TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 4, 6 January 1902, Page 2

TARANAKI.

Oh I grand .Taranaki, yon justly nrtr olaim j The narp o£ the stranger to Bpts*k of your fame! ) For ipany the changes that trotbled your h east, ; ' Ere safe on yonr bosem the Btiton found I r r- f For tokens still tell o£ the year* that have j

paSs'd, I W hell Egmont his cinder-closds hurl'd on

the blast, fnd [rivers of lava, wild, fiery, and free, From his o'aier-vents flowed to the baths of fbe sea. When forces, infernal, deep prisoned and tent, In meanings, And groaining«, contended for

} eat, And the earth into chasms atti fissures was rent; ~ And all the wide region wis filled with Affright, I In blackness by day, and hell glow by night. Then rose the great cone, like a mountain of I ldread, I 'Till'the cloud-drift of ages had covered Us

head. And calm grew the terrors, the fires ceased

to glow, Andj Egmont was robed in his mantle of

snow. And thils for long ages, Hie cloud-piercing

cone In Summer and Winter, in majesty shone— Yes thousands, and thousands, of seasobs went by, And still the great pyramid rose in the sky. But} God in his wisdom extended the glow Of the sun \o the zone ot the mountain of j snow: | Then down rushed the torrents, relentless | [and strong, Ana glaciers, mote slowly, went ploughing I jaldiigi

Then thundered the afalatlohe downward T amain, And soattered the mountain-spoil ovtr the J plain, While streams of wild water, like serpents 1 astray, Baji darting and twisting in searoh of their I way,

An'd thus, for long ages, the forces renewed The conflict of Mature, and fought and sub-

dued Bach other, till peace was established again, And verdure appearidon each foothill and p,ain; And forests encircled the mountain, and : prees'd Still onward and upward, more near to his

crest. Then came the dark Maori, to seek in the i shade A, home and subsistence; and grimly he I I prayed j Tlje gods of the savage, to lend him their aid. ! And madly he struggled, with ha*<e in his | ] breast, And hell htat, such as the o'd mountain op j ' prejs'd, j White fearful convulsions molested his rest: Fpr strife and distraction still cxme to bii>

i share, And peace end contentment avoided him

there. In time the bold Briton oame over the mala B7 Providenoe guided, to rule a n d to reign. With progress, and commerce, and science, ! and art, With God in his purpose, and Christ in his

heart. And then was repeated the discord and fight, As error and darkness encountered the tight, And forces volcanic found vent in the breast, And passion, ani hatred, and horror dl- ' tress'd.

ffut peace was reitored. Yet still may be : Been, All round üb, the tokens of strife that has j been, And those memory stones at St. Mary's ' aright Remind us who fought, and who fell, in the : fight. And now Tar.mkii the bounty of heaven, I he beauty for burning and ashes has given, And love, hope, and progress, in happy r accord. Are ever repeating the praise of the Lord 1 The darkness away from thy forests has I psss'd; The brightness has dawned that for ever j must last; Thy peace is abiding; thy ohlldren are free, And grandeur, and glory, are resting on thee! —R.O.