{
 "id": "robert-louis-stevenson/the-song-of-rahero",
 "title": "The Song of Rahéro",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": "A Legend of Tahiti",
 "poet": "Robert Louis Stevenson",
 "poet_slug": "robert-louis-stevenson",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Ballads",
 "book_slug": "ballads",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 1,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1890,
  "venue": "Ballads (1890)",
  "note": "This 1890 volume is the first book printing of these five ballads, but it is not certainly the first printing of each of them: the volume's own notes record that 'Ticonderoga' had already appeared in Scribner's Magazine. Whether the others were printed in a periodical before 1890 has not been established here.",
  "uncertain": true,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/ballad00stev"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/robert-louis-stevenson_poetry",
  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://archive.org/details/worksofrobertlvol28stev",
   "https://archive.org/details/worksofrobertlou14stev",
   "https://archive.org/details/newpoemsandvaria00stevuoft",
   "https://archive.org/details/poemshithertounp00stevrich",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31291",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30659",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/441",
   "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems,_by_Robert_Louis_Stevenson,_hitherto_unpublished"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 581,
  "n_stanzas": 44,
  "n_parts": 3,
  "longest_line_chars": 78,
  "max_indent": 0
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [
  {
   "ordinal": "I",
   "title": "The Slaying of Támatéa",
   "stanza_range": [
    1,
    18
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "II",
   "title": "The Venging of Támatéa",
   "stanza_range": [
    18,
    31
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "III",
   "title": "Rahéro",
   "stanza_range": [
    31,
    44
   ]
  }
 ],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Ori, my brother in the island mode,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In every tongue and meaning much my friend,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "This story of your country and your clan,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In your loved house, your too much honoured guest,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I made in English. Take it, being done;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And let me sign it with the name you gave.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "It fell in the days of old, as the men of Taiárapu tell,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A youth went forth to the fishing, and fortune favoured him well.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Támatéa his name: gullible, simple, and kind.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Comely of countenance, nimble of body, empty of mind,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His mother ruled him and loved him beyond the wont of a wife,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Serving the lad for eyes and living herself in his life.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Alone from the sea and the fishing came Támatéa the fair,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Urging his boat to the beach, and the mother awaited him there.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“Long may you live!” said she. “Your fishing has sped to a wish.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And now let us choose for the king the fairest of all your fish.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For fear inhabits the palace and grudging grows in the land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Marked is the sluggardly foot and marked the niggardly hand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The hours and the miles are counted, the tributes numbered and weighed,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And woe to him that comes short, and woe to him that delayed!”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So spoke on the beach the mother, and counselled the wiser thing.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For Rahéro stirred in the country and secretly mined the king.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor were the signals wanting of how the leaven wrought,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the cords of obedience loosed and the tributes grudgingly brought.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And when last to the temple of Oro the boat with the victim sped,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the priest uncovered the basket and looked on the face of the dead,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Trembling fell upon all at sight of an ominous thing,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For there was the aito dead, and he of the house of the king.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So spake on the beach the mother, matter worthy of note,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And wattled a basket well, and chose a fish from the boat;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Támatéa the pliable shouldered the basket and went,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And travelled, and sang as he travelled, a lad that was well content.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Still the way of his going was round by the roaring coast,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where the ring of the reef is broke and the trades run riot the most.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On his left, with smoke as of battle, the billows battered the land;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Unscalable, turreted mountains rose on the inner hand.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And cape, and village, and river, and vale, and mountain above,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Each had a name in the land for men to remember and love;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And never the name of a place, but lo! a song in its praise:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ancient and unforgotten, songs of the earlier days",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That the elders taught to the young, and at night, in the full of the moon,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Garlanded boys and maidens sang together in tune.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Támatéa the placable went with a lingering foot;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He sang as loud as a bird, he whistled hoarse as a flute;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He broiled in the sun, he breathed in the grateful shadow of trees,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the icy stream of the rivers he waded over the knees;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And still in his empty mind crowded, a thousand-fold,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The deeds of the strong and the songs of the cunning heroes of old.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And now was he come to a place Taiárapu honoured the most,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where a silent valley of woods debouched on the noisy coast,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Spewing a level river. There was a haunt of Pai.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There, in his potent youth, when his parents drove him to die,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Honoura lived like a beast, lacking the lamp and the fire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Washed by the rains of the trade and clotting his hair in the mire;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there, so mighty his hands, he bent the tree to his foot⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So keen the spur of his hunger, he plucked it naked of fruit.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There, as she pondered the clouds for the shadow of coming ills,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ahupu, the woman of song, walked on high on the hills.