Chapter 1

STANZA 1

’Twas in Koolau I met with the rain: It comes with lifting and tossing of dust, Advancing in columns, dashing along. The rain, it sighs in the forest; 5 The rain, it beats and whelms, like the surf; It smites, it smites now the land. Pasty the earth from the stamping rain; Full run the streams, a rushing flood; The mountain walls leap with the rain. 10 See the water chafing its bounds like a dog, A raging dog, gnawing its way to pass out.

This song is from the story of Hiiaka on her journey to Kauai to bring the handsome prince, Lohiau, to Pele. The region is that on the windward, _Koolau_, side of Oahu.

[Footnote 126: _Ilina_. A sink, a place where a stream sinks into the earth or sand.]

[Page 60]

PAUKU 2

Hoopono oe, he aina kai Waialua i ka hau; Ke olelo[127] wale no la i ka lani. Lohe ka uka o ka pehu i Ku-kani-loko.[128] I-loko, i-waho kaua la, e ka hoa, 5 I kahi e pau ai o ka oni? Oni ana i ka manawa o ka lili. Pee oe, pee ana iloko o ka hilahila. I hilahila wale ia no e oe; Nou no ka hale,[129] komo mai maloko.

The lines from the fourth to the ninth in this stanza (_pauku_) represent a dialogue between two lovers.

[Translation.]

STANZA 2

Look now, Waialua, land clothed with ocean-mist— Its wilderness-cries heaven’s ear only hears, The wilderness-gods of Ku-kani-loko. Within or without shall we stay, friend, 5 Until we have stilled the motion? To toss is a sign of impatience. You hide, hiding as if from shame, I am bashful because of your presence; The house is yours, you’ve only to enter.

PAUKU 3

(Ko’i-honua)

Pakú Kea-au,[130] lulu Wai-akea;[131] Noho i ka la’i loa o Hana-kahi,[132] O Hilo, i olokea[133] ia, i au la, e, i kai, O Lele-iwi,[134] o Maka-hana-loa.[135] 5 Me he kaele-papa[136] la Hilo, i lalo ka noho. Kaele[137] wale Hilo i ke alai ia e ka ua. Oi ka niho o ka ua o Hilo i ka lani; Kua-wa’a-wa’a Hilo eli ’a e ka wai; Kai-koo, haki na nalu, ka ua o Hilo; [Page 61] 10 Ha’i lau-wili mai ka nahele. Nanalu, kahe waikahe o Wai-luku; Hohonu Waiau,[138] nalo ke poo o ka lae o Moku-pane;[139] Wai ulaula o Wai-anue-nue;[140] Ka-wowo nui i ka wai o Kolo-pule-pule;[141] 15 Halulu i ha-ku’i, ku me he uahi la Ka puá, o ka wai ua o-aka i ka lani. Eleele Hilo e, pano e, i ka ua; Okakala ka hulu o Hilo i ke anu; Pili-kau[142] mai Hilo ia ua loa. 20 Pali-ku laau ka uka o Haili[143] Ka lae ohi’a e kope-kope, Me he aha moa la, ka pale pa laau, Ka nahele o Pa-ie-ie,[144] Ku’u po’e lehua iwaena konu o Mo-kau-lele;[145] 25 Me ka ha’i laau i pu-kaula hala’i i ka ua. Ke nana ia la e la’i i Hanakahi. Oni aku Hilo, oni ku’u kai lipo-lipo, A Lele-iwi, ku’u kai ahu mimiki a ka Malua.[146] Lei kahiko, lei nalu ka poai. 30 Nana Pu’u-eo[147] e! makai ka iwi-honua,[148] e! Puna-hoa la, ino, ku, ku wau a Wai-akea la.

[Footnote 127: _Olelo_. To speak, to converse; here used figuratively to mean that the place is lonely, has no view of the ocean, looks only to the sky. “Looks that commerce with the sky.”]

[Footnote 128: _Ku-kani-loko_. A land in Waialua, Oahu, to which princesses resorted in the olden times at the time of childbirth, that their offspring might have the distinction of being an _alii kapu_, a chief with a tabu.]

[Footnote 129: _Hale_ House; a familiar euphemism of the human body.]

[Footnote 130: _Kea-au_. An _ahu-pua’a_, small division of land, in Puna adjoining Hilo, represented as sheltering Hilo on that side.]

[Footnote 131: _Waiakea_. A river in Hilo, and the land through which it flows.]

[Footnote 132: _Hana-kahi_. A land on the Hamakua side of Hilo, also a king whose name was a synonym for profound peace.]

