Now is the hour, Maori farewell song

'Now is the hour' sung by the St Joseph's Maori College Girls' Choir.

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/sound/now-is-the-hour

Vera Lynn - Now is the Hour

https://youtu.be/3-jz54Mf1Ok

Po atarau
E moea iho nei
E haere ana
Koe ki pamamao
Haere ra
Ka hoki mai ano
Ki i te tau
E tangi atu nei

Now is the hour, 
For you to say goodbye
Soon you'll be sailing, 
far across the sea.
While you're away, 
Oh please remember me.
When you return, 
you'll find me waiting here.

Now Is the Hour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Now Is the Hour" is a popular song, though often erroneously described as a traditional Māori song.^[1] It is usually credited to Clement Scott (music) and Maewa Kaihau & Dorothy Stewart (arrangement and lyrics).

Maori lyrics: Pö atarau e moea iho nei E haere ana koe ki pämamao Haere rä ka hoki mai anö Ki i te tau e tangi atu nei

English lyrics: Now is the hour for me say goodbye Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea While you're away oh please remember me When you return you'll find me waiting here

The tune of the song first became known in 1913 when it was published by W.H. Paling and Co as a piano-variations piece in Australia, called Swiss Cradle Song and credited to "Clement Scott". Some sources say that, after a tour of New Zealand, the British music critic and travel writer Clement Scott wrote the tune to the "Swiss Cradle Song".^[3] However, the family of an Australian, Albert Saunders, has long claimed that the "Clement Scott" who wrote the tune is a pseudonym for Saunders.^[4][5]In any event, the piece consisted of eight variations to the main 16-bar theme. Paling sold 130,000 copies of Swiss Cradle Song.^[6]

Māori words were added around 1915 and the tune was slightly changed. It became known as Po Atarau and was used a farewell to Māori soldiers going to the First World War. After this, some white New Zealanders "mistakenly thought [the song was] an old Maori folksong".^[1] One claim attributes the first words to two Māori groups of sheep shearers, the Grace and Awatere families, of Tuparoa.^[5]