HE TANGI NA HINEMOA, MO TANA TANE, MO TUTANEKAI
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HE TANGI NA HINEMOA, MO TANA TANE, MO TUTANEKAI.*
Te tau, e; te tau a te rau, ka wehe i a au, e,
Aha i wehe ai? ka uru kei roto, te niho o Mokoroa,
Rarahu tu ana, i ona peke ngahuru,
Tangi ana, te wheoro, ki te tuakiri,
He whana taua nei, te wa o te mamae,
Tikina mai au, whakawairekatia,
Kia hoki ake ai, te korou ki te ao; e,
Ekore hoki ake, he ngaki mate pea; e.
Keria mai au, ki te ruahaeroa, e,
A ngaro ai ra, te wairua.
* Hine-Moa was a celebrated beauty and poetess of Rotorua, who lived perhaps three hundred years ago (certainly not less.) The descendants of her children by Tutanekai now form a numerous tribe in Rotorua. The legend of her marriage to Tutanekai is next given.
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