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Legends of the Maori

An Old-Time Love Lilt

page 232

An Old-Time Love Lilt

Hou paipa hou, hou paipa tawhito, hou paipa kai na te kuare te manawa e e e!
New pipes, all new, new pipes, all old; new pipes that are smoked by the fools!
Hei aha te puuru, hei aha te kereko? Ko te rerehati taku piwa te Manawa e e e!
What care I for blue shirts, what care I for calico? The red shirts are to me more beautiful, O!
Ka tangi piukera ra runga o wairere riringi haere; koia pea te whira, te manawa
The sound of the bugle is heard above the rushing stream, and the graceful willows weep at the sound.
Puke tiketike te puke nei Karewa, iri noake taku aroha te manawa.
The mountain Karewa is a high mountain but my love excels it greatly in height.
E kore au e piukera ki toku nei raiki, kei kiia nei au he rare te manawa:
I will not trumpet forth my affection for her lest I be held to be a fool.
Kia piri kia tata katahi au ka piukera kia whakaronga te ran e pae nei te manawa.
When I near her, when I clasp her fond and true, my love I’ll trumpet forth that the hundreds thronging round may hear and understand.
Pakaru wini whare kapieta i te rae, tohu ake au ko hope iti te manawa.
A broken piece of window glass shone brightly from the river’s bend; we thought it was the beaming eyes of my slender-waisted darling.
E kore rika taku. kai ki Ruato, rika rawa atu ki hope iti te manawa.
I have no relish for food at Ruato, I can only enjoy it in my slim-waisted darling’s presence.
Tika, e kui, e mate nei au e e e mo te tuahine o Rewaiti, te manawa e e e.
Listen, O dame, I am sick unto death for the love I have for the sister of Rewaiti.
Tika, e kui, kehea te rori tika? kei te matarawe ki Tokapuna.
Tell me, O dame, where does the right road lead to? To the happy place of Tokapuna.
page 233 Tika e kui kuatatia koia Taiawa e e e, kei hoki te ranukongu tutahi ko piwariki am o ko manawa e e e.
You are right, dame, to gaze towards Taiawa before the drizzling mist hide the star so beautifully shining and drive its glory away.