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Of these was Rahéro sprung, a man of a godly race;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And inherited cunning of spirit, and beauty of body and face.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of yore in his youth, as an aito, Rahéro wandered the land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Delighting maids with his tongue, smiting men with his hand.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Famous he was in his youth; but before the midst of his life",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Paused, and fashioned a song of farewell to glory and strife.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“House of mine” (it went), “house upon the sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Belov’d of all my fathers, more belov’d by me!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Vale of the strong Honoura, deep ravine of Pai,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Again in your woody summits I hear the trade-wind cry.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“House of mine, in your walls, strong sounds the sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of all sounds on earth, dearest sound to me.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I have heard the applause of men, I have heard it arise and die:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sweeter now in my house I hear the trade-wind cry.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "These were the words of his singing, other the thought of his heart;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For secret desire of glory vexed him, dwelling apart.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lazy and crafty he was, and loved to lie in the sun,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And loved the cackle of talk and the true word uttered in fun;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lazy he was, his roof was ragged, his table was lean,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the fish swam safe in his sea, and he gathered the near and the green.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He sat in his house and laughed, but he loathed the king of the land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And he uttered the grudging word under the covering hand.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Treason spread from his door; and he looked for a day to come,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A day of the crowding people, a day of the summoning drum,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "When the vote should be taken, the king be driven forth in disgrace,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Rahéro, the laughing and lazy, sit and rule in his place.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Here Támatéa came, and beheld the house on the brook;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Rahéro was there by the way and covered an oven to cook.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Naked he was to the loins, but the tattoo covered the lack,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the sun and the shadow of palms dappled his muscular back.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Swiftly he lifted his head at the fall of the coming feet,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the water sprang in his mouth with a sudden desire of meat:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For he marked the basket carried, covered from flies and the sun;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Rahéro buried his fire, but the meat in his house was done.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Forth he stepped; and took, and delayed the boy, by the hand;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And vaunted the joys of meat and the ancient ways of the land:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“Our sires of old in Taiárapu, they that created the race,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ate ever with eager hand, nor regarded season or place,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ate in the boat at the oar, on the way afoot; and at night",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Arose in the midst of dreams to rummage the house for a bite.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "It is good for the youth in his turn to follow the way of the sire;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And behold how fitting the time! for here do I cover my fire.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“I see the fire for the cooking, but never the meat to cook,”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Said Támatéa.⁠—“Tut!” said Rahéro. “Here in the brook,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there in the tumbling sea, the fishes are thick as flies,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hungry like healthy men, and like pigs for savour and size:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Crayfish crowding the river, sea-fish thronging the sea.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“Well, it may be,” says the other, “and yet be nothing to me.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fain would I eat, but alas! I have needful matter in hand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Since I carry my tribute of fish to the jealous king of the land.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Now at the word a light sprang in Rahéro’s eyes.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“I will gain me a dinner,” thought he, “and lend the king a surprise.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And he took the lad by the arm, as they stood by the side of the track,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And smiled, and rallied, and flattered, and pushed him forward and back.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "It was “You that sing like a bird, I never have heard you sing,”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And “The lads when I was a lad were none so feared of a king.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And of what account is an hour, when the heart is empty of guile?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But come, and sit in the house and laugh with the women awhile;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And I will but drop my hook, and behold! the dinner made.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So Támatéa the pliable hung up his fish in the shade",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On a tree by the side of the way; and Rahéro carried him in,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Smiling as smiles the fowler when flutters the bird to the gin,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And chose him a shining hook, and viewed it with sedulous eye,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And breathed and burnished it well on the brawn of his naked thigh,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And set a mat for the gull, and bade him be merry and bide,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like a man concerned for his guest, and the fishing, and nothing beside.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Now when Rahéro was forth, he paused and hearkened, and heard",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The gull jest in the house and the women laugh at his word;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And stealthily crossed to the side of the way, to the shady place",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where the basket hung on a mango; and craft transfigured his face.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Deftly he opened the basket, and took of the fat of the fish,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The cut of kings and chieftains, enough for a goodly dish.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "This he wrapped in a leaf, set on the fire to cook,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And buried; and next the marred remains of the tribute he took,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And doubled and packed them well, and covered the basket close.