Waiata 35: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 35
Kāti rā tō pōuri mō āu hara o mua:
He kuiki tō te rōhi, he paru tō te puna hiriwa:
Ka riwha a Marama, a Tama i ngā ao, i te pounga,
Ā, he pirau hoki tō te kōpuku pīwari.
He hara nā ngā tāngata katoa, nāku hoki i tēnei
Taku whakamana i tō hara mā te whakarite:
He kikino ki ahau, he mimiri i tāu hara
Taku muru nei i ō hara mei nui rawa atu rātou;
Heoi anō tāku he kaiwawao mō tō hara pohane,
Nā, ko tō hoariri nei tōu ake rōia hoki,
Nō ka takoto wero ture au mōku anō:
Pēnei te kaiākiri o taku aroha me taku kino,
Kua akihehori au māna,
Mā te tāhae reka ka kawa tāhae i ahau.
No more be grieved at that which thou hast done:
Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud:
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.
All men make faults, and even I in this,
Authorizing thy trespass with compare,
Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,
Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are;
For to thy sensual fault I bring sense,
Thy adverse party is thy advocate,
And ‘gainst myself a lawful plea commence:
Such civil war is in my love and hate,
That I an accessory needs must be,
To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.
Image: Court House, Pahiatua, New Zealand, 1909, postcoard by Muir & Moodie. Purchased 1998. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.