still as he spoke, his faded eye •’■■■ : Lit up with savage eestaoy ■ Straight far his half-caste boy he sent ;.; ,Tb play aholdaccompauiment; And, as the jews’-Uarp loudly rung , ’Twas thus the Latest Maori sung—- , Gone is the noble native race ; " ’ ' Through all their former lauds no trace Of Maoris can ho found Save X, descended from a King, Yet now a wretched starving thing. Spurned like a beaten hound. Yet time has been when these broad lands Owned men whose ever-ready hands Their bravery had shown. When spite of priests and bloody wars. And feeble rulers’ wav’ring laws, The Maoris held thoir own. •Twas hut a space. They fought and die A Ko lusty sons their place supplied, No more the race could turivo; Of all who by their threatened raid Kept Auckland citizens dismayed, - But one remains alive! Whence this delay ? Go ask those fools Who cant about their Bagged Schools, Yet starving leave their poor! Who struggle in their turgid throes O’er the benighted “ brother's ” woes— With wretches at their door. Ask them the cause of our decay; These slanderers of your race will say “ The settlers’grasping hand From which nor trutu nor justice saves. Drove the poor Maoris to tueir graves Aud seized upon their Land. Tis false. For our sad fate the blame Is theirs who used liehgion’s name ' ’ Their selfish aims to speed; Who raised suspicion in each heart. And counselled us to keep apart And dread the settlers’ greed. They taught us prayers to say by rote. And told us that this parrot note The just and good would please. . Pity, with, all their pious prate, , They did not teach us till too lata To know the Pharisees. , Such men as Morgan—Volkner—true Tried all that Christian zeal could do To benefit our race: Others discredit—to their shame— Brought on the teacher’s sacred name— A Uadfield and a Grace! ; That we were brave is known to those Who marked the slaughter of our foes In many a bloody fray; When Tamihana’s counsel wise Made numbers at bis bidding rise • ' r To hold the troops at bay. Yet what availed our noble deeds, When in our midst the baneful seeds Of anarchy were sown? When Maoris, urged by fancied wrongs ’ Revolted, and in frenzied throngs Did British rule disownV The settlers’ patience tired at last Gave way, and fierce reprisals fast Swept o’er our fated land; Though Weld and colleagues oft, in vain. With platitudes sought to restrain The white’s avenging ban A Our race was doomed, i saw it fade; Yet not alone the settler's raid Provoked our direful fate; But that fell practise, ne’er reproved By those who with then- preaching moved ; Our minds to doubt, and hate. ’Twas communism, and not war; Unheeded by us. Nature’s law And Heaven’s—married life; s , And deadlier far was our abuse Of God’s injunction for its use Thau bloody fields of strife. This caused our fall; and one by one They died; the race at length was run. They quickly passed away; And I, the last of Maoris, leave A curse on those who did deceive ' - > . And fed my race astray. The yarn was spun—the Maori gone. And did he wander forth alone—- • Alone, in bis declining hours _j , Id exercise his loafing powers ? ... Ho; on the Kawau’s seagirt isle, " 4 ’ Where Grey erst held vice-regal style An oldman lived; content and staid While troops of half-castes round him played. And oft he smiled at questions sly Of Governors, and days gone by; Andieverthushis story ram—■"T«jr Gather was « mighty man, AMd when Ac died—as ad must do, . iasafeters famed LaAlhut Sew < ■ S?*? w h ro who had not heard or read love for the poor race .now dead.” i . JHOJH SOFT GUI MAL Y PENSE.