Part 8

The vigor that marks the literary style of the mele now given stamps it as belonging to the archaic period, which closed in the early part of the eighteenth century, that century which saw the white man make his advent in Hawaii. The poem deals apparently with an incident in one of the migrations such as took place during the period of intercourse between the North and the South Pacific. This was a time of great stir and contention, a time when there was much paddling and sailing about and canoe-fleets, often manned by warriors, traversed the great ocean in every direction. It was then that Hawaii received many colonists from the archipelagoes that lie to the southward.

_Mele_

(Ko’i-honua)

Wela Kahiki, e! Wela Kahiki, e! Wela aku la Kahiki; Ua kaulu-wela ka moku; [Page 74] 5 Wela ka ulu o Hawaii; Kakala wela aku la Kahiki ia Olopana,[189] Ka’u wahi kanaka; O ka hei kapu[190] o Hana-ka-ulani,[191] Ka hei kapu a ke alii, 10 Ka hoo-mamao-lani,[192] Ke kapu o Keawe,[193] A o Keawe Ke alii holo, ho-i’a i kai, e-e!

[Footnote 189: _Olopana_. A celebrated king of Waipio valley, Hawaii, who had to wife the famous beauty, Luukia. Owing to misfortune, he sailed away to _Kahiki_, taking with him his wife and his younger brother, Moikeha, who was his _puna-lua_, settling in a land called _Moa-ula-nui-akea_. Olopana probably ended his days in his new-found home, but Moi-keha, heart-sick at the loss of Luukia’s favors, came back to Hawaii and became the progenitor of a line of distinguished men, several of whom were famous navigators. Exactly what incident in the life of Olopana is alluded to in the sixth and preceding verses, the traditions that narrate his adventures do not inform us.]

[Footnote 190: _Hei kapu_. An oracle; the place where the high priest kept himself while consulting the deities of the _heiau_. It was a small house erected on an elevated platform of stones, and there he kept himself in seclusion at such times as he sought to be the recipient of communications from the gods.]

[Footnote 191: _Hana-ka-ulani_. A name applied to several _heiau_ (temples). The first one so styled, according to tradition, was built at Hana, Maui, and another one at Kaluanui, on Oahu, near the famous valley of Ka-liu-wa’a. These heiau are said to have been built by the gods in the misty past soon after landing on these shores. Was it to celebrate their escape from perils by sea and enemies on land, or was it in token of thankfulness to gods still higher than themselves?

The author’s informant can not tell whether these followed the fierce, strict cult of Kane or the milder cult of Lono.]

[Footnote 192: _Hoo-mamao-lani_. An epithet meaning remote in the heavens, applied to an alii of very high rank.]

[Footnote 193: _Keawe_. This is a name that belonged, to several kings and a large family of gods—_papa akua_—all of which gods are said to have come from Kahiki and to have dated their origin from the _Wa Po_, the twilight of antiquity. Among the demigods that were called _Keawe_ may be mentioned: (1) _Keawe-huli_, a prophet and soothsayer. (2) _Keawe-kilo-pono_, a wise and righteous one, who loved justice. (3) _Keawe-hula-maemae_. It was his function to maintain purity and cleanliness; he was a devouring flame that destroyed rubbish and all foulness. (4) _Keawe-ula-o-ka-lani_. This was the poetical appellation, given to the delicate flush of early morning. Apropos of this the Hawaiians have the following quatrain, which they consider descriptive not only of morning blush, but also of the coming in of the reign of the gods:

O Keawe-ula-i-ka-lani, O Keawe-liko-i-ka-lani, O Ke’awe-uina-pohá-i-Kahiki; Hiki mai ana o Lono.[Translation.]

Keawe-the-red-blush-of-dawn, Keawe-the-bud-in-the-sky, Keawe-thunder-burst-at-Kahiki: Till Lono comes in to reign.

