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The Song Of Te Kooti Poem by Arthur Desmond Exult for Te Kooti! Te Kooti the bold; So fierce in the onset, so dauntless of old, Whose might was resistless-when battle-wars rolled, Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! The Pakehas came with their rum and their gold, And soon the broad lands of our fathers were sold, But the voice of Te Kooti said: Hold the land! Hold! Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! They falsely accused him, no trial had he, They carried him off to an isle in the sea; But his prison was broken, once more he was free- Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! They tried to enslave us, to trample us down Like the millions that serve them in field and in town; But the sapling that's bended when freed will rebound- Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! He plundered their rum stores, he ate up their priests, He robbed the rich squatters to furnish him feasts - What fare half so fine as their clover-fed beasts? Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! In the wild midnight foray whose footsteps trod lighter? In the flash of the rifle whose eyeballs gleamed brighter? What man with our hero could clinch as a fighter? Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! They say it was murder; but what, then, is war? When they slaughtered our kin in the flames of the pa, 0 darker their deeds and more merciless far! Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! They boast that they'll slay him -they'll shoot him at sight, But the power that nerves him's a giver of might; At a glance from his eye they shall tremble with fright - Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! When the darkness was densest he wandered away To rejoice in the charge of the wild battle-fray; Now, his limbs they are feeble, his beard it is grey - Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! The Eternal's our father, the land is our mother, The forest and mountains our sister and brother; Who'd part with his birthright for gold to another? Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! We won't sell the land - 'tis the gift of the Lord - Except it be bought with the blood-drinking sword; But all men are welcome to share in its hoard - Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! Yet 'mid the rejoicing forget not the braves Who, in glades of forest, have found lonely graves, Who welcomed cold Death, for they scorned to be slaves - Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! Exult for Te Kooti, Te Kooti the bold, So sage in the council, so famous of old, Whose war-cry's our motto -- 'tis Hold the land! Hold! Exult for Te Kooti, yo-hoo! Добавить комментарий: |
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