Page:Ballads, Stevenson, 1890.djvu/55

 Flee from the cruel hands, flee from the knife and coal,

Lie hid in the deeps of the woods, Rua, sire of my soul!"

"Whither to flee, Taheia, whither in all of the land?

The fires of the bloody kitchen are kindled on every hand;

On every hand in the isle a hungry whetting of teeth,

Eyes in the trees above, arms in the brush beneath.

Patience to lie in wait, cunning to follow the sleuth,

Abroad the foes I have fought, and at home the friends of my youth."

"Love, love, beloved Rua, love has a clearer eye,

Hence from the arms of love you go not forth to die.

There, where the broken mountain drops sheer into the glen,

There shall you find a hold from the boldest hunter of men;

There, in the deep recess, where the sun falls only at noon,

And only once in the night enters the light of the moon,

Nor ever a sound but of birds, or the rain when it falls with a shout;

For death and the fear of death beleaguer the valley about.

Tapu it is, but the gods will surely pardon despair;

Tapu, but what of that? If Rua can only dare.

Tapu and tapu and tapu, I know they are every one right;

But the god of every tapu is not always quick to smite.

Lie secret there, my Rua, in the arms of awful gods,

Sleep in the shade of the trees on the couch of the kindly sods, 43