UNKNOWN

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 5, 14 March 1868, Page 4

UNKNOWN

hills ! Telling of verdure fresh and gay— When th\ cdmmand did ye receive *Tb*t diU thy "billowy mass upheave ? ' Was it wjien, at Creation's birth, 'Chaos and darkness robed the earth ; That o'er the fiery vast below I A molten sea, with sluggish flow, In horrid waves, ye heaved and boiled, Towered, rent, shuddered and recoiled ? Was ifrere the Almighty's voice Bade the dread void in liffht rejdice ? *\Vas it, while thus resistless urged, giant molten billows surged ; That it was the great Author's will To bid the heaving mass be still ? • Oh t hills, confused and torn, I Thy wave-like heights wild and forlorn, __ I 'Reft of the forest's shelterjng care— I So wild, so broken, and soWe^; I In but thy massive grandeur clad, Tlje eye roves 'o'er thee and is sad ; It loves" the forest's p*oud array, The lake's and river's sparkling play, And wearies of the heaving waste, That wheresoe'er its glance is cast Unfailing riieets its wondering gaze, And into awe the soul betrays. Yet, hid by each tremendous mound, A prattling streamlet sings around ; And here and there, in some far nook, An unshred page of Nature's book, Unnoted by the careless eye Of him who loveth not to pry Into the beauties ever spread Beneath, around, and overhead, Blooms hi its gloryj&ll unseen, l-SCOffed in i*i*r Nature's lichest green. There monarchs of the forestr-g^o^,— . Apd. beauteous shrubs beneath them flow ; There birds unf earing hop above, And sing their happy songs of love ; The creeper there his curtain weaves, And ferns weep o'er the mouldering leaves ; | The rill leaps there with joyous sound, I And mosses carpet all around, As if they said :- -" Here may he seen What these, our naked hills, liave been / " Oh ! race of this forsaken isle, If from the dust you might awhile Stand on thine ancient hallowed ground, [ And view the havoc wrought around — j What -would thy fr-. cr-. i lips exclaim, "What horror in rhine eye-balls flame, { If thf ' vi! ' •'--'» to youVere dear. fTliy - '^nlf'i. too, once sweet and clear, I Nov rivet- from their native bed ' r ,<s the course of many a hill, ! 'i*ii they their destined end fulfil ; 1 And to the giddy brink of one, ' Down which its furious race- is run, To crumble and to wash away i The shattered carth — the rich blue clay, i Which hides within its deep dark breast. The glittering ore of man's unrest — And then sweeps on with sluggish tide, Lost to its sparkle and its pride. O'er the uprooted vale below, It creeps along w'.th sullen flow, Till in the bed of some far stream, It wins again its sunny gleam. ■And o'er those hills unseen afar, Many attractive plants there are. j3ay, who with an indifferent eye Can pass the gorgeous flax-plant by ; The tap'rhrj glossy leaves and flowers, That high from out $heir bosom towers, Bearing tlnir load of honey sweet, "Which happy children love to greet And turn a dde, even when at play, To suck the honey from the spray ; While round the young lips without fail Is seen the dye that tells'the tale. And, tho' its load you must beware, A tempting fruit doth tuiu bear ; S» gracefully its clusters droop, That you are tempted oft to stoop 'Ati'd pluck it with admiring eyes, Tho' death' hides there in witching eyes. ••And sweet manuka's pearly flower, I Ouf dear delight in sunny hour, When o'er the ferny hills we stray, Imbibing joy in the glad ray—- , In tiny thickets round-us bloom, , And breath abent us sweet perfume ; While crouching close beneath their feet, j Some shrinking, timorous ones we meet, As if they feared .to lift "foe eye Up to the glory of the sky. * ' . 'Mong, these we.note the pimpernel, s » In childhood's days beloved so well * / S<J perfect on its tiny stem 1 Is formed the little ruby gem, TK-.it none witli an unheeding eye \ Could pass tire little beauty by. A The daisy,, too, in miniature, t^sJSgff 1 *° *he' past oar Grinds allure : *

But dear to the 'rcig^^^Qftue, Doth greet its glance v4fer>-£tfe roam On this stfange wild we call our home : A'ld now thou knowest what flow'fets fair Bloom on Tuapeka's hills so bare.