Paraheke Te Kore

Te Kore of Ngati Maniapoto was killed by Waikato at Paterangi, near Kihikihi. ‘A Lament for Te Kore’ appears in Ngā Mōteatea By Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata (Chapter 59, p. 251), said to be written by a woman after she discovered Te Kore’s head suspended on a pole.

He Tangi mo Te Kore/A Lament for Te Kore, Ngāti Maniapoto, by Paretekawa (Ngata, 1959, pp. 250-253).

• 1. What shameful fate, alas, has come upon me,
• 2. Hence my state of aimless wandering;
• 3. Night is only for sleep, day comes but to awaken.
• 4. When the dawn strikes the hill tops,
• 5. I do only recall times of strife
• 6. From whence many ne'er returned.
• 7. You were oft headstrong without thought for home;
• 8. Hence this abiding grief for your companionship.
• 9. Here, all about, are symbols of your greatness,
• 10. For ever cherished and treasured within the house.
• 11. My misty eyes are quite bedimmed,
• 12. And shine forth from within like stars,
• 13. What is there here to take
• 14. To the lower slope of Te Hahanga,
• 15. So that I might greet, O Kore! you alone?
• 16. Alas, bereft are the dear ones you once embraced.