Maui counted them, and tookThe pathway home; and cameBack to his mother, brooding,—strodeLike a lost man, and lame.
The tarnished spider of the skyLimped slowly over heaven,And with his going mourned and moanedThe missing twenty-seven.
On with a hollow voice he mourned,Poured out his hollow woe;Over, each day the sound of himBellowing, went below.
Maui saw the gulls swarm upAnd scream and settle onThe carcass of the limping thingThat once had been the sun.
But still he thought at length to haveHis mother satisfied."Can't you put back his legs againNow all my tapa 's dried?"
"The days are long and dull," she said."I loved to see them skim."Wearily the old sun shookThe black birds off of him.
8
