—the soliloquy of a dying mother

When I am gone, they will be glad, my sons,
All glad. Yet after I am dead
Could they forget this dying skeleton upon the bed?
Fearfully clinging to life; hating to live
Yet fearing death. Could they forget
And only remember the warmth of my breath
Years ago? Or when the voice did harshly ring,
Could they remember the love that forgave this thing?
Then some day, perhaps, beneath the crude walls
Of some mill, somewhere within a young man's mind may echo,
‘Aue! Kua mate taku Mama. She's dead.’
Or if this other, my eldest, be loosened for a minute
From the worries of the other woman, his wife,
Then perhaps within his mind may echo also,
‘Aue! Kua mate taku Mama. She's dead now.’
Or in the late evening of a dying day
On that last stretch of road home from the mill
Perhaps even my youngest may think,
‘Aue! Aue! Kua mate taku Mama.-She's dead. O she's dead now.’

Rowley Habib.

St. Faith's Re-dedicated

On 8 April St Faith's Anglican Church at Ohinemutu was rededicated after two years of renovation.

Built in 1910 and consecrated in 1918, its seating capacity has now been increased to 250 from 180. Other additions are new carvings, a Maori Christ on a sandblasted window and a commemorative window for the returned men of two world wars.

The original St. Faith's, built in 1885, was the first Christian Church in Rotorua.

Governor's Artifacts Lent to University of Waikato

At the University of Waikato's first graduation ceremony, during which an honorary doctorate

was conferred on him, the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, announced his decision to lend his collection of Maori artifacts to the University.

He said that the artifacts were very precious to him, partly for their intrinsic worth, but mostly because of the affection with which they had been given. He will hand them over at the last possible moment before leaving New Zealand.