Whiti Tāhuna: He mea whakamāori, nā Arapata Rōre Tenihana
A translation into Māori of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘Crossing the Bar’
Tō ana te rā, ka rere a Meremere,
Me he karanga tōiri ki ahau!
Kia kore hoki te tāhuna e ngunguru,
Hei taku terenga ki waho,
Tēnā ko te tai e moe haere ana,
Kī rawa, kore haruru, kore huka,
Hei te huringa ki te kāinga a taua mauri
Nāna ahau i tō mai i te hōhonu tē rawea.
Whaiao me te pere ahipō,
Ā, hei muri ko te pō!
Heoi, kia kore rawa e poroaki pōuritia
Taku ekenga atu;
Ahakoa hei tawhiti au e kawea atu
I tō tātou nei whenua o te wā me te wāhi,
He kanohi, he kanohi pea māua ko taku kaiurungi
Kei tua i te tāhuna.
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
Image: Lake Tekapo [Takapō], circa 1909, by William Ferrier of Timaru [Te Tihi-o-Maru]. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.