Lyrics

               E rere rā ngā wai o taku awa
               Mai i tō kuikuinga i Taupō-nui-a-Tia
               Te wai wehe ai, ko au ki muri nei
               Wai hōpuapua, me ko te aroha

​5             E hū rā i Tongariro, ka mahana i taku kiri
               Tītapu maroro, ai marangai ki te muri
               He kaha tuatinitini, whatia mai rā
​               Wātea kau ana te tūranga o Rēhua

               E Timi e, takoto ki te moenga
​10           Whakairoiro, te kei o Te Arawa
               Ka mimiti i Te Whare o Te Heuheu
​               Ka totō i Te Whare o Pōtatau
               Hīnana ki uta, hīnana ki tai
​               Kei whea rā e te tau e?

------------------------------------------------------------

The transcendental flow of Waikato;
A burgeoning spring of Taupō-nui-a-Tia
Where I was forsaken;
Left to cry me a river, of emotion and despair

And as Tongariro expels its own
I am at least comforted by his warmth
In the wake of my noble’s passing;
One that has eclipsed the great star of Rēhua

O Timi, lie peacefully there; to the west
At the adorned resting place of your forebears The emptiness of your house
May be offered unto the fullness of my own.
One last glance, across both land and sea
Delivers nothing but the realization of your loss
And the memory of love’s punishment.  Alas!

Explanation

Today, there remains only two houses of inherited leadership or ‘ariki’ in New Zealand; those being the house of the Māori king, and the house of paramount chief Te Heuheu, the latter residing at the western end of Te Arawa in Tūwharetoa.  In 1856, it was Iwikau Te Heuheu who mooted that the Kīngitanga be given to ‘Waikato of a hundred chiefs’.
Hence, this song is a tribute from the iwi of one sacred house to another.  It commemorates the recent passing of Timi Te Heuheu, who was the younger brother of present-day ariki, Tumu.  Shortly after Timi’s passing, Tūwharetoa mountain Tongariro  erupted.  Some yielded this as a sign of love and farewell, for a man of great mana born of the traditional house of ariki.

5. E hū rā i Tongariro, ka mahana i taku kiri
This line was taken from the song ‘Ka eke ki Wairaka’ by Puhiwahine of Tūwharetoa.

8. Wātea kau ana te tūranga o Rēhua
Words uttered by Mananui upon the death of Te Heuheu Tūkino I, Herea.

13. Hīnana ki uta, hīnana ki tai
This was the name of the meeting which took place at Pūkawa, where Pōtatau was elected the first Māori king.