He ruri aroha | A love lyric.
Kāore au mō te whakapākehā i tēnei mea. I won’t be translating this one.
Auē rā ka rangona tonu
Tōu kakara kei te kiri nei e,
Kei ngā ringa, kei te kakī
Āta kumea au
ki muri…
Whakarehu mai koe
Te ohiatia, mei kōnei rā
Me he whare karakia kakara tēnei —
he rākau, he tawhito.
Hiki ake hei mōnenehu ponguru
Te kakara nei he kihi tō-mai-kōpuru,
Ōu ngutu tātākī patapata noa
Kōrero mai ki roto i taku ihu
He hāhātanga wairua.
He māra rōhi kihi rau —
Kihi kakara whakapōrangi noa.
Image: Roses in a greenhouse, 1910-1930, by James Walter Chapman-Taylor. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.