Te Hekenga

Te Ao Hou, March 1963, Page 14

Te Hekenga Ko te ahi kai koura a Tama ki te rangi: Te Riu o-Mahu; na, Ko Te Taumanu o Te Waka nui a Maui. A name has been given to the setting sun, A name has been given the waters of the sea That leap in foam at Panau; A name for the East; a name for the darkness— But no name is given to the empty sorrow of the cold house: the dead ashes the deserted nets That caught the sun's love on the sea at O Hau. The dead without names are like the fruitless trees, the barren Karaka; the white driftwood on the dried sand. A name is given to the hawk in the high air, But no name is given to the forgotten song. O Chieftain, when you stood here, O Tama, O Tama, Beyond the waters in the days beyond: You gave a name—a life you gave to the land— A prayer to the shimmering sun.