Hinemoa

"Tutanekai lived on Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua, where of an evening he and his friend Tiki used to play – the one on a “horn”, the other on a “pipe”. The sound of this music could be heard across Lake Rotorua at Owhata and it charmed the beautiful and noble-born Hinemoa who lived there. When Tutanekai visited the mainland with his people, he met Hinemoa and they fell in love. The young man had perforce to return to his village, but the lovers arranged that every night he would play and that Hinemoa would follow the sound of his music to join him."
-Te Ara

​"Tutanekai kept up a nightly serenade but Hinemoa's people, suspecting something was afoot, had hidden all the canoes. The maiden, however, was not to be deterred and, selecting six large, dry, empty gourds as floats, she decided to swim to the island. Guided by the strains of her loved one's music, Hinemoa safely reached the other shore and landed near a hot spring, Waikimihia, in which she warmed and refreshed herself."
-Te Ara 

Pokarekare Ana

Maori
Pōkarekare ana, ngā wai o Rotorua.
Whiti atu koe hine, marino ana e.

E hine e, hoki mai ra
Ka mate ahau i te aroha e.

Tuhituhi taku reta, tuku atu taku rīngi
Kia kite tō iwi, raru raru ana e.

E hine e, hoki mai ra
Ka mate ahau i te aroha e.

E kore te aroha, e maroke i te rā
Mākūkū tonu i aku roimata e.

E hine e, hoki mai ra
Ka mate ahau i te aroha e.

Whati whati taku pene, kua pau aku pepa
Ko taku aroha, mau tonu ana e.

E hine e, hoki mai ra
Ka mate ahau i te aroha e.

English
The waves are breaking, against the shores of Rotorua.
My heart is aching, for your return my love.

Oh my beloved girl, come back to me
I could die of love for you.

I have written you a letter, and enclosed with it my ring,
So your people could see it how much I'm troubled for you.

Oh my beloved girl, come back to me
I could die of love for you.

The sun's hot sheen, won't scorch my love,
Being kept evergreen, by the falling of my tears.

Oh my beloved girl, Come back to me
I could die of love for you.

My poor pen is broken, my paper is spent,
But my love for you endures, and remains forever more.

Oh my beloved girl, come back to me
I could die of love for you.

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