Kosimolosia 'o Rangi mo Papa ^Featured

Tapu ange moe Hau ē fonua

Moe helohelo 'o Ha'a Moana  

He kuonga 'oe lau folahaka

Ke tukulaumea 'ihe ha'ofanga

5. 'O fakafeia ha tālanga

He 'oku peaua 'ae fakalaka

Tā ki liku tā ki fanga

Fakakukafi pē me'a 'aonga

Na'a lome'ia ai si'i mafua

10. 'O ngalo ai 'Otu Kaveinga

'Ise'isa ke tavatava i Manuka

Puke ma'u mata'u fusifonua

Ta'omaki fuekafa ē fonua

Kumuni koe mata'ikoloa

Koe ola 'ae tipilometi 'ae to'a

Tonga hono uho 'Aotearoa

Teu tuku pē kihe hisitōlia

Piokalafi ē 'uluaki mātu'a

Kene fai hono talanoa

'Ilo 'ehe a'u 'ae fika

'Evalūsio ē ngaahi kuonga

Ne fai kiai ē talatupu'a

'Ātolopolosia 'o Rangi mo Papa

Koe 'Otua 'o Langi mo Maama

Tupu'anga ia 'oe kosimolosa

Pehē tokua na'e pikiua

'Ikai lava ha mavaheua

Fanau'i ai kau to'a 'Otua

'O nau nofo pē he po'ulia

Ne faifai 'o nau pāhia

He kuo nau ta'ota'omia

'O talaki leva 'ae fatongia

'Ae mātu'a ke fakapekia

Tokua koe fietau'atāina

Taukapo leva 'a Tāwhirimātea

Koe 'Otua Matangi Fesiukamea

Ke fakamāve pē kinaua

Ne tu'u laini leva Ngaahi 'Otua

Rongomātāne 'oe Kumara

Tangaroa 'ena 'oe Moana

Tūmatauenga 'oe Tangata

Kaumiatiketike 'oe Fena

Ka ne 'ikai pē ha fua

Ne toki pole ho Nau taha

Tānemahuta 'oe Vaotā

'O Ne sākisi fakanimaua

'Akahi Rangi ki 'Olunga

Fakata'utu Papa he Fonua

Koe ola'anga ia 'o kitaua

Ma'unga ia 'oe maama

Kae mole honau mana

Koe fua ē ta'efieauna

'Ikai toe lava 'o maliu mei 'olunga

'Ita leva Tāwhirimātea

He'ikai ha me'i 'a'apa

'O Ne puna leva ki 'Olunga

Kau mo Rangi he 'Ene 'ofa

Na'a ne toki fanafanau leva

Matangi Mofuike mo Afā

'Āhiohio Mana mo 'Uhila

Ne tu'uteki leva ē Kau Tama

'O Nau nofo pē tu'utelinga

Teka ē Matangi tu'u hono anga

Hahake hihifo tokelau tonga

Fesi mo haveki Tānemāhuta

Hola leva Hako 'o Tangaroa

Fale hūfanga kihe Moana

Totolo leva Rongo mo Haumia

Toitoi he fatafata 'o Papa

Fakamakatu'u Matauenga

Ko 'ene 'apasia kihe tupu'anga

'O iku fo'i leva 'a Afa

He kuo feingavale tafa'aki kotoa

Tokai mai he tuliki 'e fā

Toki 'ita ai Tūmatauenga

He puhiveve Fanga Tokoua

'O Ne toki tautea tahataha

Ne haveki leva 'a Vaotā

Tuli manu mo tauhele moa

Hoko koe me'akai tu'ufonua

Toki fa'u leva Hono kupenga

Sili'aki Hako 'o Tangaroa

Mo fai hono hoka taoa

Ne Ne foli atu hono kumia

Tama ko Rongo mo Haumia

Kuo Na pikitai kihe Fonua

He kuo Na mate he ilifia

'O Ne toki hanga 'o tatala

To'inevea hono lau moe fua

Kuo nau a'u 'eni kaimōngea

Tangutu lea Tū kuo mate hela

Kae tokua he 'aho 'e taha

Fiema'u 'ohoana Tānemahuta

Hala ē fefne he Fonua

Tu'u 'a fa'ē tala mo fakahā

"Fa'u ha tatau meihe 'Umea

Hō kiai ē mānava

To'o ho 'ohoana ko Ho Hoa"

