Waiata 24: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 24
Kua kaiwhakairo tōku kanohi, nā, kua tāia
Te āhua o tō pīwari i te poupou o te ngākau;
Ko taku tinana he whare manuhiri mōna,
Whakaritea mai e te toi o te ringa rehe matatau.
Heoi, mā ngā whakairo ka kitea te toi o te ringa,
Ki te kite rawa i tō āhua tūturu
E whakairia tonu ana i te whare o taku uma
(Ko ōna matapihi, i hangaia i ōu kanohi).
Nā, anō te mahi pai a te kanohi mō te kanohi:
Nā ēnei kanohi tō āhua i tā, ko ēna hei matapihi
Ki tōku poho, kia taea e te rā
Te whātare koa ki roto, mātai noa ai i a koe.
Engari, he pūkenga tēnei ka ware te kanohi:
Ka tāia tāna e kite anake — ko te ngākau, ka huna.
Mine eye hath played the painter and hath stelled
Thy beauty’s form in the table of my heart;
My body is the frame wherein ’tis held,
And perspective it is best painter’s art.
For through the painter must you see his skill
To find where your true image pictured lies,
Which in my bosom’s shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.
Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:
Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me
Are windows to my breast, wherethrough the sun
Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee.
Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art:
They draw but what they see, know not the heart.
Image: Interior of Kikopiri meeting house in the Horowhenua (affiliated to Ngāti Hikitanga and Ngāti Kikopiri of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga), photo taken by Henry J. G. Rowe, c. 1895-1906. National Library, Wellington. Catalogue entry here.