Should Switzerland’s rude rocks be held the throne <br /> Of freedom (sanctioned there by God to quell <br />All proud invaders, Gessler-like o’erthrown!) <br /> Because the echoes in their caves that dwell <br /> Once leaped exultant at the shout of Tell? <br />And thine, New Zealand, yet be left unknown <br />To glory, now that thy dark chief hath sown <br /> Broad over them a like memorial spell? <br />Should Wallace be a word time ne’er may lose? <br /> And Hofer (he who for his mountains died <br />Rather than see the spoiler there abuse <br /> Freedom’s rock-alter!) Be a sound of pride <br /> Yet Heki’s name remain unglorified <br />In the grand lore of the heroic muse <br /> <br /><br /><br />Charles Harpur<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/john-heki/
