Waiata 37: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 37
Me he matua tāngenge e koa ana i
Ngā mahi taiohi o tana tama kakama,
Ka koa hoki au (tārutu nei i te hae o Aituā)
I runga i te āhuru o tō painga me tō pono;
Nā, he ātaahua, he whakapapa, he rawa, he mātau,
Ko tētahi o ēnei katoa, ko ēnei katoa rānei,
Ka whai mana rātou i a koe, ka mau karauna,
Ka hono atu au i taku aroha ki ēnei taonga:
Ā, e kore au e tārutu, e pōhara, e kinotia nei.
Nā tō ātārangi ka puta mai he mauri
Kia ngata rawa ahau i tō makuru,
Kia ora ai au i te mana o tō hau.
Ko te taumata o te pai, tērā taku wawata mōu,
Kia ea taku wawata; kua takitekau ai taku koa.
As a decrepit father takes delight
To see his active child do deeds of youth,
So I, made lame by Fortune’s dearest spite,
Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth;
For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,
Or any of these all, or all, or more,
Entitled in thy parts, do crowned sit,
I make my love engrafted to this store:
So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised,
Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give
That I in thy abundance am sufficed,
And by a part of all thy glory live.
Look what is best, that best I wish in thee:
This wish I have; then ten times happy me!
Image: Gilbert Adkin and Percy Denton making shadows at Cheslyn Rise, 7 January 1914, by Leslie Adkin. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.