CHANT FOR THE NEWLY BORN The song reprinted here is from Rev. Richard Taylor's Te Ika a Maui, a book that has been out of print for many years now. The English renderings of Maori verse are still among the best ever written. ‘E Hine Aku’ is a ‘popo’ (nursery song) written by a chief Te Rangitakoro, of the Whanganui district, and is intended to teach her the secrets of her ancestry. It tells the story of Hau, who undertook the journey to look for his wife Wairaka who had eloped with a man named Weku. When he found Wairaka with her lover at Te Paripari (at the end of the Tararua Range) he asked her to fetch some water. She took the calabash and went into the sea and when she had gone far enough for the water to reach her shoulders Hau repeated karakia and Wairaka became petrified. She has remained there ever since, a rock in the sea still bearing her name. The song is very interesting as it gives the origin of every place-name from Wanganui to Wairarapa.

KO TE POPO A TE RANGITAKORU MO TANA TAMAHINE, MO WHARAURANGI E hinc aku, ki to kunenga mai i tawhiti, Ki te whakaringaringa, ki te whahawaewae, Te wakakanohi-tanga, ka manu, e hine, te waka i a Ruatea, Ko Kurahaupo, ka iri mai taua, i runga i Aotea ko te waka i a Turi, Kau mai taua te ngutu Whenuakura, Hanga iho te whare Rangitawhi; Tiria mai te kumara, Ka ruia mai te karaka ki te taiao net, Karia iho te pou Tamawahine i, Ka waiho i Nga tuahine, i a Nonoko-uri, I a Nonoko-tea, ko te Hererunga, ko te Korohunga. Kapua mai e Hau ko te one ki te ringa, Ko te tokotoko. Ka whiti i te awa, Ka nui ia, ko Wanga-nui; Tiehutia te wai, ko Wangae-hu; Ka hinga te rakau, ko Turakina; Tikeitia te waewae, ko Tikei; Ka tatu, e hine, ko Manawatu; Ka rorohio nga taringa, ko Hokio; Waiho te awa iti hei ingoa mona ki Ohau; Takina te tokotoko, ko Otaki; Ka mehameha, e hine, ko Waimea. Ka ngahae nga pi, ko Wai-kanae. Ka tangi ko te mapu, e hine, Ka kite koe i a Wairaka. Matapoutia. Poua ki runga, poua ki raro, Ka rarau, e hine. Ka rarapa nga kanohl, Ko Wai-rarapa Te rarapatanga o to tupuna, E hine—ka moiki te ao, Ko te pai a Waitiri; Kumea kia warea Kaitangata Ki waho ki te moana; Hanga te paepae, poua iho, te pou Whakamaro te rangi, ko Meremere: Waiho te Whanau, ko te punga O tona waka ko te Awhema. Kati, ka whakamutu. e hine.