Hinehauone hono hingoa

'Uluaki fefine ma'ae tangata

Si'i kie ē ne fofola

Vātau'anga ē kakala tupu'a

Holo pē misi kihe 'ovava

Manu vālau hono lauta'anga

Fanau'i ai tama hoihoifua

Fotu 'o hangē Sisimataē'uhila

Hono hingoa Hinemataura

To'o 'e Tane koe 'Ohoana

Si'i ta'ahine ko Hinatītama

Si'ene ngāue ke takaifala

Maumau ai ē ma'oni'oni ē tala

Ē toputapuhā ē fā'unga

Si'i mate ai hono mā

'O Ne toki hola nofo 'i Moana

Koe 'Otua Fefine 'o Lolomaama

'Alu atu Tane hono kumia

'O Ne tangi mo faka'ise'isa

'O fākafoa mo sīfatafata

"Foki koe Tangata kihe Fonua

He kuo mole hoko ngeia

Koe 'aho ē hoto ha'isia

Teu nofo pē 'o faifatongia

Talia ē holo mei 'Olunga

Fakanofonofo ki hono 'alunga

He ta'etakele 'eni Moana

Koe iku'anga 'o Ha'a Tangata."

Talu meihe 'aho koia

Mate kuo pule kehea

Ko fafine hono 'aofinima

Ko tangata ko mo'ui mo ikuna

Tupu'anga ia 'oe Tapu moe Noa

Ma'uluta'anga ē Taufatungamotu'a

Tu'a'ofa atu leva ē malanga

Teu tulia ē tō'anga ē la'ā

Tahihoui mo Faifatongia

Helilala Talilupe moe Fatamāfana

COSMOLOGY OF RANGI AND PAPA

An epic cosmology poetry of praise

Poetry composed by Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu ‘Ōkusitino Māhina, 1980 English translation by Dr Wendy Pond

Deference to the ruler of the land

And the pinnacle of Moana culture

This era of rival dexterity

Airing traditions in public

Instigating debate

Progress has rough passage

Whipped by the best and the worst

Strive after the proven aspects

Lest our point of reference be lost

And the steering stars clouded over

Beware lest the erudite secrets slip

Hold fast to the hook that hooked the land

Hoard it at heart as a cultural treasure

As the fruits of our hero's diplomacy

Tonga's umbilical cord, Aotearoa

I will leave it to the historians

Biographers of the first parents

To tell their story

The weary-wise will figure it out

Evolution through the aeons

An origin story was forged

Anthropology of Rangi and Papa

God of Sky, God of Earth

Originators of the Cosmos

Convention has it they were clasped together

Couldn't separate them

Gave birth like that to the hero Gods

And they all lived in the dark

In timespace they fed up

On account of getting cramp

And so a stringent requirement was announced

To do away with the parents

So it seems, they wanted to be free

Tāwhirimātea sprang to their defence

He was God of Iron-breaker Winds

For the job of separating them

The Gods line up on the spot

Rongomātāne of the Kumara

And there's Tangaroa of the Ocean

Tūmatauenga of the Humankind

Haumiatiketike of the Fern-root

But the attempt was to no avail

Then one of them put himself up:

