The lark's song, 1969

The lark's song

FOR MATIRE KEREAMA ... POET (brushpoint, t.l.); The lark's song. (brushpoint, b.l.); Colin McCahon August-October-'69. (brushpoint, b.c.); Colin McCahon / AUG OCT '69 (brushpoint, b.r.); FOR MATIRE KEREAMA...POET (on reverse)

Ka tahi tii ka rua tii. Ka noho mai te patii te patoo re.
Ka rau na. Ka noho te kiwi. Ka poo he wai.
- - - Tai tai to pi to paa. Ka hui a mai - - -
- - - - - - - - - - Ka toko te rangi - - - - - -
Kai ana te whetu. Te marama i te rangi. - - -
I te papa takina. E hui tarere. - - - - - -
Ko te tio e rere. Ra runga ra tope Kapeka.
E hue kaurere turakina te arero o te rangi
Kotare wiwi wawa keke. Te manu i tau noo tuu-e

Ka tahi tii ka rua tii. Ka noho mai te patii te patoo re.
Ka rau na. Ka noho te kiwi. Ka poo he wai.
Tai tai to pi to paa. Ka hui a mai. Ka toko te rangi.
Kai ana te whetu. Te marama i te rangi. I te papa takina. E hui
tarere
ko te tio e rere. Ra runga ra tope kapeka. E hue kaurere
turakina te arero o te rangi. Kotare wiwi wawa keke. Te
manu i tau noo tuu - e - - e -
CAN YOU HEAR ME ST. FRANCIS.

1969 The Group Show [1969]
CSA Gallery
Christchurch
15/11/1969 - 29/11/1969

1972 Colin McCahon: A Survey Exhibition
Auckland City Art Gallery
Auckland
7/3/1972 - 23/4/1972

1988 Colin McCahon: Gates and Journeys
Auckland City Art Gallery
Auckland
11/11/1988 - 26/2/1989

1989 After McCahon: Some Configurations in Recent Art
Auckland City Art Gallery
Auckland
25/5/1989 - 9/7/1989

1999 Toi Toi Toi: Drei Kunstlergenerationen aux Nueseeland
Museum Fridericianum
Kassel
23/1/1999 - 5/4/1999

2001 Answering Hark: Caselberg/McCahon: Poet/Painter
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland
17/3/2001 - 20/5/2001

2001 He Kupu Noatu: Paintings by Colin McCahon
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland
2/5/2001 - 19/8/2001

2002 Colin McCahon: A Question of Faith
Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam
30/8/2002 - 10/11/2002

2014 Modern Paints Aotearoa
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland
5/4/2014 - 21/8/2014

2017 Colin McCahon: On Going Out with the Tide
City Gallery Wellington
Wellington
8/4/2017 - 30/7/2017

The main text is from chapter 21 of Matire Kereama's The Tail of the Fish: Maori Memories of the Far North (Oswald-Sealy, Auckland, 1968), while the last line is from Peter Hooper's poem of the same name.