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Legends of the Maori

Elegiac Chant — A Taupo Chieftainess’s Lament

page 238

Elegiac Chant
A Taupo Chieftainess’s Lament

Tera te ata iti hohoro mai koia
Matatu noa ana ko au nei anake,
Kai te mura tonu o te pu a Rewi e ka ana.
E pa! I haria mai i tua
Kia rongo atu au i te papa koura
Hai taoro iho mo te kino
I taku tinana ka tueketia nei.
Ko tahau repera pai tonu tenei e te tangata
Ko te tika i to pono.
Horahia mai ra, kia ui atu au
Ko wai to ingoa? Ko te ana i Oremu.
Ko tau rakau kai te mata ngira tonu
Te ngotonga ki roto ra
Aue! Te mamae ra!

Ka ura mai te ra, ka kohi au he mahara
E hoa ma. E! He aha tenei hanga? E te rau e pae
Tirohia mai ra aku pewa i taurite,
Tenei ka titoko kai te ngaru whakakeo
E tere i Taupo.
Ko te rite i taku kiri, ka ura mai i te rangi;
Ka riro aku taonga i a te ha-ana-a-mai i tawhiti,
Tutata a Ngatiwhatua.
Whakarongo mai ra, e koro,
I Tongariro, i te puke ronaki
Te uru ki te whenua; i mahue matau
Te tira o te taniwha.
Me i hurihia iho, e au ana taku moe
Ki taku makau tipu—e.

page 239

[Translation]

Hasten, oh dawn—I tire with waiting,
For, alas, I stand alone.
The flashing of Rewi’s guns is seen
From afar, O sire.
Tell me of the golden reef
Which may buy me comfort and cure
This malady which afflicts my body.

* * *

Is it the cave at Oremu?
Your weapon is like the point of a needle
Thrust into quivering flesh—
Alas-how great is my pain!

With the blushing of the sun I gather thoughts,
O friends. Alas! what is this fell design?
Oh ye hundreds here assembled!
Gaze ye at my eye-lashes
Like unto the rounded waves
Which break on Taupo’s sea.
My skin is like unto the redness of the skies.
My treasures are scorched by this breath of fire,
Which comes from afar.
Yea, you say, even from Ngati-whatua who are at hand.
Listen unto me, O father,
From Tongariro your last resting place.
You have entered the bosom of the earth,
But alas! we are left to the company of this monster.
Why was I not buried with you?
Then my sleep would have been pleasant
With my beloved lord.