TRANSLATION

O bird that sips with delight

the nectar-bloom of lehua,

Tasting the yellow-barked awa

That climbs in Ka-liu’s uplands;

O bird that brews from this leafage

Puna’s bitter-sweet awa draught;—

Puna’s potentest awa grows

Aloft in the crotch of a tree;—

Most potent this awa of Puna!