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“There is a buffet, my king,” quoth he, “and a nauseous dose!”⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And hung the basket again in the shade, in a cloud of flies;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“And there is a sauce to your dinner, king of the crafty eyes!”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Soon as the oven was open, the fish smelt excellent good.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the shade, by the house of Rahéro, down they sat to their food,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And cleared the leaves, in silence, or uttered a jest and laughed",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And raising the coconut bowls, buried their faces and quaffed.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But chiefly in silence they ate; and soon as the meal was done,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rahéro feigned to remember and measured the hour by the sun",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And “Támatéa,” quoth he, “it is time to be jogging, my lad.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So Támatéa arose, doing ever the thing he was bade,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And carelessly shouldered the basket, and kindly saluted his host;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And again the way of his going was round by the roaring coast.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Long he went; and at length was aware of a pleasant green,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the stems and shadows of palms, and roofs of lodges between.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There sate, in the door of his palace, the king on a kingly seat,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And aitos stood armed around, and the yottowas sat at his feet.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But fear was a worm in his heart: fear darted his eyes;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And he probed men’s faces for treasons and pondered their speech for lies.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To him came Támatéa, the basket slung in his hand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And paid him the due obeisance standing as vassals stand.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In silence hearkened the king, and closed the eyes in his face,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Harbouring odious thoughts and the baseless fears of the base;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In silence accepted the gift and sent the giver away.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So Támatéa departed, turning his back on the day.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And lo! as the king sat brooding, a rumour rose in the crowd;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The yottowas nudged and whispered, the commons murmured aloud;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Tittering fell upon all at sight of the impudent thing,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At the sight of a gift unroyal flung in the face of a king.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the face of the king turned white and red with anger and shame",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In their midst; and the heart in his body was water and then was flame;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till of a sudden, turning, he gripped an aito hard,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A youth that stood with his ómare, one of the daily guard,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And spat in his ear a command, and pointed and uttered a name,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And hid in the shade of the house his impotent anger and shame.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Now Támatéa the fool was far on his homeward way,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The rising night in his face, behind him the dying day.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rahéro saw him go by, and the heart of Rahéro was glad,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Devising shame to the king and nowise harm to the lad;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And all that dwelt by the way saw and saluted him well,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For he had the face of a friend and the news of the town to tell;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And pleased with the notice of folk, and pleased that his journey was done,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Támatéa drew homeward, turning his back to the sun.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And now was the hour of the bath in Taiárapu: far and near",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The lovely laughter of bathers rose and delighted his ear.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Night massed in the valleys; the sun on the mountain coast",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Struck, end-long; and above the clouds embattled their host,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And glowed and gloomed on the heights; and the heads of the palms were gems,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And far to the rising eve extended the shade of their stems;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the shadow of Támatéa hovered already at home.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And sudden the sound of one coming and running light as the foam",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Struck on his ear; and he turned, and lo! a man on his track,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Girded and armed with an ómare, following hard at his back.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At a bound the man was upon him;⁠—and, or ever a word was said,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The loaded end of the ómare fell and laid him dead.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thus was Rahéro’s treason; thus and no further it sped.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The king sat safe in his place and a kindly fool was dead.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "But the mother of Támatéa arose with death in her eyes.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All night long, and the next, Taiárapu rang with her cries.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "As when a babe in the wood turns with a chill of doubt",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And perceives nor home, nor friends, for the trees have closed her about,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The mountain rings and her breast is torn with the voice of despair:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So the lion-like woman idly wearied the air",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For a while, and pierced men’s hearing in vain, and wounded their hearts.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But as when the weather changes at sea, in dangerous parts,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And sudden the hurricane wrack unrolls up the front of the sky,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At once the ship lies idle, the sails hang silent on high,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The breath of the wind that blew is blown out like the flame of a lamp,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the silent armies of death draw near with inaudible tramp:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So sudden, the voice of her weeping ceased; in silence she rose",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And passed from the house of her sorrow, a woman clothed with repose,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Carrying death in her breast and sharpening death in her hand.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Hither she went and thither in all the coasts of the land.