Ka Eke Ki Wairaka On The Summit Of Wairaka Ka eke ki Wairaka ka tahuri whakamuri, Kāti ko te aroha te tiapu i Kakepuku Kia rere arorangi te tihi ki Pirongia Kei raro koe Toko, taku hoa tungāne Nāku anō koe i huri ake ki muri Mōkai te ngākau te whakatau iho Kia pōruatia e awhi-ā-kiri ana. Kotahi koa koe i mihia iho ai Ko taku tau whanaunga nō Toa i te tonga Nō Mania i te uru, ka pēa tāua. I ngākau nui ai he mutunga mahi koe. Kāti au ka hoki ki taku whenua tupu, Ki te wai koropupū i heria mai nei I Hawaiki rā anō e Ngātoro-i-rangi E ōna tuāhine Te Hoata u Te Pupū E hū rā i Tongariro, ka mahana i taku kiri. Nā Rangi mai anō nāna i mārena Ko Pihanga te wahine, ai ua, ai hau, Ai marangai ki te muri e Kōkiri! On the summit of Wairaka, as I turn for one last look, My sorrow and love burst forth, Take flight over Kakepuku hill, Soar up to the heights of Pirongia And to you below there, Toko, my cousin and lover. I was the one who turned away— How slavish and cowardly not to seek Two more nights of close embraces! It is you alone who have my heart. O my love, my kinsman, descended from Toa in the south, From Mania in the west, we were well matched. I wanted to end my days with you, But now I go back to my own country, To the boiling springs that Ngatoroirangi, With his sisters Te Hoata and Te Pupu, Brought from Hawaiiki, Bubbling up at Tongariro to warm my body. It was our father the Sky who married Tongariro to Pihanga, Making the rain, the winds and the western storms. Go forth, my love!

A Love Song for Te Mahuta Te Toko ‘Ka eke ki Wairaka’ is a song composed by Rihi Puhiwahine for her lover, Te Mahuta Te Toko. Mr Mervyn McLean's transcription of the music of the song is published on pages 38–42. The song appears as No. 46 in Apirana Ngata's ‘Nga Moteatea’, volume one. It has also been published in ‘Puhiwahine, Maori Poetess’, Pei te Hurinui Jones' account of the life of Puhiwahine. This appeared in instalment from in Te Ao Hou, and was later published as a book. Most of the details given here have been taken from the second instalment of Mr Jones' account, which appeared in Te Ao Hou No. 29. Puhiwahine, who lived in the second half of the last century, belonged to the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe, of the Taupo district. She was famous for her wit and high spirits, and for her talents as a singer and poet. ‘Ka eke ki Wairaka’ is the best known of the many songs she composed, and it is frequently sung as a farewell song at the end of a gathering. Puhiwahine met Te Mahuta Te Toko, a distant cousin, at a tribal gathering at Whati-whatihoe at the foot of Mt. Pirongia. They loved each other at first sight; but some time later her two brothers arrived. As on previous occasions, they objected to Puhiwahine's choice of a prospective husband, and took her away at once. On their way back to Taupo they stayed for a few days at Owairaka near