Tānemahuta of the Unlogged Forest

Did a double-handed backward somersault

Kicked Rangi up to the Sky

And set Papa down on the Earth

That outcome was us

That's how light came about

But he lost his mana by doing that

His desserts for being a bad looser

He could never again turn himself the right way up

Then Tāwhirimatea got angry

Not a sherrick of respect

A few straight up above

Joined up with Rangi, out of loving respectfulness

Next thing, he gave birth

Wind, Earthquake and Hurricane

Cycle, Thunder, and Lightning

His brother Gods quaked in their boots

And kept their ears pricked up

The wind firmed in his old quarter

East West North South

Snapped Tānemāhuta and destroyed him

Tangaroa's offspring fled

Took refuge in the Ocean

Rongo and Haumia crawled away

Hid in the breast of Papa

Tū of Humankind was steadfast

He deeply resected his own origins

Hurricane lost in the end

A vain attempt in every respect

Veering and blasting from the four quarters

Tūmatauenga was outraged

His brothers were wasting their breadth

He could teach them a lesson

He mangled the Unlogged Forrest

Hunted the animals and set traps for the birds

Made them stable foods

Then he fashioned a fishing net

Used it to nap Tangaroa's offspring

And jabbed fish with a spear

He scoured the countryside

For the brothers Rongo and Haumia

They were faithfully clutching Mother Earth

Dead scared

He tried to unlatch them

Gobbling their leaves and fruits

In the upshot they were battered and bruised

Tū sat down, dead beat

The one day it came to pass

Tānemahuta wanted to get a wife

Not a woman in the land 

His mother got up, made an announcement:

"Make a duplicate from the clay

Exhale breath into it

Take your partner to wife"

Her name was Hinehauone

The first woman for man

Fine mats we're laid out

Flowers of the old world mingled

Starlings flocked to the banyan tree

Noisy creatures in their handsome uniformity

A child surpassing fair was born

Reminding one of Sisi-of-the-flashing-face

Her name: Hinemataura

Taken by Tāne to wife

This poor young woman, Hinetitama

Her role, to roll out the matter

This impairs the account's impeccability

The sacredness of the institution

She died of embarrassment

The she fled, lived in the ocean depths

As goddess of the Underworld

Tāne went looking for her

How she cried and moaned

Wailed and beat her breast

"Return, you man, to the land

For I have lost my self respect

My days are an imprisonment

I'll stay and fulfil my role

Meeting the conveyor belt from up there

Putting each one in his proper slot

This ocean is bottomless

The end of the line for the tribe of man."

As from that day

Death has ruled differently

Woman has it in her palm

Man controls only life and victory

This was the beginning of sanctity and commonality

The binding of the old regulations

This plain fellow has come to the end and his version

I'll make my way Back to the Sunset Rest

To Answer-your-call-and-fulfil-my-role

To the Heilala-where-pigeons-are-welcome and the Warm-hearted-breast

Koe tuhulu, kinikini, moe fakamatala nounou

‘Oku ngāue‘aki lelei ‘ehe punake ‘ae fa‘ahinga ‘e tolu ‘oe heliaki koe ‘lea kihe me‘a ‘e taha kae ‘uhinga kihe me‘a ‘e taha,’ ‘aia koe heliaki fakafetongiaki, heliaki fakafekauaki, moe heliaki fakafefonuaki he‘ene fakafuo mo fakauho ‘ae ta‘anga talatupu‘a sani-mo-viki ‘oe fakatupu moe tupu‘anga ‘ae fonua ‘a ‘Aotearoa moe kau Māori he kamata‘anga.

Toki hoko atu.

 Brief notes/commentaries in English

 The poet makes good use of the three types of heliaki ‘metaphorically speaking one thing but historically meaning another,’ namely, epiphoric qualitative heliaki, metaphoric associative heliaki, and metonymic constitutive heliaki in his temporal-marking and spatial-composing of the epic poetry of creation and origin story of the land and people of ‘Aotearoa and Māori.

 To be continued.

 

‘Ofa atu fau & Sincerely,

 

Fetongikava Dr Viliami Uasikē Lātū and Professor Hūfanga-He-Ako-Moe-Lotu Dr ‘Ōkusitino Māhina