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They tell that she feared not to slumber alone, in the dead of night,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In accursed places; beheld, unblenched, the ribbon of light",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Spin from temple to temple; guided the perilous skiff,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Abhorred not the paths of the mountain and trod the verge of the cliff;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "From end to end of the island, thought not the distance long,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But forth from king to king carried the tale of her wrong.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To king after king, as they sat in the palace door, she came,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Claiming kinship, declaiming verses, naming her name",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the names of all of her fathers; and still, with a heart on the rack,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Jested to capture a hearing and laughed when they jested back;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So would deceive them a while, and change and return in a breath,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And on all the men of Vaiau imprecate instant death;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And tempt her kings⁠—for Vaiau was a rich and prosperous land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And flatter⁠—for who would attempt it but warriors mighty of hand?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And change in a breath again and rise in a strain of song,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Invoking the beaten drums, beholding the fall of the strong,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Calling the fowls of the air to come and feast on the dead.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And they held the chin in silence, and heard her, and shook the head;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For they knew the men of Taiárapu famous in battle and feast,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Marvellous eaters and smiters: the men of Vaiau not least.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To the land of the Námunu-úra, to Paea, at length she came,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To men who were foes to the Tevas and hated their race and name.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There was she well received, and spoke with Hiopa the king.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Hiopa listened, and weighed, and wisely considered the thing.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Here in the back of the isle we dwell in a sheltered place,”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Quoth he to the woman, “in quiet, a weak and peaceable race.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But far in the teeth of the wind lofty Taiárapu lies;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Strong blows the wind of the trade on its seaward face, and cries",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Aloud in the top of arduous mountains, and utters its song",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In green continuous forests. Strong is the wind, and strong",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And fruitful and hardy the race, famous in battle and feast,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Marvellous eaters and smiters: the men of Vaiau not least.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Now hearken to me, my daughter, and hear a word of the wise:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "How a strength goes linked with a weakness, two by two, like the eyes.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They can wield the ómare well and cast the javelin far;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Yet are they greedy and weak as the swine and the children are.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Plant we, then, here at Paea a garden of excellent fruits;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Plant we bananas and kava and taro, the king of roots;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Let the pigs in Paea be tapu and no man fish for a year;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And of all the meat in Tahiti gather we threefold here.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So shall the fame of our plenty fill the island and so,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At last, on the tongue of rumour, go where we wish it to go.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then shall the pigs of Taiárapu raise their snouts in the air;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But we sit quiet and wait, as the fowler sits by the snare,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And tranquilly fold our hands, till the pigs come nosing the food:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But meanwhile build us a house of Trotéa, the stubborn wood,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bind it with incombustible thongs, set a roof to the room,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Too strong for the hands of a man to dissever or fire to consume;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there, when the pigs come trotting, there shall the feast be spread,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There shall the eye of the morn enlighten the feasters dead.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So be it done; for I have a heart that pities your state,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Nateva and Námunu-úra are fire and water for hate.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "All was done as he said, and the gardens prospered; and now",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The fame of their plenty went out, and word of it came to Vaiau.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For the men of Námunu-úra sailed, to the windward far,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lay in the offing by south where the towns of the Tevas are,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And cast overboard of their plenty; and lo! at the Tevas’ feet",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The surf on all the beaches tumbled treasures of meat.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the salt of the sea, a harvest tossed with the refluent foam;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the children gleaned it in playing, and ate and carried it home;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the elders stared and debated, and wondered and passed the jest,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But whenever a guest came by eagerly questioned the guest;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And little by little, from one to another, the word went round:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“In all the borders of Paea the victual rots on the ground,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And swine are plenty as rats. And now, when they fare to the sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The men of the Námunu-úra glean from under the tree",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And load the canoe to the gunwale with all that is toothsome to eat;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And all day long on the sea the jaws are crushing the meat,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The steersman eats at the helm, the rowers munch at the oar,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And at length, when their bellies are full, overboard with the store!”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Now was the word made true, and soon as the bait was bare,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All the pigs of Taiárapu raised their snouts in the air.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Songs were recited, and kinship was counted, and tales were told",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "How war had severed of late but peace had cemented of old",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The clans of the island. “To war,” said they, “now set we an end,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And hie to the Námunu-úra even as a friend to a friend.