THE CAVERN BY THE SEA
(An authentic tradition.)
The tropical islands of Tonga
In the Southern Pacific sea lie
Like fragments of cool rainbow color
Dropped down from the melting blue sky.
In the Southern Pacific sea lie
Like fragments of cool rainbow color
Dropped down from the melting blue sky.
They are gardens of clustering palm trees
Of creepers and tall waving fronds,
Flowers, colored by sunshine and sea-breeze,
Fruits, painted by tropical dawns.
Of creepers and tall waving fronds,
Flowers, colored by sunshine and sea-breeze,
Fruits, painted by tropical dawns.
In these beautiful islands of Tonga
Dwelt a chieftain, young, stalwart and brave,
Who dived like a fish in the ocean
And rose with the foam on the wave.
Dwelt a chieftain, young, stalwart and brave,
Who dived like a fish in the ocean
And rose with the foam on the wave.
One morning while swimming and diving
He ventured so deep by the shore
That he rose in a wonderful cavern
Which had never been heard of before.
He ventured so deep by the shore
That he rose in a wonderful cavern
Which had never been heard of before.
A cavern that no one could enter
But by diving deep down in the sea,
And stalactiles hung from the center
And sides of its arched canopy.
But by diving deep down in the sea,
And stalactiles hung from the center
And sides of its arched canopy.
No sunbeam illumined its arches,
No moonbeam lay on its stone floor,
Its pale pensive light was reflected
From the depths of its watery door.
No moonbeam lay on its stone floor,
Its pale pensive light was reflected
From the depths of its watery door.
Bright sea-shells and fragments of coral
And seaweed in chaplet and spray
Cast up by the waves' angry quarrel
In ledges and crevices lay.
And seaweed in chaplet and spray
Cast up by the waves' angry quarrel
In ledges and crevices lay.
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