[Translation.]
Song
CANTO I
Leaf of lehua and noni-tint, the Kona sea,
Iridescent saffron and red,
Changeable watered red, peculiar to Kona;
Red are the uplands Alaea;
All, ’tis the flame-red stained robes of women
Much tossed by caress or desire.
The weed-tangled water-way shines like a rope of pearls,
Dew-pearls that droop the coco leaf,
The hair of the trees, their long locks—
Lo, they wilt in the heat of Kailua the deep.
A mat spread out narrow and gray,
A coigne of land by the sea where the fisher drops hook.
Now looms the mount Kilohana—
Ah, ye wood-shaded heights, everlasting your fame!
Your tabu is gone! your holy of holies invaded!
Broke down by a stranger!
The intricately twisted language of this mele is allegorical, a rope whose strands are inwrought with passion, envy, detraction, and abuse. In translating it one has to choose between the poetic verbal garb and the esoteric meaning which the bard made to lurk beneath the surface.
Mele
PALE II
Kauó pu ka iwa kala-pahe’e,
Ka iwa, ka manu o Kaula i ka makani.
E ka manu o-ú pani-wai o Lehua,
O na manu kapu a Kuhai-moana,
Mai hele a luna o Lei-no-ai,
O kolohe, o alai mai ka Unu-lau.
Puni’a iluna o ka Halau-a-ola;
A ola aku i ka luna o Maka-iki-olea,
I ka lulu, i ka la’i o kai maio,
Ma ka ha’i-wá, i ka mole o Lehua la, Le-hú-a!
O na lehua o Alaka’i ka’u aloha,
O na lehua iluna o Ko’i-alana;
Ua nonoho hooipo me ke kohe-kohe;
Ua anu, maeele i ka ua noe.
Ua mai oe; kau a’e ka naná, laua nei, e-e,
Na ’lii e o’oni mai nei, e-e!