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So judged, and a day was named; and soon as the morning broke,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Canoes were thrust in the sea, and the houses emptied of folk.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Strong blew the wind of the south, the wind that gathers the clan;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Along all the line of the reef the clamorous surges ran;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the clouds were piled on the top of the island mountain-high,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A mountain throned on a mountain. The fleet of canoes swept by",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the midst, on the green lagoon, with a crew released from care,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sailing an even water, breathing a summer air,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Cheered by a cloudless sun; and ever to left and right,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bursting surge on the reef, drenching storms on the height.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So the folk of Vaiau sailed and were glad all day,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Coasting the palm-tree cape and crossing the populous bay",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "By all the towns of the Tevas; and still as they bowled along,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Boat would answer to boat with jest and laughter and song,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the people of all the towns trooped to the sides of the sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And gazed from under the hand or sprang aloft on the tree",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hailing and cheering. Time failed them for more to do;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The holiday village careened to the wind, and was gone from view",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Swift as a passing bird; and ever as onward it bore,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like the cry of the passing bird, bequeathed its song to the shore⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Desirable laughter of maids and the cry of delight of the child.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the gazer, left behind, stared at the wake and smiled.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "By all the towns of the Tevas they went, and Pápara last,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The home of the chief, the place of muster in war; and passed",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The march of the lands of the clan, to the lands of an alien folk.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there, from the dusk of the shoreside palms, a column of smoke",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Mounted and wavered and died in the gold of the setting sun,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Paea!” they cried. “It is Paea.” And so was the voyage done.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "In the early fall of the night Hiopa came to the shore,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And beheld and counted the comers, and lo, they were forty score;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The pelting feet of the babes that ran already and played,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The clean-lipped smile of the boy, the slender breasts of the maid,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And mighty limbs of women, stalwart mothers of men.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The sires stood forth unabashed; but a little back from his ken",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Clustered the scarcely nubile, the lads and maids, in a ring,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fain of each other, afraid of themselves, aware of the king",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And aping behaviour, but clinging together with hands and eyes,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With looks that were kind like kisses, and laughter tender as sighs.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There, too, the grandsire stood, raising his silver crest,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the impotent hands of a suckling groped in his barren breast.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The childhood of love, the pair well married, the innocent brood,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The tale of the generations repeated and ever renewed⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hiopa beheld them together, all the ages of man,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And a moment shook in his purpose.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "But these were the foes of his clan,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And he trod upon pity, and came, and civilly greeted the king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And gravely entreated Rahéro; and for all that could fight or sing,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And claimed a name in the land, had fitting phrases of praise:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But with all who were well-descended he spoke of the ancient days.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And “ ’Tis true,” said he, “that in Paea the victual rots on the ground;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But, friends, your number is many; and pigs must be hunted and found,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the lads must troop to the mountains to bring the féis down,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And around the bowls of the kava cluster the maids of the town.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So, for tonight, sleep here; but king, common, and priest",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Tomorrow, in order due, shall sit with me in the feast.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sleepless the live-long night, Hiopa’s followers toiled.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The pigs screamed and were slaughtered; the spars of the guest-house oiled,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The leaves spread on the floor. In many a mountain glen",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The moon drew shadows of trees on the naked bodies of men",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Plucking and bearing fruits; and in all the bounds of the town",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Red glowed the coconut fires, and were buried and trodden down.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thus did seven of the yottowas toil with their tale of the clan,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But the eighth wrought with his lads, hid from the sight of man.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the deeps of the woods they laboured, piling the fuel high",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In fagots, the load of a man, fuel seasoned and dry,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thirsty to seize upon fire and apt to blurt into flame.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And now was the day of the feast. The forests, as morning came,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Tossed in the wind, and the peaks quaked in the blaze of the day⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the coconuts showered on the ground, rebounding and rolling away:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A glorious morn for a feast, a famous wind for a fire.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To the hall of feasting Hiopa led them, mother and sire",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And maid and babe in a tale, the whole of the holiday throng.