Waiata 8: He mea whakamāori, nā ngā Waiata a Wiremu Hākipia
A translation into Māori of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 8
E te manu korihi, he aha koe e pōuri nei ki te pūoro?
Kāore he whawhai tō te reka ki te reka, ka hari te koa i te koa,
He aha koe e aroha nei ki tōu e kore nā e whiwhi koa,
Ā, e reka whiwhi ai i taua mea e whakahōhā i a koe.
Mēnā ka tūkinotia ō taringa e te reretau o ngā oro
Tangitika, kua taumārenatia rawa e te hononga,
Kei te paku tapitapi noiho rātou i a koe, e whenumi nā
I ngā tūranga e tika ana māu nā runga i te noho takitahi.
Āta whakaarohia ēnei aho, he hoa aroha rāua,
Ka pā tēnei ki tēnā i te raupapa tauawhiawhi,
Pērā me te pāpā me te tamaiti me tāna whāereere,
E waiata katoa tahi ana i te oro kotahi rōreka rawa,
Nā, ko tā rātou waiata, i te takitini ka pā takitahi mai,
Ka pēnei tā rātou ki a koe: ‘Takitahi koe, ka kore haere.’
Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?
Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy.
Why lov’st thou that which thou receiv’st not gladly,
Or else receiv’st with pleasure thine annoy?
If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,
By unions married, do offend thine ear,
They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds
In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.
Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechless song, being many, seeming one,
Sings this to thee: “Thou single wilt prove none.”
Image: Portrait of an unidentified man holding a violin, circa 1920, by Berry & Co. photography studio, Wellington | Pōneke. Purchased 1998. Te Papa. Catalogue entry here.