in the original. Mr. Baker was printer to the L.M.S. mission in Antanànarivo, 1828—1836, and was one of the two last missionaries who left the country before the outbreak of persecution. As the History is now a rather scarce book, I make no apology for extracting from it this
Song concerning the Dead.[1]
1.Vain man! observ'st thou not the dead?
The morning warmth from them has fled.
Their mid-day joy and toil are o'er,
Though near, they meet fond friends no more.
A gate of entrance to the tomb we see,
But a departure thence there ne'er will be.
The living waves his signal high,
But Where's his dearest friend's reply?
Ah! where are those thus doomed to die?
- ↑ Native Christian hymns hardly come within the scope of the subjects treated of in this paper, since the ideas embodied in them are almost entirely of foreign introduction. But it may be just noted that while most of the earlier sacred songs of the Malagasy are most earnest and fervent in their tone, and many of them were consecrated by the most touching associations with the sufferings and death of those who died for their faith, one or two were very curious specimens of hymnology. One consists almost entirely of Malagasy proverbs strung together, most of which treat of the uncertainty of life from a heathen point of view, but with a Christian sentiment at the conclusion as a kind of "moral" to the whole. Here is a literal rendering of this strange composition:—
1.Life is a broken potsherd.
No one knows who broke it;
Life is but steam of food,
No one sees where it goes.
2.The appointed time of death is unknown,
A tree on the brink of a precipice,
No one knows when it will fall,
Whether by day or by night.
3.But once only are we young,
One throw (of the spear) only;
Death is a swift runner,
God is the lord of life.
4.To die once may be borne.
But second death is unbearable;
Blest are the believers in Christ,
For they shall obtain life.See papers by the writer in the Quiver, January and February, 1882.