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Smiling they came, garlanded green, not dreaming of wrong;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And for every three, a pig, tenderly cooked in the ground,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Waited; and féi, the staff of life, heaped in a mound",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For each where he sat;⁠—for each, bananas roasted and raw",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Piled with a bountiful hand, as for horses hay and straw",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Are stacked in a stable; and fish, the food of desire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And plentiful vessels of sauce, and breadfruit gilt in the fire;⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And kava was common as water. Feasts have there been ere now,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And many, but never a feast like that of the folk of Vaiau.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All day long they ate with the resolute greed of brutes,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And turned from the pigs to the fish, and again from the fish to the fruits,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And emptied the vessels of sauce, and drank of the kava deep;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the young lay stupid as stones, and the strongest nodded to sleep.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sleep that was mighty as death and blind as a moonless night",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Tethered them hand and foot; and their souls were drowned, and the light",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Was cloaked from their eyes. Senseless together, the old and the young,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The fighter deadly to smite and the prater cunning of tongue,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The woman wedded and fruitful, inured to the pangs of birth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the maid that knew not of kisses, blindly sprawled on the earth.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "From the hall Hiopa the king and his chiefs came stealthily forth.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Already the sun hung low and enlightened the peaks of the north;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But the wind was stubborn to die and blew as it blows at morn,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Showering the nuts in the dusk, and e’en as a banner is torn,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "High on the peaks of the island, shattered the mountain cloud.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And now at once, at a signal, a silent, emulous crowd",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Set hands to the work of death, hurrying to and fro,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like ants, to furnish the fagots, building them broad and low,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And piling them high and higher around the walls of the hall.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Silence persisted within, for sleep lay heavy on all",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But the mother of Támatéa stood at Hiopa’s side,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And shook for terror and joy like a girl that is a bride,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Night fell on the toilers, and first Hiopa the wise",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Made the round of the hose, visiting all with his eyes;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And all was piled to the eaves, and fuel blockaded the door;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And within, in the house beleaguered, slumbered the forty score.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then was an aito despatched and came with fire in his hand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Hiopa took it.⁠—“Within,” said he, “is the life of a land;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And behold! I breathe on the coal, I breathe on the dales of the east,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And silence falls on forest and shore; the voice of the feast",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Is quenched, and the smoke of cooking; the roof-tree decays and falls",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On the empty lodge, and the winds subvert deserted walls.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Therewithal, to the fuel, he laid the glowing coal;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the redness ran in the mass and burrowed within like a mole,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And copious smoke was conceived. But, as when a dam is to burst,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The water lips it and crosses in silver trickles at first,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And then, of a sudden, whelms and bears it away forthright;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So now, in a moment, the flame sprang and towered in the night,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And wrestled and roared in the wind, and high over house and tree,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Stood, like a streaming torch, enlightening land and sea.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "But the mother of Támatéa threw her arms abroad,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Pyre of my son,” she shouted, “debited vengeance of God,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Late, late, I behold you, yet I behold you at last,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And glory, beholding! For now are the days of my agony past,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The lust that famished my soul now eats and drinks its desire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And they that encompassed my son shrivel alive in the fire.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Tenfold precious the vengeance that comes after lingering years!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ye quenched the voice of my singer?⁠—hark, in your dying ears,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The song of the conflagration! Ye left me a widow alone?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—Behold, the whole of your race consumes, sinew and bone",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And torturing flesh together: man, mother, and maid",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Heaped in a common shambles; and already, borne by the trade,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The smoke of your dissolution darkens the stars of night.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thus she spoke, and her stature grew in the people’s sight.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Rahéro was there in the hall asleep: beside him his wife,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Comely, a mirthful woman, one that delighted in life;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And a girl that was ripe for marriage, shy and sly as a mouse;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And a boy, a climber of trees: all the hopes of his house.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Unwary, with open hands, he slept in the midst of his folk,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And dreamed that he heard a voice crying without, and awoke,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Leaping blindly afoot like one from a dream that he fears.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A hellish glow and clouds were about him;⁠—it roared in his ears",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like the sound of the cataract fall that plunges sudden and steep;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Rahéro swayed as he stood, and his reason was still asleep.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Now the flame struck hard on the house, wind-wielded, a fracturing blow,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the end of the roof was burst and fell on the sleepers below;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the lofty hall, and the feast, and the prostrate bodies of folk,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Shone red in his eyes a moment, and then were swallowed of smoke.