My Dear Hina! - Peni Latu

I shall tell you so that all may know

Of the dream that appeared in my mind

My most precious bread cast upon the water

Drifting further afar and into oblivion

Shamrock, for the day I die

With effortless haste, I shall accept

Death has been of no consequence

Unstoppable, not even by a singing fuiva

The winds blow from the southerly

Taking away with it my dear beloved

But true is the saying of the poet

Easier defeated than to be laughed at

The bud of love is disoriented

As rightful dues for my guarded love

Only to be told by the disciple

A lover’s girdle is none other than death

If only they were real numbers

So that I can match them in pairs

Pity, though, they stand in disarray

Deciding now, I would rather fall in battle

My heart aches foolishly with memories

Of our special relationship once vowed

Bidding farewell, dear sacred pandanus fruit

My ship now sails forth into the deep sea,

breaking into the waves

Chorus:

My dear Hina, may you please gently surface

So we can converse for I must return

To be lost amidst the spray of breaking waves

As my heart is madly in love with you

---

Peni Latu (1912 - 1967) Tonga

Translated by 'Okusitino Māhina

Source: The Poetics of Exile: Love and Death in Tongan Poetry, 'Okusitino Māhina