Waiata 36: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 36
Kia whāki au, me weherua tāua tokorua,
Ahakoa kotahi rawa ō tāua aroha tahi:
Nā, ko ēnei hara e mau tonu nei ki ahau,
Ka wahā takitahitia e au i tō wehenga.
He whakaaro kotahi tō ō tāua aroha e rua,
Ahakoa he aituā whakamomotu tō rāua,
Ahakoa kore tāna raru i te mauri o te aroha,
Ka tāhae tonu i ngā hāora reka o te aroha.
Kia kore rawa aku mihi huhua ki a koe,
Kei māteatea koe i taku nei hara pōuri,
Kia kore hoki tō whakahōnore i ahau,
Kei riro rawa atu te hōnore o tōu ingoa:
Engari, e kore rā e pēnā, pēnei hoki taku aroha:
Mēnā nāku koe, nāku hoki nei tō rongo nui.
Let me confess that we two must be twain,
Although our undivided loves are one:
So shall those blots that do with me remain,
Without thy help, by me be borne alone.
In our two loves there is but one respect,
Though in our loves a separable spite,
Which though it alter not love’s sole effect,
Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love’s delight.
I may not evermore acknowledge thee,
Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,
Nor thou with public kindness honour me,
Unless thou take that honour from thy name:
But do not so, I love thee in such sort,
As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.
Image: The Separation of Heaven & Earth, 1955, Wellington, by E. Mervyn Taylor. Purchased 2004. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.