Kei te ariki o tōku aroha, ko tōku ponongatanga

Hei awhenga tauherea ki tōu rangatiratanga.

Ki a koe ka tuku au i te karere nei,

Hei tohu i te pononga, kāore i te tātākī:

Ko te pononga kaha rawa atu — engari, i tōku kūare,

I tōku arero paremo, he hore kau te āhua nei —

Heoi anō tāku he tūmanako kau, kia ohia ai tōu ngākau

Ki te pātakahia i tāku (tahanga noa iho nei)

Kia menemene mai rā anō ki ahau

Ko tērā whetū kamokamo e ārahi ana i tōku haere,

Kia kākahu anō ia i tōku aroha kanukanu

Kia whakaatu i tōku whaitake ki tōu whaiwhakaaro reka,

Hei taua wā anō ka whakamanamana i tōku nei aroha ki a koe;

I mua ia ko tāku he huna ūpoko kau i i tōu aroaro whakawā.

Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage

Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,

To thee I send this written embassage,

To witness duty, not to show my wit:

Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine

May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it,

But that I hope some good conceit of thine

In thy soul’s thought, all naked, will bestow it:

Till whatsoever star that guides my moving,

Points on me graciously with fair aspect,

And puts apparel on my tottered loving,

To show me worthy of thy sweet respect:

Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee;

Till then, not show my head where thou mayst prove me.

Image: Norman Mitchell Hunter, ‘Pātaka or Whata (Māori storehouse) Ōhinemutu’, 1882, Alexander Turnbull Library. Catalogue entry here.

Shakespeare: Waiata 6 | Sonnet 6