Maya Angelou’s poem And Still I Rise was published by Random House in 1978, her live recitals of it are awe-inspiring.
So what happens when Chey, Anaha and Ani-Piki whakamāori it?
Find out if Angelou's work retains its resonance when read in te reo.
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TRANSLATIONS - printable version here
Nā Ani-Piki Tuari
English
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise
Whakamāori
Ka kōrerohia pea au e koe ki te pepa
Me ō rūkahu whakahūneinei
Ka takahia pea au e koe ki te papa
Erangi rā, pēnei i te one, ka ara ahau
Ko taku taera te uho o tō riri? (Pāmamae?)
He aha koe i muia ai e te pōkēkē?
Nā te mea, ka hikoi au ānō he puna hinu ōku
e mapumapu ana i tōku ruma noho
Pēnei i ngā marama (pō), pēnei hoki i ngā rā
Me te whakapono hoki ki a Rona
Pēnei i ngā manako e wawatatia nuitia ana
Ka ara tohu ahau
Nā Chey Milne
English
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise
Whakamāori
I hiahia koe, ki te kite i tōku ngoikoretanga?
Taku rangi kua piko, aku karu kororiko?
Me he roimata aku pokohiwi, ka heke, heke nei. Wheroku ana i taku tangiauē.
Nā taku whakapehapeha koe i āritarita ai?
Kaua e kārangirangi,
Tēnei te puku kata, anō nei
Kua keria he koura ki tōku
Mā ō tāo kupu ahau e kuru
Mā tō titiro ahau e hōripiripi
Mā tō mauāhara ahau e kōhuru (tāmī)
Hoi, ka rite au ki te hau, ka ara, ka kake
Nā Anaha Hiini
English
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Whakamāori
Ka puku rānei tō rae i taku ātanga/taera
Ka ohorere rānei koe i taku rerehua
Ka hōhā rānei koe i te koringa o taku tinana, ānō he tuawahine o tēnei whenua kura.
I te ngaringariā o onamata
Ka tū karatete au
I ngā kōrangaranga o whakapata
Ka tū karatete au
E tū kaurera ana me he toka tū moana
I te timunga me te paringa o tai pēhitanga.
Kia tū atu au i te ātārangi o uruwehi
Ka tū karatete au
Kia whītikina kētia au e ngā hihi o te rā
Ka tū karatete au
Nā te hautoa/māia i a au i heke ai i a kui mā, koro mā
I puta ai ko au, te kaiwhakaora o te taurekareka
Ka tū karatete au
Ka tū karatete au
Ka tū karatete au
- Maya Angelou
Made for RNZ by Arataua
