Henare Rakiihia Tau7.4.1941 – 30.6.2014

Oct 10, 2014

TK63-Rik-Tau

E iri ana te kawakawa
I kā maihi o Maahunui
Ko te kēkēao o tiwhatiwha
Ko tau ki ruka Maukatere
Ko te hōkiwai o Hine Takurua
Ka kau kino nei i te peha
Ko te roi o te tini, o te mano
Ka tāpuapua i te papa
Ko te ope o te rua Matariki tērā
E hui ana i ruka
Mōhou e te pakoko tawhito
Mōhou e te takata marae
Mōhou e te Upoko nui o Tūāhuriri
Ko tō rahi, ko tō iwi tēnei e hopo ana
Ko mātou ko makamutu
I tō weheka atu
Hanatu rā e Rakiihia
Ki te kāhui ariki i kā raki
Ko te kāri ko whakatōkia e koe
Hai whākai i tō rahi
I ō rikarika mahi kai
I ō rika whiti
He ārai i kā tau nihoroa
I kā raro kaikore
He matomato te tipu
He haumako
He mona
Ā muri ake nei
Kāore te aroha e kōmikomiko nei
E ārikarika i te wā
Auē, ai, auē.

The gables of Maahunui
Are adorned with kawakawa
A cloud of misery
Sits atop Maukatere
The bitterness of winter
Pierces the skin
The tears of the multitudes
Pool on the ground
And the company of Matariki
Gather in the heavens
For you the valiant warrior
For you who kept the home fires burning
For you the Upoko of Tūāhuriri
Here are the masses who grieve for you
We who are orphaned
With your departure
Leave us Rakiihia
And join those illustrious ones in the heavens
Surrender the garden
Sown to provide for your people
Propagated by your industrious hands
By your willing hands
As security against the lean years
Diverting hardship
hunger, scarcity
Know that it flourishes
It is fertile
It is laden
Forever more
The hurt which engulfs us
Will fail to abate with time
Alas, we mourn.