Harata Tangikuku: No te Whanau-a-Ruataupare ki Tokomaru tenei wahine, ko te koka o Wi Perwhairangi. He wahine tohunga ki te titotito waiata; ka tika mona te ingoa poetess. E marama ana i runga tonu o nga kupu o tana waiata, he wahine mate, he nui te mate, a e marama ana hoki he huango tona mate, ki etahi iwi he kume. I a ia e noho ana i te taumata i Manawai, Pohaitapu, ko etahi wahine e haere ana i te akau, e ahu ana ki Waihoa, ki Te Mawhai, ki te ruku koura, ki te ripi paua, ki te karo kina, ki te kohi pupu. He tino mahi tera nana, i a ia e ora ana, otira i te nui o tona mate kihai ia i ahei. Ka tangi ia, ka waiata.

Nga Kupu o te Waiata: Rere omaki, hohoro ki te heke Mihi-marino. Ki te korero a Apirana Ngata kei Tuparoa ke tenei wahi, ko te taumata ke i noho ai a Harata Tangikuku ko Manawai, Pohaitapa. No nga mahi whakawhitiwhiti waiata ka uru Mihimarino ki te waiata nei, ka kapea Manawai. Te Kihikihi, i whakarite a Harata Tangikuku i a ia ki te kihikihi ki te huroto ara ki te auatuku, ki te kaka, ki te porangi, ki te haurangi, i te tahuna ara ki te pua raupo, ki te perehia, ki te rimu puka. Ka kiia enei whakarite e te pakeha he simile, he metaphor, he tino tikanga no te poetry. He tino tika enei kupu na te huango. Me ki ake e au ko te tino mate o nga mokopuna a Harata Tangikuku he huango, a he tokomaha o ratou kua mate. Tawera, he whetu ki te pakeha ko Venus. I te nui o te mate o Harata Tangikuku, kihai ia i moe, ka oho ko ia anake, ka moe katoa tana whanau. No tana tirohanga atu ki waho ki te moana ko Tawera. I tona mate, i tona mokemoke, ka powhiritia e ia te whetu kia hohoro mai hei hoa moe mona, i a ia e porangi ana, e haurangi ana i te nui o tona mate. He pakiwaitara tenei ahua o a tatou korero otira he tino tikanga tenei no te poetry ara te pakiwaitara. Harata Tangikuku's Lament By R. T. Kohere Flow out, ebbing tide, Flow far out to sea; And here I sit and gaze, On doorsteps at Mihi-marino; How oft did I thee cross, In days gone by. Sing on thou cicada, For thou art like unto me, I'm like a bittern blowing in a swamp, I'm like a kaka that chokes. Is it Tawera I discern, Hurrying across the sea? Speed on thou star, And stay with me the night, For I am sore distrest; I rave as one possess'd, I reel as one drunken, I'm as raupo down blown by the wind, I'm as perehia that scurries afar. When at myself I gaze, My bones stare at me, For food to me is useless, It may as well be untasted; Leave me then a thing void, As crackling seaweed on shore.

Explanatory Notes: Because of its fine language and poetry, of its apt similes and metaphors, descriptive of an emaciated asthmatic, of its appeal to the imagination, and also of its plaintive tune, I have decided to make Harata Tangikuku's Lament my initial contribution to Te Ao Hou. Harata Tangikuku, the mother of the chief, Wi Pewhairangi of Tokomaru Bay, was a Maori poetess. From her use of similes, it is obvious she suffers from asthma. She would join a party of women on their way to the rocks to dive for crayfish, to gather sea-eggs and pauas, but because of her emaciated condition she cannot. She resigns herself to her fate, ‘a thing void’ ‘as crackling seaweed on shore’. It is needless to mention that the translation is not literal and is without rhythm and metre. First Maori priest to be invited to work in a Polynesian island is the Rev. John Tamahori, of Wairoa, a Maori priest of the diocese of Waiapu. The Rev. Tamahori left recently to serve in Tonga.—Evening Post. * * * A two-day course in Maori arts and crafts was held by the Maori Women's Welfare League in Hastings recently. The course included demonstrations and instructions in tukutuku work, and kit and mat-making. In the evenings, educational films were shown and talks given on cultural and historical subjects. The instructors of the craft work were Maori women of the organisation, but assistance was also given by tutors of the Adult Education Service.—Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune.