Dafinitely Delightful Daffodils & Royston
In 1804 William Wordworth (1770-1850) wrote the poem ‘Daffodils’
I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed and gazed but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
I had occasion to reflect on Wordsworth’s words during and after the funeral of my friend Royston Hereaiterangi Seymour (4 April 1938-26 August 2009) the husband of my much-loved and adored High School Art teacher, Anne. I stood in the grass under the Oak trees outside the historic Christ Church in Pukehou, thinking I’d never laughed so much at a funeral in my whole entire life.
Christ Church, Pukehou
Roy loved that old church. He and Anne were married in it in 1961 and on the dazzling Spring morning of his funeral when we all came to celebrate his life one last time I couldn’t help thinking he’d have been grinning from ear to ear, that cheeky boyish grin and a maniacal twinkle in his glass eye, “come in, come in, lovely to see you. I’ll put the jug on!” Those were his last words of greeting to me and Mary Anne when we popped in the last time. By jeez Roy, at last I can get a word in edgeways!
“Christ Church, Pukehou (originally Pukehouhou. Maori meaning ‘Hill of houhou’, the houhou being a small native flowering tree, panax arboreum) was built in 1859 by the founder of Te Aute School, Archdeacon Samuel Williams and is the oldest church in Hawke’s Bay. The church was built in an elegant Gothic Revival style and constructed of native totara timber and a roof of totara shingles. It’s believed that the oaks outside the church were planted at about the same time the church was built.
In that same year a disastrous fire, combined with a change in the government Maori schooling policy, forced Samuel to close the school. Christ Church continued to serve the surrounding community. The first recorded wedding in the church register was in December 1860 when John Davies Ormond (1832-1917), runholder, politician, and later, Provincial Superintendent of Hawke’s Bay, married Hannah Richardson.
In 1872 Samuel re-established the school. Te Aute College used the church at Pukehou until a college chapel was built in 1901. In 1881 a chancel was added and thirteen years later the transepts were added and the chancel extended. The vestry was also moved to where it is currently situated. Samuel died in 1907, and both he and his wife (d.1900) are buried not far from Pukehou.
John Bonor and Karl Parsons Stainglass Windows
Christ Church remained part of the Waiapu Diocese until 1912, at which time it became part of the newly formed Otane Parish. Over the years the church gained a number of chattels, most importantly the stain glass windows by John Bonor and Karl Parsons (British, 1884-1934) renowned Arts and Crafts artists.”
Parsons was an apprentice-pupil in the studio of Christopher Whall (an important member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, who became a leading designer of stained glass. His most important work is the glass for the Lady Chapel in Gloucester Cathedral) where he was strongly influenced by the philosophy and practice of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Parsons was an exceptional pupil and in collaboration with Whall, he made the windows for Cape Town Cathedral in 1908.
In 1983 the Otane Parish was divided and Christ Church once again became part of the Waiapu Diocese. Since 1983 Christ Church has been run by a committee and in 2001-2002 a complete restoration of the church was undertaken.”
As your daughters and grand-children carried your casket to the old church, Bobbi strummed her guitar behind. They all came singing after her, your whanau and friends. By jeez Roy, it was beautiful. Death is just a bend in the road. Haere ra Royston. The daffodils are out and my feet are itching to dance among them.
