The Nz Bellbird Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

If you should read these lines or hear
The bells sound deep in the forest
Then those you loved of old will near
And in your sweet thoughts find their rest.

Toll for them for heaven's sake
As the bellbird chimes at daybreak
And in the incantation
Ring their celebration.

And if your love for them grows faint
Let the wise world take up the song
And sing of them without restraint
In tones to which all dawns belong

‘he rite ki te kopara
e ko nei te ata'.