The restless, eager foam,
Stretching white arms around the sleeping earth,
Woke his great love anew. The loneliness
Of open spaces set his hungry soul
Dreaming of Taka, Taka who should come
And fill the empty world for him. The sky
Paled at the thought. The dawn was stealing near,
Glimmering faintly on the edge of night.
He could delay no longer; like a thief
He must secure his jewel in the dark.
In the vast pause that presages the morn
He came to Taka's door. Ajar it stood,
And on the mats within he saw revealed
The pure young oval of her perfect face.
"Taka, my little one," Malua whispered,
And thro' her dreams "Malua" passed her lips,
Slipping insensibly to waking. So
She saw him at the door and came to him,
Her dewy dreams still warm within her eyes,
And gave her face to passionate caress.
Then with soft, broken words he told again
His love, and after when her heart was full
Of glad acceptance, as a flash of fire
Searing his image on her soul, he told
How blood had paid the price of love.
She heard,
And daylight ebbed before her eyes to faint
White mist, then refluent turned and smote
Her heart's eyes with the horror of the truth.
Uhila dead. Uhila with the smile
That woke for her alone. Her thoughts, like leaves
Blown by cold winds, were scattered, and the words
"Uhila dead" was but a symbol grim
Of darkness.
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