‘He Waiata o Hemi’: An Unpublished Poem — by James K. Baxter

Abstract

It has long been recognized that the Collected Poems of James K. Baxter gathers together only a portion of what he wrote: James Bertram estimated ‘about a quarter’ (Manhire 102), but the evidence of Baxter’s manuscripts suggests this may be somewhat conservative, as Paul Millar’s introduction to the recent re-issue of Beyond the Palisade makes clear. An equally telling reminder is provided by Millar’s edition of Cold Spring (1996), the volume which was to have been Baxter’s second collection, but which was ultimately rejected by Caxton’s editor, Lawrence Baigent. This note presents another hitherto unpublished poem, one of which it appears Baxter kept no other copy, and provides something of its context.