Maori Poetry
RIC SCHWIMMER’S talk on the Maori poetess Tyini Ngawai (1YC) was a noble effort to establish the importance of contemporary Maori composition. His description of the nature and intricacy of the action song, its place in modern Maori life and the themes and techniques of Tuini Ngawai I found most revealing and informative. It was a pity that the recording of the illustrative songs was so poor that much of their effectiveness was dissipated. And in one respect I felt that Mr. Schwimmer might have made a longer and stronger case-in justifying the use of Eurdépean "pops" tunes as bases for the songs. Personally I find it almost impossible, especially knowing no Maori and guided only by a partial paraphrase of the content, to accept as serious poetic or musical compositions works based on "Love Walked Right In" or "Bingle-Bangle-Bungle." The English words, in all their banality, keep intruding even when the melody has been somewhat reshaped, and create an air of triviality and frivolity which needs a fuller and more powerful justification than Mr. Schwimmer gave, to dispel, At the same time, his talk opened up a most interesting field which I hope he may be persuaded to explore in greater
detail in other sessions,
J.C.
R.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 899, 26 October 1956, Page 17
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210Maori Poetry New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 899, 26 October 1956, Page 17
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