[Translation.]
Song
Kanaloa tints heaven with a blush,
’Tis the flame of the A’e, pure red,
And gray the wind-clouds overhead.
We trudge to the waters calm of Kahana—
Heaven grant us a favoring shower!
The work is all done on the farm.
We stay till twilight steals o’er the plain,
Then, love-spurred, tramp o’er it again,
Have you as partner in holiday dance—
We’ve moiled as one in the gray smoke;
Cast down by the Naulu, you thirst.
For once the house warms at your coming.
How clear glow the heights of yon Haupu!
I long for the sight of Ka-ala,
And sweet is the thought of Lihu’e,
And our mountain retreat, Hale-mano.
Here, fenced from each other by tabu,
Your graces make sport for the crowd.
What then the solution? Let us dwell
At Waimea and feast on the fish
That swarm in the neighboring sea,
With freedom to you and freedom to me,
Licensed by Ku and by Ahu-éna.
The scene of this idyl is laid in the district of Waialua, Oahu, but the poet gives his imagination free range regardless of the unities. The chief subjects of interest that serve as a trellis about which the human sentiments entwine concern the duties of the fisherman, who is also a farmer; the school for the hula, in which the hero and the heroine are pupils; and lastly an ideal condition of happiness which the lovers look forward to tinder the benevolent dispensation of the gods Ku and Ahuena.
Among the numerous relatives of Pele was one said to be a sister, who was stationed on a bleak sun-burnt promontory in Koolau, Oahu, where she supported a half-starved existence, striving to hold soul and body together by gathering the herbs of the fields, eked out by unsolicited gifts of food contributed by passing travelers. The pathetic plaint given below is ascribed to this goddess.
Mele
Mao wale i ka lani
Ka leo o ke Akua pololi.
A pololi a moe au
O ku’u la pololi,
A ola i kou aloha;
I na’i pu no i ka waimaka e uwe nei.
E uwe kaua, e!