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the mind of Rahéro clearness came; and he opened his throat;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And as when a squall comes sudden, the straining sail of a boat",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thunders aloud and bursts, so thundered the voice of the man.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“The wind and the rain!” he shouted, the mustering word of the clan,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And “Up!” and “To arms, men of Vaiau!” But silence replied,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or only the voice of the gusts of the fire, and nothing beside.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Rahéro stooped and groped. He handled his womankind,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But the fumes of the fire and the kava had quenched the life of their mind,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And they lay like pillars prone; and his hand encountered the boy,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there sprang in the gloom of his soul a sudden lightning of joy.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Him can I save!” he thought, “if I were speedy enough.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And he loosened the cloth from his loins, and swaddled the child in the stuff:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And about the strength of his neck he knotted the burden well.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "There where the roof had fallen, it roared like the mouth of hell.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thither Rahéro went, stumbling on senseless folk,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And grappled a post of the house, and began to climb in the smoke:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The last alive of Vaiau; and the son borne by the sire.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The post glowed in the grain with ulcers of eating fire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the fire bit to the blood and mangled his hands and thighs;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the fumes sang in his head like wine and stung in his eyes;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And still he climbed, and came to the top, the place of proof,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And thrust a hand through the flame, and clambered alive on the roof.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But even as he did so, the wind, in a garment of flames and pain,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wrapped him from head to heel; and the waistcloth parted in twain;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the living fruit of his loins dropped in the fire below.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "About the blazing feast-house clustered the eyes of the foe,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Watching, hand upon weapon, lest ever a soul should flee,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Shading the brow from the glare, straining the neck to see.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Only, to leeward, the flames in the wind swept far and wide,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the forest sputtered on fire; and there might no man abide.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thither Rahéro crept, and dropped from the burning eaves,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And crouching low to the ground, in a treble covert of leaves",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And fire and volleying smoke, ran for the life of his soul",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Unseen; and behind him under a furnace of ardent coal,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Cairned with a wonder of flame, and blotting the night with smoke,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Blazed and were smelted together the bones of all his folk.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He fled unguided at first; but hearing the breakers roar,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thitherward shaped his way, and came at length to the shore.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sound-limbed he was: dry-eyed; but smarted in every part;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the mighty cage of his ribs heaved on his straining heart",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With sorrow and rage. And “Fools!” he cried, “fools of Vaiau,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Heads of swine⁠—gluttons⁠—Alas! and where are they now?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Those that I played with, those that nursed me, those that I nursed?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "God, and I outliving them! I, the least and the worst⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I, that thought myself crafty, snared by this herd of swine,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the tortures of hell and desolate, stripped of all that was mine:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All!⁠—my friends and my fathers⁠—the silver heads of yore",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That trooped to the council, the children that ran to the open door",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Crying with innocent voices and clasping a father’s knees!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And mine, my wife⁠—my daughter⁠—my sturdy climber of trees,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ah, never to climb again!”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thus in the dusk of the night",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "(For clouds rolled in the sky and the moon was swallowed from sight),",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Pacing and gnawing his fists, Rahéro raged by the shore.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Vengeance: that must be his. But much was to do before;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And first a single life to be snatched from a deadly place,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A life, the root of revenge, surviving plant of the race:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And next the race to be raised anew, and the lands of the clan",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Repeopled. So Rahéro designed, a prudent man",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Even in wrath, and turned for the means of revenge and escape:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A boat to be seized by stealth, a wife to be taken by rape.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Still was the dark lagoon; beyond on the coral wall,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He saw the breakers shine, he heard them bellow and fall.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Alone, on the top of the reef, a man with a flaming brand",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Walked, gazing and pausing, a fish-spear poised in his hand.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The foam boiled to his calf when the mightier breakers came,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the torch shed in the wind scattering tufts of flame",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Afar on the dark lagoon a canoe lay idly at wait:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A figure dimly guiding it: surely the fisherman’s mate.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rahéro saw and he smiled. He straightened his mighty thews:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Naked, with never a weapon, and covered with scorch and bruise,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He straightened his arms, he filled the void of his body with breath,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And, strong as the wind in his manhood, doomed the fisher to death.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Silent he entered the water, and silently swam, and came",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There where the fisher walked, holding on high the flame.