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He
Tangi mo Te Heuheu Herea
Tìtaka kau ana
ngà manu o te ata, ka riro ko koe ra ii,
Hare ra, e pà,
i te hahanga o Pipiri!
Taku manu noho màtàrae,
i whàngaia ki te hau,
Kawau aroarotea, ka tù
tènei kei te paenga ò riri.
Taku kòkòmako
whakahau i te ata
No ngà rake manawa
i te tahatika ki Pungarehu,
Ka whàngaia koe
ki runga te ahurewa,
Ka kai Uenuku, e ra.
Kòkòmako
noa ana i tłku pł ko au anake.
Tè au ko te moe;
tokona ake ana ki runga, e ra,
Na te mamae ra ka huri
rłnaki.
Ko ‘e ika pàwhara
na te atua ki runga te tìepa.
Whatiia mai ra tìtapu
maroro,
Ka tòkia tò
kiri e te anu kò pata.
Kàpà ianei
he wewenga tau koe!
Te wehe i te matua, no
hea e hoki mai ki ahau?
Te matua i te whare, me
rauhì mai e te ringa,
Te matua i te waka, me
whakatangi ki te waihoe.
Me uta ki te patu, me
uta ki te tao!
Ngà mahi ra, è,
i whakararawetia.
Ka rewa kei runga te apaapatù
kei ò tuàkana.
I te waka e tau ana i
te nui ‘Àti Tu, i te rahi ‘Àti Rangi
Màna e hoatu ki
te mata-uraura,
Màku e whakamau
ngà tai-toru àtea o te wai.
E pà mà,
tirohia mai ko au anake tènei,
Ka riro te mumu, ka riro
te àwhà,
Ka tere te parata, ka
maunu te ika i tòna rua.
Wàtea kau ana ko
te tùranga kau o Rehua,
Takoto ana mai te marama
i te pae ki a koe.
Taku kòkòmako
whakahau i te ata,
Taku manu noho màtàrae,
i whàngaia ki te hau,
Hare ra, e pà,
i te hahanga o Pipiri!
Hare ra, e pà.....
Te Heuheu Tùkino 1780-1846
Ngàti Tùwharetoa
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Lament
for Te Heuheu Herea
The birds at dawn
fly round in confusion now you are gone.
Go father, to
the land of frozen mists!
My bird of the
headlands, fed by the wind,
The white breasted
shag stands on your battlefields.
My bellbird that
hastened the dawn
In the thickets
on the cliff-shore at Pungarehu,
You are a food
offering on the altar,
And Uenuku eats.
In the night I
am a bellbird, singing alone.
Sleep will not
come, for my thoughts spring up,
And grief circles
me endlessly.
You are a gutted
fish on the altar of the god.
The drooping heron
plume is broken,
And your skin
is wet with the cold dew.
If only we were
parting for just one season!
But after such
a parting as this, what can bring a parent back?
If this were the
remains of a house, hands would already be at work,
If it were the
remains of a canoe, the paddlers’ song would be chanted.
Place his clubs
and spears about him!
With them he did
great deeds.
You could hold
your head up in the company of your elder brothers.
Now the anchored
canoes of the hosts of ‘Ati Tu, the multitudes of ‘Ati Rangi
Will be launched
for war,
And I will tame
the surging tides of the ocean.
O my father, see
me here alone,
The strong wind
is gone, the storm is past,
The canoe prow
has drifted away, the fish has left its hiding place.
The place where
the morning star used to shine is empty,
And because of
you the moon lies on the horizon.
My bellbird that
hastened the dawn,
My bird of the
headlands, fed by the wind,
Go father, to
the land of frozen mists!
Go father.....
Adapted from a translation
by Margaret Orbell
in the Penguin Book
of New Zealand Verse, 1985
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