[Footnote 133: _Olo-kea_. To be invited or pulled many ways at once; distracted.]

[Footnote 134: _Lele-iwi_. A cape on the north side of Hilo.]

[Footnote 135: _Maka-hana-loa_. A cape.]

[Footnote 136: _Kaele-papa_. A large, round, hollowed board on which to pound taro in the making of poi. The poi-board was usually long and oval.]

[Footnote 137: _Kaele_. In this connection the meaning is surrounded, encompassed by.]

[Footnote 138: _Waiau_. The name given to the stretch of Wailuku river near its mouth.]

[Footnote 139: _Moku-pane_. The cape between the mouth of the Wailuku river and the town of Hilo.]

[Footnote 140: _Wai-anue-nue_. Rainbow falls and the river that makes the leap.]

[Footnote 141: _Kolo-pule-pule_. Another branch of the Wailuku stream.]

[Footnote 142: _Pili-kau_. To hang low, said of a cloud.]

[Footnote 143: _Haili_. A region in the inland, woody, part of Hilo.]

[Footnote 144: _Pa-ieie_. A well-wooded part of Hilo, once much resorted to by bird-hunters; a place celebrated in Hawaiian song.]

[Footnote 145: _Mokau-lele_. A wild, woody region In the interior of Hilo.]

[Footnote 146: _Malua_. Name given to a wind from a northerly or northwesterly direction on several of the islands. The full form is Malua-lua.]

[Footnote 147: _Pu’u-eo_. A village in the Hilo district near Puna.]

[Footnote 148: _Iwi-honua_. Literally a bone of the earth: a projecting rock or a shoal; if in the water, an object to be avoided by the surf-rider. In this connection see note _e_, p. 36.]

[Translation.]

STANZA 3

(With distinct utterance)

Kea-au shelters, Waiakea lies in the calm, The deep peace of King Hana-kahi. Hilo, of many diversions, swims in the ocean, ’Tween Point Lele-iwi and Maka-hana-loa; 5 And the village rests in the bowl, Its border surrounded with rain— Sharp from the sky the tooth of Hilo’s rain. Trenched is the land, scooped out by the downpour— Tossed and like gnawing surf is Hilo’s rain— 10 Beach strewn with a tangle of thicket growth; A billowy freshet pours in Wailuku; Swoll’n is Wai-au, flooding the point Moku-pane; And red leaps the water of Anue-nue. A roar to heaven sends up Kolo-pule, [Page 62] 15 Shaking like thunder, mist rising like smoke. The rain-cloud unfolds in the heavens; Dark grows Hilo, black with the rain. The skin of Hilo grows rough from the cold; The storm-cloud hangs low o’er the land. 20 A rampart stand the woods of Haili; Ohi’as thick-set must be brushed aside, To tear one’s way, like a covey of fowl, In the wilds of Pa-ie-ie— Lehua growths mine—heart of Mokau-lele. 25 A breaking, a weaving of boughs, to shield from rain; A look enraptured on Hana-kahi, Sees Hilo astir, the blue ocean tossing Wind-thrown-spray—dear sea—’gainst Point Lele-iwi— A time-worn foam-wreath to encircle its brow. 30 Look, Pu’u-eo! guard ’gainst the earth-rib! It’s Puna-hoa reef; halt! At Waiakea halt!

PAUKU 4

(Ai-ha’a)

Kua loloa Kea-au i ka nahele; Hala kua hulu-hulu Pana-ewa i ka laau; Inoino ka maha o ka ohia o La’a. Ua ku kepakepa ka maha o ka lehua; 5 Ua po-po’o-hina i ka wela a ke Akua. Ua u-ahi Puna i ka oloka’a pohaku, I ka huna pa’a ia e ka wahine. Nanahu ahi ka papa o Olu-ea; Momoku ahi Puna hala i Apua; 10 Ulu-á ka nahele me ka laau. Oloka’a kekahi ko’i e Papa-lau-ahi; I eli ’a kahi ko’i e Ku-lili-kaua. Kai-ahea a hala i Ka-li’u; A eu e, e ka La, ka malama-lama. 15 O-na-naka ka piko o Hilo ua me ke one, I huli i uka la, i hulihia i kai; Ua wa-wahi ’a, ua na-ha-há, Ua he-hele-lei!

[Translation.]

