NGA TITOTITO A TE MAORI HE WAIATA MO TE RANGATIRA Na R. T. Kohere i tuhituhi E hika ma e huia mai tatou, Katahi nei te mamae ka ata rangona iho E nanawe ake ana ki te tira kahurangi Ka horo ra i te whetu, te marama; Na te aha koe i rutu? Ko te tapatu e toka i te rangi Ehara i te ariki, he huia rere hou, No runga i nga puke; Kei hea hoki koe, Kia whakawai mai i te pae o te rangi? Ka haere o rongo hei homai te aroha, Ki te whare, hei hurihuri atu i re rahi o te mate, Haere nui atu ra ki raro o nga muri, Kia hikoia mai e te maru wahine Ka pakupaku koa te tai ki te akau, Ka Maunu ra ia te taniwha i te rua Ma wai e takiri o rongo i muri nei? Ma o mana ra, ma te rangi ka tukua ki raro ra e. Nga Whakamarama Ko taku waiata tino pirangi tenei; he tau nga kupu, he tau hoki te rangi. E marama ana he tangi mo te rangatira inahoki enei kupu, ‘Ka horo ra ia te whetu, te marama,’ ‘Ka maunu ra ia te taniwha i te rua’, ko tetahi take i tuhia ai e au te tangi nei, kia whakaaturia mai na wai tenei waiata a he tangi mo wai. I ki mai a Mangaone Pewhairangi no Hauraki te waiata nei. Ee Hika ma e Kei te he te kupu hika, no Ngati-Porou tenei reo ehara i Hauraki. He huia rere hou Kaore e marama enei kupu, ko te ahua he korero pakiwaitara.

MAORI POETRY LAMENT FOR A DEAD CHIEF (Translation) Oh, my loved ones, let's come together, For now the sting of pain is racking, Tugging at the heart strings of the select, The stars and the moon have fallen, What has brought you down so low, If not a storm that raged in heaven? Not the Lord, but a huia of recent flight, Seen flying over the hills Why have you not risen above the horizon? Your fame has gone forth to evoke love at home, And to assuage poignant sorrow, Go in your greatness to the nether world, There to be greeted by a band of women select The tide is well out to sea, And the taniwha has left its lair; Who will lead your hands now you are gone? Your mana and heaven itself will descend.

Notes The song is my favourite and its tune is dignified as the words are. It is clear it was composed as a lament for a great chief, for taniwha is only applied to a great chief. Maori tunes have been described as monotonous and yet they express fittingly the feelings of one in sorrow. Shelley, a great English poet said, ‘Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought’.