From ... Zealandia

^{Click to enlarge}

" In this primeval paradise I felt the windows of my soul were opened, Nature's wonderful mantle lay spread out before me; as never before I realised the spiritual kinship between all living things, the connection and coherence of the manifold works of God.

That night, lying there, I experienced a sense of shame, which those who swear by civilisation will certainly fail to understand, that civilised man can be the worst vermin of the whole earth.

For wherever he comes, he destroys the wonderful equipoise of Nature, and much as he bothers himself with his so-called arts, he is not even capable of repairing the damage he causes. As if in sympathy with my thoughts, about three o'clock a comet appeared in the sky, its long tail glowing with a pallid light. "

We had a good rest after lunch: I lay back on a bed of fern, watching the numbers of little birds around us; they boldly picked up our crumbs, without a thought of possible danger.

Presently I felt a tug at the shawl on which I was lying: I was too lazy and dreamy to turn my head, so the next thing was a sharp dig on my arm, which hurt me dreadfully. I looked round, and there was a weka bent on thoroughly investigating the intruder come into its domain.

Copy of a letter that Wilhelmina received from Sir George Grey in 1892, a highly influential politican through much of the 19th century in New Zealand. In ill health, though still a member of parliament when he wrote this, he left for England soon afterwards and died a few years later in London. He maintained an interest in Maori culture, as an early scholar, thus this poem would have resonated with him, and his response to Wilhelmina sincere...

BODY : SOUL : SPIRIT

Ecclesiastes XII. 6