Waiata 23: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 23
Me he manu paremo kei te pae,
Kotiti ana i te kaupapa i te wehi,
Me he tupua kī puru nei i te riri,
Ka mate ngākau i te kaha nunui,
Pēnei au te mataku, ka wareware
Te kī i nga oati tātākī o te aroha,
Ka hemo i te kaha o tōku aroha,
Utaina noa ki te ihi o tōku ingo.
Ē! Ko aku tiro hei māngai mōku,
Hei tohu ngū mō te uma kōrero,
E inoi aroha ana, e rapu utu ana,
Kaha ake i tēnei arero teretere.
Nā! Āta pānuitia tā te aroha ngū i tuhi
He kawa o te aroha te rongo ā-kamo.
An an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love’s rite,
And in mine own love’s strength seem to decay,
O’ercharged with burthen of mine own love’s might.
O! Let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that hath more express’d.
O! Learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.
Image: Carte de Visite of Unidentified Man, 1860s, by Burton Brothers (Ōtepoti/Dunedin). Purchased 1991. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.