[Translation.]
Song
A eulogy for the princess,
For Náhi-éna-éna a name!
Chief among women!
She soothes the cold wind with her flame—
A peace that is mirrored in calm,
A wind that sheddeth rain;
A tide that flowed long ago;
The water-spring of Maná,
Life-spring for the people,
A fount where the lapping dog
Barks at the incoming wave,
Drifting spray on the bloom
Of the sand-sprawling ili-au
And the scarlet flower of ohai,
On the wind-woven mat of wild grass,
Long naku, a springy mattress.
The spout-horn, Kawelo-hea,
Asks, Who of right has the tabu?
The princess Náhi-éna-éna!
The flowers glow in the pool,
The bathing pool of Holei!
This mele inoa—name-song or eulogy—was composed in celebration of the lamented princess, Nahienaena, who, before she was misled by evil influences, was a most attractive and promising character. She was the daughter of Keopuolani and younger sister of Kamehameha III, and came to her untimely death in 1836. The name was compounded from the words na, the, áhi, fires, and énaéna, hot, a meaning which furnishes the motive to the mele.