Page:Ballads, Stevenson, 1890.djvu/59

 The victims bled for the nobles in the old appointed way;

The fruit was spread for the commons, for all should eat to-day.

And now was the kava brewed, and now the cocoa ran,

Now was the hour of the dance for child and woman and man;

And mirth was in every heart, and a garland on every head,

And all was well with the living and well with the eight who were dead.

Only the chiefs and the priest talked and consulted awhile:

"To-morrow," they said, and "To-morrow," and nodded and seemed to smile:

"Rua the child of dirt, the creature of common clay,

"Rua must die to-morrow, since Rua is gone to-day."

Out of the groves of the valley, where clear the blackbirds sang,

Sheer from the trees of the valley the face of the mountain sprang;

Sheer and bare it rose, unscalable barricade,

Beaten and blown against by the generous draught of the trade.

Dawn on its fluted brow painted rainbow light,

Close on its pinnacled crown trembled the stars at night.

Here and there in a cleft clustered contorted trees,

Or the silver beard of a stream hung and swung in the breeze.

High overhead, with a cry, the torrents leaped for the main,

And silently sprinkled below in thin perennial rain.

Dark in the staring noon, dark was Rua's ravine,

Damp and cold was the air, and the face of the cliffs was green. 47