"This song's of youth, and strength, and health, and time that's on the wing
THE
IVORY TRAIL
By TALBOT MUNDY
Author of
“Rung Ho!,” “King—of the Khyber Rifles,” “The Winds
of the World,” “Hira Singh,” “The Eye of Zeitoon,” “Guns of the Gods,” etc.
Frontispiece by
Joseph Clement Coll
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers New York
Published by arrangement with the Bobb-Merrill Company
Copyright 1919
The Bobb-Merrill Company
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
AT
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
THE NJO HAPA[1] SONG
Green, ah greener than emeralds are, tree-tops beckon the dhows to land,
White, oh whiter than diamonds are, blue waves burst on the amber sand,
And nothing is fairer than Zanzibar from the Isles o’ the West to the Marquesand.
I was old when the world was wild with youth.
(All love was lawless then!)
Since ‘Venture’s birth from ends of earth
I ha’ called the sons of men,
And their women have wept the ages out
In travail sore to know
What lure of opiate art can leach
Along bare seas from reef to beach
Until from port and river reach
The fever’d captains go.
Red, oh redder than red lips are my flowers that nod in the blazing noon,
Blue, oh bluer than maidens’ eyes are the breasts o’ my waves in the young monsoon,
And there are cloves to smell, and musk, and lemon trees, and cinnamon.
- ↑ The words “Njo Hapa” in the Kiswahili tongue are the equivalent of “come hither!”
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1927.
The author died in 1940, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 80 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.