Maori Poetry

Te Ao Hou, Royal Tour 1953, Page 44

Maori Poetry HINEWAHIRANGI'S SONG Translation by R. T. Kohere A winding path up Tipare-o-Niu, I see, Recently thou hast trodden it; And with mine tears it I lave. Southerly breeze waft me on thy wings, Until on Kaiawas Isle, I alight, And Kuri-a-Tarawhata beyond reach. Yonder shore dimly I see, Mine eyes tears copiously shed, For all night long I've suffered; If I could only have a glimpse Of trees at hore, satisfied I would be. After the death of Tikitikiorangi by Ngapuhi near East Cape, his widow, Hinewahirangi, returned to her home at Tokomaru, taking with her her little son, Wikiriwhi Matauru. On hearing that Hinewahirangi wished to marry again Wiki's people at East Cape, felt agrieved that a Chief's wife should want to re-marry. Some of them went to Tokomaru and took Wiki from his mother and brought him back to East Cape. Then did she compose her song. She could not see her son at East Cape, for she was not wanted there, so she implored a southerly breeze to carry her to East Cape, not on the mainland but on East Island, where she could gaze across to where her little boy lived. Although a hill stood between her and him, she would be satisfied to realise, at any rate, that she was not far from him. Wikiriwhi Matauru was one of Ngati-Porou's great chiefs, and with Mokena Kohere was penned up in Hatepe. He helped to end the Hauhau rising on the East Coast in 1865, and lived to a good old age. His mother's song is well-known amongst the Ngati-Porou and beyond the East Coast. e uru ana ki nga wai o Ruawaipu ara ki Waiapu, ki Awatere, ki Karakatuwhero me Wharekahika. I ui atu a Tangihangaroaahau ki a Kaiawa ki te take o tana haere. Ko te whakautu a Kaiawa na te rongo o nga wai a Ruawaipu ia i kawe mai. Ka ki atu na a Tahingaroaahau, ‘Hei aha te ika raumati, e ako i ana ko taku motu e tu mai ra, he whare kai mo nga wa katoa.’ Ko te tapaenga tenei i te motu ki a Kaiawa, ka tapiritia atu ko te tamahine, ko Hotomoori. Ka moe a Kaiawa i a Hotumoori ka puta ki waho ko Ngati-Porou. Na konei na te moenga o Hotumoori i a Kaiawa i tae ai te rohe potae o Ngati-Porou ki Turanganui awa, ara ki te Toka-a-Taiau kei te wai. Na te pakeha i tukituki kia watea ai te huarahi kaipuke. Tipare-o-Niu? he pikitanga i te hiwi i te Kautuku, e tata ana ki East Cape. Kuri-a-Tarawhata, i eke mai a Tarawhata raua ko tana kuri, ko Mohorangi i runga i te waka a Maangarara, ko te utanga o runga, he tuatara, he mokomoko, he teretere. No te auautanga o te kuri ka panga ki te moana, ka pikarikari nga waewae, ka kino te moana, ka totohu te waka. I kau nga ngarara ki te motu, ko te waka i pae ki Okauwharetutu. Kia pakihi te tai ka kitea a Maangarara me ona tangata, he kohatu. He ana roa kei te tonga o te motu. Ki te ki te tai ka haruru ki roto o te ana, ka kiia ko te kuri a Tarawhata e tau ana. Te Hore, he wahi taurakitanga koiwi tangata kei runga o te tihi o Otiki. He whare-raiti kei runga o Otiki inaianei. Kua korerotia e au he wahi nui tonu no te poetry te purakau, te pakiwaitara.