My Rata Tree.

[A Maori lament for the late Ngatimaniopoto chief, Wetere Te Rerenga, of Mokau.]

Translated by Arthur Desmond.

My Rata tree! my Rata tree! great was thy shadow.
Thou wert my shelter when the roaring tempests shook the hills.
In thy strength I dwelt securely; in thy shadow I felt no fear.
Thou art fallen! thou art fallen! gone for ever to thy long sleep.
Gone is my refuge from the icy blasts; gone is my shelter from the wintry storms.

Rerenga! Arise, O Defender of thy people! Awake, O Helper of the helpless!
Uplift, uplift thy voice! Let mine cars once more rejoice in thy words of wisdom.

Why is silence my reply?—why no answer to the cry of my yearning?
Who shall now be our Vindicator? Where, O where is my strong defence?

O Rerenga! Rerenga! Rerenga! Sorrow is in my bones; desolation is in my heart:
My Rata tree is fallen—fallen—fallen, and darkness clouds my soul.

King Country, May, 1889.