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Te Marama I Te Po


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A love song from the Waikato: Mana Epiha sings a modified
Northland version of this very beautifully on Youtube.  

As sung on Youtube

F Te Marama i te po nei
Nga Whetu i te C rangi
Oho ake koe e Hine
Papaki kau ana F e

Me pea hara koe e hine
E mutu wai ko a-C-roha
Me he rukuruku pea
Nga wai o Matauri F e


Original lyrics of v.2

Me pehea ra e hine
E mutu ai to aroha?
Me rukuruku pea
Nga wai o Waikato e?



The Moon in the night
and the Stars in the sky.
You awaken, o Maiden
to a gentle tapping.

If perhaps I offend you oh Maiden
this flow of emotion will end,
perhaps with a dive into
Matauri Bay

 


So how will you, oh Maiden
cease your pining?
By diving into
the waters of Waikato?


Te Marama i te Po on record

1969, Moods of the Maori, LP, Waioeka Maori Cultural Group

197-?, Songs of the Maori, LP, The Maniapoto Voices (re-issued on CD, 2004)


Mihi nui

Thanks to Moheka30 on Youtube who kindly corrected my translation and supplied the original lyrics.

And to Brad Walker of Adrenalin TV for making this very useful video for Maorilanguage.net. More of these excellent aids for teaching waiata are here.

Placed on the internet August 2007, reformatted Jan 2022