The Travel Club is an association of independent, explorative and creative travelers from all over the world. We are dedicated to building and promoting travel culture on a global level. https://www.thetravelclub.org/tag/tonga 2026-01-14T12:42:21+01:00 The Travel Club Joomla! - Open Source Content Management 2019-08-10T12:08:54+02:00 2019-08-10T12:08:54+02:00 https://www.thetravelclub.org/articles/world-poetry/754-tonga-a-social-poem lazar

<p>We sat chatting about Vavau Tua Lik;<br />Then the women spoke to us:<br />"Let's go look for Lik, to watch the sunset;<br />Let's listen to the birds chirp and the dove coo.<br />Let's pick flowers on the slope of Matato.<br />Let's take a swim in the sea and in fresh water<br />Of Wov Akasa, and let us smell the scented oil.<br />Let's knit wreaths and wrap our flowers<br />Which we picked at Matato."<br />We stand on the slope of Matato, motionless, staring down&nbsp;<br />Where the deep sea is visible.<br />And as our soul floats, from the tall toa trees, from the plain of the interior<br />A strong wind is coming to us.<br />My soul expands as I watch the waves in the deep,<br />How foolishly they try to break through the solid rocks!<br />Oh, how lucky we are to be here instead of Mu!<br />It's evening - let's go to the village!<br />Hearing! The voices of the singer are heard.<br />Are they preparing to play, to celebrate the night at Tene's grave?<br />Let's go there!<br />But shouldn't we think about our earlier life,<br />When the war had not yet split our country ?!<br />Come on! War is something terrible!<br />See: The country is devastated and many people have been cruelly killed.<br />The chiefs were left without huts, no longer sneaking around,<br />To their mistresses, in the moonlight.<br />Enough thinking! It's just a wish! Our country is at war!<br />Fiji has invaded our country Tonga:<br />Now we have to make war.<br />Let's leave the sad thoughts; tomorrow we may be dead!<br />Let's dress Hikulu now, put her on Tapa's head,<br />We decorate our forehead with wreaths of Jiala,<br />We hang white Huns flowers around the door to highlight<br />Our skin dark from the sun.<br />Hear the people cry!<br />The dance ends, and they share the rite from our ceremony.<br />Let's go home tomorrow!<br />Men want us - they beg us to give them<br />Our wreaths of flowers;<br />Flattering us, telling us:<br />"Beautiful women from Lik,<br />Their skin is lovely with sunshine,<br />Their scent is like the flowerbed of Mataloko and Veihu.<br />I long to go to Lik: tomorrow, tomorrow, let's go there already!"</p> <p>--</p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tonga</a>, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited.</p>

<p>We sat chatting about Vavau Tua Lik;<br />Then the women spoke to us:<br />"Let's go look for Lik, to watch the sunset;<br />Let's listen to the birds chirp and the dove coo.<br />Let's pick flowers on the slope of Matato.<br />Let's take a swim in the sea and in fresh water<br />Of Wov Akasa, and let us smell the scented oil.<br />Let's knit wreaths and wrap our flowers<br />Which we picked at Matato."<br />We stand on the slope of Matato, motionless, staring down&nbsp;<br />Where the deep sea is visible.<br />And as our soul floats, from the tall toa trees, from the plain of the interior<br />A strong wind is coming to us.<br />My soul expands as I watch the waves in the deep,<br />How foolishly they try to break through the solid rocks!<br />Oh, how lucky we are to be here instead of Mu!<br />It's evening - let's go to the village!<br />Hearing! The voices of the singer are heard.<br />Are they preparing to play, to celebrate the night at Tene's grave?<br />Let's go there!<br />But shouldn't we think about our earlier life,<br />When the war had not yet split our country ?!<br />Come on! War is something terrible!<br />See: The country is devastated and many people have been cruelly killed.<br />The chiefs were left without huts, no longer sneaking around,<br />To their mistresses, in the moonlight.<br />Enough thinking! It's just a wish! Our country is at war!<br />Fiji has invaded our country Tonga:<br />Now we have to make war.<br />Let's leave the sad thoughts; tomorrow we may be dead!<br />Let's dress Hikulu now, put her on Tapa's head,<br />We decorate our forehead with wreaths of Jiala,<br />We hang white Huns flowers around the door to highlight<br />Our skin dark from the sun.<br />Hear the people cry!<br />The dance ends, and they share the rite from our ceremony.<br />Let's go home tomorrow!<br />Men want us - they beg us to give them<br />Our wreaths of flowers;<br />Flattering us, telling us:<br />"Beautiful women from Lik,<br />Their skin is lovely with sunshine,<br />Their scent is like the flowerbed of Mataloko and Veihu.<br />I long to go to Lik: tomorrow, tomorrow, let's go there already!"</p> <p>--</p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tonga</a>, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited.</p>