A person on a hill east of Te Puke
looks south to farewell a mountain above Lake Rotoiti,
before turning northwards to seek a ship that can return
them to their tribe there.
This song has a sweet air and it had a vogue throughout
the land. Apparently it was composed at Pukehina, the
home of the Ngati Whakahemo tribe. It was collected by
Elsdon Best and also by T. Turi.
"Kaore te aroha e huri runga
ra o
Aku kiri kanohi, hei hanga kia māpuna te
Roimata i aku kamo, e.
"Me aha te aroha e mahuru ai
rā?
Mai ki pikitia te hira kaie
Pare-o-te-
Rawahirua, kia mihi atu au te
Ripa ki Matawhau'; nāku ia nā koe ko—
i huri ki te tua, i.
"Pere
taku titiro te au kai te moana o
Tuhua I waho ra, he rerenga hipi
mai nō—
hou e Te Kiore, hei kawe ki
ahau ki
Tai o nga muri, kei marutata 'hau te
whakamau ki te iwi, e."
The lines above are as they are performed, but I
have rearranged
the lines below into phrases, to make the
translation
easier.
Kāore te aroha1
e huri
runga ra2 o aku kiri kanohi,
hei hanga kia māpuna3
te roimata i aku kamo, e.
How great is
the longing that overflows
above my eyelashes,
causing a welling up of
the tears from my eyes.
Me
aha te aroha e mahuru4 ai rā?
Mai ki pikitia te hira5 kai6
te Pare-o-te-Rāwāhirua,7
kia mihi atu au te ripa ki Matawhau',8
nāku ia nā koe,
koi9 huri ki te tua, i.
How am I
going to set this longing
at rest ?
I ascend to the lookout point on
the Lintel-of-the-Two-Valleys,
so I might greet the ridge to Matawhaura;
you are mine indeed,
then I turn to the rear.
Pere10
taku titiro te au kai6 te
moana
o Tuhua I waho ra,
he rerenga hipi11
mai
nōhou12 e Te Kiore,13
hei kawe ki ahau ki
tai o nga muri,
kei marutata14ahau
te whakamau15 ki te iwi,
e.
I dart my
gaze towards the waters
around Mayor Island out yonder,
where comes sailing a ship
belonging to you, O Te Kiore people
to take me to the seas of the north,
so I can get close for the attachment to the
tribe.
Notes
1Kāore te
aroha, how intense/how great/how
unceasing my feelings of love, is the opening
phrase of eight waiata in Nga
Moteatea, and there are many others with similar
opening phrases, kāore te mamae, kāore te raru, kāore
hoki.
2runga ra,
some versions use roto ra, from within me,
instead.
3mapuna, welling up like water from te
puna, the spring.
4 mahuru,
sooth, set at rest. Sometimes the word mauru,
to abate, is used here.
5 hira
is an old Maori word for the jutting lower edge of
your rae or forehead. Rae is also a
headland, with hira the edge of the
headland, at the top of a long slope. Hira was name
used by shore whalers for their lookout post at the
top of a hill, but Ngata wondered if this may have
been their Maorified pronunciation of the English word
hill. However, the only meanings of hira in
most Maori dictionaries are plentiful and shy.
6 kai
is the east coast pronunciation of kei, to
be on.
7 te
Pare-o-te-Rawahirua is a hill above
Ohinepanea near Pukehina, half-way between Rotorua and
Whakatane. Apparently it belonged to Ngai Te Rangi, of
Tauranga.
8 Matawhau'
or Matawhaura (mata-'whau-ra, eyes-tied-faraway) is a
mountain at the north-eastern end of Lake Rotoiti,
often mentioned by the Arawa people.
9koi can be an axe, or
something sharp, but here it seems to be another
variant of kei.
10pere,
a dart or arrow. Her gaze, and her attention, is
thrown out to sea, as if it were a dart. Te Kooti also
used this dart metaphor in his moteatea, Kaore Hoki te
Manukanuka, projecting a message of warning all over
Aotearoa.
11hipi,
no, not a sheep, but a European-style ship.
12nōhou
is the east coast pronunciation of nōu,
belonging to you, your.
13 Te Kiore Te-whiti-kiore, or
Te-whanau-o-nga-i-tai-whao, were an ancient people of
Tauranga. They held Tuhua or Mayor Island, and in 1835
numbered 170 people. Some versions of this moteatea
use the phrase te atua, referring to
a ship of the european.
14marutata,
to be near, close by. This is often abbreviated to 'tata,
but 'tata can also be the abbreviated form
of ohotata, suddenly.
15 te
whakamau I have made a literal
translation above ...for
the attachment to the tribe. But more
colloquial English would be ...so I can make
my way straight to the tribe.
Another Version
Kaore te Aroha,
E huri i runga ra o aku kiri kanohi; He hanga
kia mapuna te roimata i aku kamo,
Me aha te aroha e
mauru ai
ra?
Mai ki pikitia, he
hira kei
te pare o Te Rawahirua;
Kia mihi atu ana
koe ripa ..
Matawhau,
Naku i hara
koe i huri ki te tua;
Pere taku titiro
te au ki
te moana
O Tuhua i waho ..,
he rerenga puke
mai,
Nohou e te atua hei kawe i ahau ki
Tai o nga muri, kei marutata hau,
Te whakamau ki te iwi, e, i.