STANZA 4

(Bombastic style)

Ke’-au is a long strip of wildwood; Shag of pandanus mantles Pan’-ewa; Scraggy the branching of Laa’s ohias; The lehua limbs at sixes and sevens— 5 They are gray from the heat of the goddess. [Page 63] Puna smokes mid the bowling of rocks— Wood and rock the She-god heaps in confusion, The plain Oluea’s one bed of live coals; Puna is strewn with fires clean to Apua, 10 Thickets and tall trees a-blazing. Sweep on, oh fire-ax, thy flame-shooting flood! Smit by this ax is Ku-lili-kaua. It’s a flood tide of lava clean to Kali’u, And the Sun, the light-giver, is conquered. 15 The bones of wet Hilo rattle from drought; She turns for comfort to mountain, to sea, Fissured and broken, resolved into dust.

This poem is taken from the story of Hiiaka. On her return from the journey to fetch Lohiau she found that her sister Pele had treacherously ravaged with fire Puna, the district that contained her own dear woodlands. The description given in the poem is of the resulting desolation.

PAUKA 5

No-luna ka Hale-kai[149] no ka ma’a-lewa,[150] Nana ka maka ia Moana-nui-ka-lehua.[151] Noi au i ke Kai, e mali’o.[152] Ina ku a’e la he lehua[153] ilaila! 5 Hopoe-lehua[154] kiekie. Maka’u ka lehua i ke kanáka,[155] Lilo ilalo e hele ai, e-e, A ilalo hoi. O Kea-au[156] ili-ili nehe ke kai, [Page 64] 10 Hoo-lono[157] ke kai o Puna I ka ulu hala la, e-e, Kai-ko’o Puna. Ia hooneenee ia pili mai[158] kaua, e ke hoa. Ke waiho e mai la oe ilaila. 15 Ela ka mea ino la, he anu, A he anu me he mea la iwaho kaua, e ke hoa; Me he wai la ko kaua ili.

[Footnote 149: _Hale-kai_. A wild mountain, glen back of Hanalei valley, Kauai.]

[Footnote 150: _Ma’alewa_. An aerial root that formed a sort of ladder by which one climbed the mountain steeps; literally a shaking sling.]

[Footnote 151: _Moana-nui-ka-lehua_. A female demigod that came from the South (_Ku-kulu-o-Kahiki_) at about the same mythical period as that of Pele’s arrival—If not in her company—and who was put in charge of a portion of the channel that lies between Kauai and Oahu. This channel was generally termed _Ie-ie-waena_ and _Ie-ie-waho_. Here the name _Moana-nui-ka-lehua_ seems to be used to indicate the sea as well as the demigoddess, whose dominion it was. Ordinarily she appeared as a powerful fish, but she was capable of assuming the form of a beautiful woman (mermaid?). The title _lehua_ was given her on account of her womanly charms.]

[Footnote 152: _Mali’o_. Apparently another form of the word _malino_, calm; at any rate it has the same meaning.]

[Footnote 153: _Lehua_. An allusion to the ill-fated’ young woman Hopoe, who was Hiiaka’s intimate friend. The allusion is amplified in the next line.]

[Footnote 154: _Hopoe-lehua_. The lehua tree was one of the forms in which Hopoe appeared, and after her death, due to the jealous rage of Pele, she was turned into a charred lehua tree which stood on the coast subject to the beating of the surf.]

[Footnote 155: _Maka’u ka lehua i ke kanaka_. Another version has it _Maka’u ke kanaka i ka lehua_; Man fears the lehua. The form here used is perhaps an ironical allusion to man’s fondness not only to despoil the tree of its scarlet flowers, but womanhood, the woman it represented.]

[Footnote 156: _Kea-au_. Often shortened in pronunciation to _Ke-au_, a fishing village in Puna near Hilo town. It now has a landing place for small vessels.]

[Footnote 157: _Hoolono_. To call, to make an uproar, to spread a report.]

[Footnote 158: _Ia hoo-nee-nee ia pili mai_. A very peculiar figure of speech. It Is as if the poet personified, the act of two lovers snuggling up close to each other. Compare with this the expression _No huli mai_, used by another poet in the thirteenth line of the lyric given on p. 204. The motive is the same in each case.]

The author of this poem of venerable age is not known. It is spoken of as belonging to the _wa po_, the twilight of tradition. It is represented to be part of a mele taught to Hiiaka by her friend and preceptress in the hula, Hopoe. Hopoe is often called _Hopoe-wahine_. From internal evidence one can see that it can not be in form the same as was given to Hiiaka by Hopoe; it may have been founded on the poem of Hopoe. If so, it has been modified.

[Translation.]