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Loud on the pier of the reef volleyed the breach of the sea;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And hard at the back of the man, Rahéro crept to his knee",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On the coral, and suddenly sprang and seized him, the elder hand",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Clutching the joint of his throat, the other snatching the brand",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ere it had time to fall, and holding it steady and high.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Strong was the fisher, brave, and swift of mind and of eye⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Strongly he threw in the clutch; but Rahéro resisted the strain,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And jerked, and the spine of life snapped with a crack in twain,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the man came slack in his hands and tumbled a lump at his feet.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "One moment: and there, on the reef, where the breakers whitened and beat,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rahéro was standing alone, glowing, and scorched and bare,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A victor unknown of any, raising the torch in the air.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But once he drank of his breath, and instantly set him to fish",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like a man intent upon supper at home and a savoury dish.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For what should the woman have seen? A man with a torch⁠—and then",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A moment’s blur of the eyes⁠—and a man with a torch again.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the torch had scarcely been shaken. “Ah, surely,” Rahéro said,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“She will deem it a trick of the eyes, a fancy born in the head;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But time must be given the fool to nourish a fool’s belief.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So for a while, a sedulous fisher, he walked the reef,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Pausing at times and gazing, striking at times with the spear:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—Lastly, uttered the call; and even as the boat drew near,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like a man that was done with its use, tossed the torch in the sea.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Lightly he leaped on the boat beside the woman; and she",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lightly addressed him, and yielded the paddle and place to sit;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For now the torch was extinguished the night was black as the pit.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rahéro set him to row, never a word he spoke,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the boat sang in the water urged by his vigorous stroke.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "—“What ails you?” the woman asked, “and why did you drop the brand?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We have only to kindle another as soon as we come to land.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Never a word Rahéro replied, but urged the canoe.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And a chill fell on the woman.⁠—“Atta! speak! is it you?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Speak! Why are you silent? Why do you bend aside?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wherefore steer to the seaward?” thus she panted and cried.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Never a word from the oarsman, toiling there in the dark;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But right for a gate of the reef he silently headed the bark,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And wielding the single paddle with passionate sweep on sweep,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Drove her, the little fitted, forth on the open deep.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And fear, there where she sat, froze the woman to stone:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Not fear of the crazy boat and the weltering deep alone;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But a keener fear of the night, the dark, and the ghostly hour,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the thing that drove the canoe with more than a mortal’s power",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And more than a mortal’s boldness. For much she knew of the dead",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That haunt and fish upon reefs, toiling, like men, for bread,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And traffic with human fishers, or slay them and take their ware,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the hour when the star of the dead goes down, and the morning air",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Blows, and the cocks are singing on shore. And surely she knew",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The speechless thing at her side belonged to the grave.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "It blew",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All night from the south; all night, Rahéro contended and kept",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The prow to the cresting sea; and, silent as though she slept,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The woman huddled and quaked. And now was the peep of day.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "High and long on their left the mountainous island lay;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And over the peaks of Taiárapu arrows of sunlight struck.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On shore the birds were beginning to sing: the ghostly ruck",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the buried had long ago returned to the covered grave;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And here on the sea, the woman, waxing suddenly brave,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Turned her swiftly about and looked in the face of the man.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And sure he was none that she knew, none of her country or clan:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A stranger, mother-naked, and marred with the marks of fire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But comely and great of stature, a man to obey and admire.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And Rahéro regarded her also, fixed, with a frowning face,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Judging the woman’s fitness to mother a warlike race.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Broad of shoulder, ample of girdle, long in the thigh,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Deep of bosom she was, and bravely supported his eye.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Woman,” said he, “last night the men of your folk⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Man, woman, and maid, smothered my race in smoke.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "It was done like cowards; and I, a mighty man of my hands,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Escaped, a single life; and now to the empty lands",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And smokeless hearths of my people, sail, with yourself, alone.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Before your mother was born, the die of today was thrown",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And you selected:⁠—your husband, vainly striving, to fall",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Broken between these hands:⁠—yourself to be severed from all,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The places, the people, you love⁠—home, kindred, and clan⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And to dwell in a desert and bear the babes of a kinless man.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ]
 ]
}