Waiata 27: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 27
Pau noa i te mahi, ke tere taku hoki ki te moenga,
Te okioki matenuitia e te tinana ngenge i te haere;
Engari tēnā ka tīmata he haerenga anō i te ngākau
He mahi mā te hinengaro ina oti ai tā te tinana:
Nā, ko aku mahara – mai i tēnei nohonga pāmamao –
Ka whakatika mō tētahi haerenga tapu nui ki a koe,
Kia matatū rawa aku kamo mohemohe noa,
Hei hēteri titiro noa atu ki te whēuri, tā te matapō e kite ai:
Otirā tērā pea ko te kite-hewa o tōku nei wairua
Ka whakairi ake i tōu ātārangi ki tōku aroaro pohe,
Whakapaipai ai i te pō uriuri, whakahou ai i tōna mata ukiuki.
Ā, me he kahurangi tāiritia i te pō kutikuti,
Ka whakapai, ka whakahou i taua mata tawhito.
Kāti, ao noa ko te tinana,
Pō noa ko ngā mahara,
Māu e te tau, māku hoki,
Tē kitea he whakatā.
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head
To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired.
For then my thoughts — from far where I abide —
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see:
Save that my soul’s imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.
Lo! Thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.
Image: Night and Dusk Shots, circa 1885, by Leslie Adkin. Gift of G. L. Adkin family estate, 1964. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.