STANZA 5

From mountain retreat and root-woven ladder Mine eye looks down on goddess Moana-Lehua; I beg of the Sea, Be thou calm; Would there might stand on thy shore a lehua— 5 Lehua-tree tall of Ho-poe. The lehua is fearful of man; It leaves him to walk on the ground below, To walk the ground far below. The pebbles at Ke’-au grind in the surf. 10 The sea at Ke’-au shouts to Puna’s palms, “Fierce is the sea of Puna.” Move hither, snug close, companion mine; You lie so aloof over there. Oh what a bad fellow is cold! 15 ’Tis as if we were out on the wold; Our bodies so clammy and chill, friend!

The last five verses, which sound like a love song, may possibly be a modern addition to this old poem. The sentiment they contain is comparable to that expressed in the Song of Welcome on page 39:

Eia ka pu’u nui o waho nei, he anu. The hill of Affliction out there is the cold.

[Page 65]

MAHELE-HELE II

Hi’u-o-lani,[159] kii ka ua o Hilo[160] i ka lani; Ke hookiikii mai la ke ao o Pua-lani;[161] O mahele ana,[162] pulu Hilo i ka ua— O Hilo Hana-kahi.[163]

5 Ha’i ka nalu, wai kaka lepo o Pii-lani; Hai’na ka iwi o Hilo, I ke ku ia e ka wai. Oni’o lele a ka ua o Hilo i ka lani.

Ke hookiikii mai la ke ao o Pua-lani, 10 Ke holuholu a’e la e puka, Puka e nana ke kiki a ka ua, Ka nonoho a ka ua i ka hale o Hilo.

Like Hilo me Puna ke ku a mauna-ole[164] He ole ke ku a mauna Hilo me Puna. 15 He kowa Puna mawaena Hilo me Ka-ú; Ke pili wale la i ke kua i mauna-ole; Pili hoohaha i ke kua o Mauna-loa.

He kuahiwi Ka-ú e pa ka makani. Ke alai ia a’e la Ka-ú e ke A’e;[165] 20 Ka-u ku ke ehu lepo ke A’e; Ku ke ehu-lepo mai la Ka-ú i ka makani. Makani Kawa hu’a-lepo Ka-ú i ke A’e.

[Page 66] Kahiko mau no o Ka-ú i ka makani. Makani ka Lae-ka-ilio i Unu-lau, 25 Kaili-ki’i[166] a ka lua a Kaheahea,[167] I ka ha’a nawali ia ino.

Ino wa o ka mankani o Kau-ná. Nana aku o ka makani malaila! O Hono-malino, malino i ka la’i o Kona. 30 He inoa la!

[Footnote 159: _Hi’u-o-lani_. A very blind phrase. Hawaiians disagree as to its meaning. In the author’s opinion, it is a word referring to the conjurer’s art.]

[Footnote 160: _Ua o Hilo_. Hilo is a very rainy country. The name Hilo seems to be used here as almost a synonym of violent rain. It calls to mind the use of the word Hilo to signify a strong wind:

Pa mai, pa mai, Ka makani a Hilo![168] Waiho ka ipu iki, Homai ka ipu nui!

[Translation.]

Blow, blow, thou wind of Hilo! Leave the little calabash, Bring on the big one! ]

[Footnote 161: _Pua-lani_. The name of a deity who took the form of the rosy clouds of morning.]

[Footnote 162: _Mahele ana_. Literally the dividing; an allusion to the fact, it is said, that in Hilo a rain-cloud, or rain-squall, as it came up would often divide and a part of it turn off toward Puna at the cape named Lele-iwi, one-half watering, in the direction of the present town, the land known as Hana-kahi.]

[Footnote 163: _Hana-kahi_. Look at note _f_, p. 60.]

[Footnote 164: _Mauna-ole_. According to one authority this should be Mauna-Hilo. Verses 13, 14, 16, and 17 are difficult of translation. The play on the words _ku a_, standing at, or standing by, and _kua_, the back; also on the word _kowa_, a gulf or strait; and the repetition of the word _mauna_, mountain—all this is carried to such an extent as to be quite unintelligible to the Anglo-Saxon mind, though full of significance to a Hawaiian.]

[Footnote 165: _A’e_. A strong wind that prevails in Ka-u. The same word also means to step on, to climb. This double-meaning gives the poet opportunity for a euphuistic word-play that was much enjoyed by the Hawaiians. The Hawaiians of the present day are not quite up to this sort of logomachy.]

[Footnote 166: _Kaili-ki’i_. The promontory that shelters the cove _Ka-hewa-hewa_.]

[Footnote 167: _Ka-hea-hea_. The name of the cove _Ka-hewa-hewa_, above mentioned, is here given in a softened form obtained by the elision of the letter _w_.]

[Footnote 168: _Hilo_, or Whiro, as in the Maori, was a great navigator.]

[Translation.]