NEW ZEALAND

  WAIATA * HIMENE
Te Ariki Hei Au Koe Noho Ai
Abide With Me

 hymn writer   Henry Lyte   1847        
translator  Henry Williams   c 1860
A rather loose Maori translation of the hymn "Abide With Me.'



Rotorua Maori Choir 1930
Na ka tohe raua ki a ia, ka mea,
"E noho ki a maua: kua ahiahi hoki,
kua titaha te ra...." Ruka xxiv:29

 		They constrained him, saying,
 "Abide with us: for it is toward evening,
and the day is far spent...." Luke 24:29
1. Te Ariki, hei au koe noho ai,
He ponga hoki tenel no te ra
Tupono noa nga mate o te ao,
Kia tata mai; hei a au Koe noho ai.

2. Nga ra e ora ai te tangata,
Ano he tai e timu atu nei;
E Koe, te take o te oranga
Kia tata mai; hei a au koe noho ai.

3 Mau ano ra, ka tino pono ai
He whainga tupu
ki te hoa whawhai.
Mau ano au u ata arahi:
Kia tata mai; hei a au koe noho ai.

4. E kore au oe ohooho noa
I anei he e whakararu nei
E karo au nga whakawal katoa ;
E toa ahau;
      ka taia mai ia Koe.
 1. Lord, abide with me,
the day is so dark,
bad things are happening in my world.
Stay close by; abide with me

2. The days of man's life,
are like an ebbing tide
while You are the source of life.
Stay close by; abide with me
3. Holding on, keeping true
are my growth goals
for dealing with the enemy.
I still have Your guidance each morning
Stay close by; abide with me
4.  I will not be frightened
by these difficulties
I will avoid all temptations;
I'm a warrior,
may all of them be struck down by You.
He himene mo te karakia ki te Atua (Auckland 1916) Page 16.


This is the Maori version of the hymn "Abide With Me' whose words were written by The Rev. Henry Lyte, an Anglican parish priest in Brixham, England, when he was dying of Tb in 1847. The hymn was sung at his memorial service, to the slow solemn tune of William Monk's Eventide, and is often sung to this tune at funerals.

The verses were translated in Maori by Edward Marsh Williams, who left England with his missionary parents and arrived at the Bay of Islands as a six-year-old in 1823. He translated more than 200 hymns into Maori, and died at Te Aute College in 1909. Until recent times, Eventide was the tune used to sing it.

However a bouncier dum-de dum-de dum-de tune has been used for these Maori verses in recent times, and to me it doesn't sound quite appropriate as a reflection on imminent death.

Abide with Me

1. Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see:
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

3. I need thy presence every passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

4. I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's dark sting?
where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
Rev Henry Lyte 1847

Lyte also wrote 4 more verses, not translated into Maori.

Maori songs - Kiwi songs - Home

  Placed on NZFS website Dec 2020                               
Thanks to Dr. Choon Wei Wee for alerting me to this hymn.