Sunrise On Lake Wanaka.

The golden glory of sunrise
Fires the-hills;
Or, stooping low, flings myriad gems
O'er babbling rills
That wanto.n by fern shadow'd ways,
While daisies peep, lost in amaze,
At every errant shaft that strays
Where e'er it wills.
Komako's mellow gong acclaims
The golden hours;
Takaka trills a silver flute
Mid tangled bowers.
An opal gem through sunlit space
The dragonfly, in flaming grace,
Darts by on wings of rainbow lace
Where sungold showers.
Fringing vthe lake, tall sentinels,
Bulrushes rise,
With silver'd spear-points challenging
The distant skies:
There the parere, whispering, hides,
Or, leads her brood by grav'ly tides:
And the gray trout silent glides.
Or swooning lies.
Aahu cleaves abyssinal deeps
On tireless wing,
Hurtles to earth in dizzy stoop.
Or, spiralling,
Is lost within a boundless vault
Of lacquered turquoise and cobalt.
Pepepe, flaunting ensign bright
Flits through a lace of shade and light, Enravishing!

—H. Collet.

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