Holiday Piece - Denis Glover

Holiday Piece - Denis Glover

Now let my thoughts be like the Arrow, wherein was gold,
And purposeful like the Kawarau, but not so cold.

Let them sweep higher than the hawk ill-omened,
Higher than peaks perspective-piled beyond Ben Lomond;
Let them be like at evening an Otago sky
Where detonated clouds in calm confusion lie.

Let them be smooth and sweet as all those morning lakes,
Yet active and leaping, like fish the fisherman takes;
And strong as the dark deep-rooted hills, strong
As twilight ours over Lake Wakatipu are long;

And hardy, like the tenacious mountain tussock,
And spacious, like the Mackenzie plain, not narrow;
And numerous, as tourists in Queenstown;
And cheerfully busy, like the gleaning sparrow.

Lastly, that snowfield, visible from Wanaka,
Compound their patience - suns only brighten,
And no rains darken, a whiteness nothing could whiten.



O'Sullivan, V. (Ed.). (1979). An anthology of twentieth century New Zealand poetry. Wellington: Oxford University Press.