(5) _Keawe-pa-makani_. It was his function to send winds from _Kukulu-o-Kahiki_, as well as from some other points. (6) _Keawe-ío-ío-moa_. This god inspected the ocean tides and currents, such as _Au-miki_ and _Au-ká_. (7) _Keawe-i-ka-liko_. He took charge of flowerbuds and tender shoots, giving them a chance to develop. (8) _Keawe-ulu-pu_. It was his function to promote the development and fruitage of plants. (9) _Keawe-lu-pua_. He caused flowers to shed their petals. (10) _Keawe-opala_. It was his thankless task to create rubbish and litter by scattering the leaves of the trees. (11) _Keawe-hulu_, a magician, who could blow a feather into the air and see it at once become a bird with power to fly away. (12) _Keawe-nui-ka-ua-o-Hilo_, a sentinel who stood guard by night and by day to watch over all creation. (13) _Keawe-pulehu_. He was a thief and served as [Page 75] cook for the gods. There were gods of evil as well as of good in this set. (14) _Keawe-oili_. He was gifted with the power to convey and transfer evil, sickness, misfortune, and death. (15) _Keawe-kaili_. He was a robber. (16) _Keawe-aihue_. He was a thief. (17) _Keawe-makilo_. He was a beggar. He would stand round while others were preparing food, doing honest work, and plead with his eyes. In this way he often obtained a dole. (18) _Keawe-puni-pua’a_. He was a glutton, very greedy of pork; he was also called _Keawe-ai-pua’a_. (19) _Keawe-inoino_. He was a sloven, unclean in all his ways. (20) _Keawe-ilio_. The only title to renown of this superhuman creature was his inordinate fondness for the flesh of the dog. So far none of the superhuman beings mentioned seemed fitted to the role of the Keawe of the text, who was passionately fond of the sea. The author had given up in despair, when one day, on repeating his inquiry in another quarter, he was rewarded by learning of—(21) _Keawe-i-na-kai_. He was a resident of the region about the southeastern point of Molokai, called _Lae-ka-Ilio_—Cape of the Dog. He was extravagantly fond of the ocean and allowed no weather to interfere with the indulgence of his penchant. An epithet applied to him describes his dominating passion: _Keawe moe i ke kai o Kohakú_, Keawe who sleeps in (or on) the sea of Kohakú. It seems probable that this was the Keawe mentioned in the twelfth and thirteenth lines of the mele.

The appellation _Keawe_ seems to have served as a sort of Jack among the demigods of the Hawaiian pantheon, on whom was to be laid the burden of a mongrel host of virtues and vices that were not assignable to the regular orthodox deities. Somewhat in the same way do we use the name Jack as a caption, for a miscellaneous lot of functions, as when we speak of a “Jack-at-all-trades.”]

[Translation.]

Song

(Distinct utterance)

Glowing is Kahiki, oh! Glowing is Kahiki! Lo, Kahiki is a-blaze, The whole island a-burning. 5 Scorched is thy scion, Hawaii. Kahiki shoots flame-tongues at Olopana, That hero of yours, and priest Of the oracle Hana-ka-ulani, The sacred shrine of the king— 10 He is of the upper heavens, The one inspired by Keawe, That tabu-famous Keawe, The king passion-fond of the sea.

_Mele_

PALE I

Lau lehua punoni ula ke kai o Kona, Ke kai punoni ula i oweo ia; Wewena ula ke kai la, he kokona; Ula ia kini i ka uka o Alaea, 5 I hili ahi ula i ke kapa a ka wahine, I hoeu ia e ka ni’a, e ka hana, E ka auwai lino mai la a kehau. He hau hoomoe ka lau o ka niu, Ke oho o ka laau, lauoho loloa. 10 E lóha ana i ka la i o Kailua la, i-u-a, O ke ku moena ololi a ehu O ku’u aina kai paeaea. Ea, hoea iluna o Mauna Kilohana, Na kaha poohiwi mau no he inoa. 15 Ua noa e, ua pii’a kou wahi kapu, e-e! I a’e ’a mai e ha’i.

[Page 76]

[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; 5 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— 10 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! 15 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, 5 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, 10 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. 15 Ua mai oe; kau a’e ka naná, laua nei, e-e, Na ’lii e o’oni mai nei, e-e!

[Translation.]

_Song_

CANTO II

The iwa flies heavy to nest in the brush, Its haunt on windy Ke-ula. The watch-bird, that fends off the rain from Le-hu-a— [Page 77] Bird sacred to Ku-hai, the shark-god— 5 Shrieks, “Light not on terrace of Lei-no-ai, Lest Unu-lau fiercely assail you.” Storm sweeps the cliffs of the islet; A covert they seek neath the hills, In the sheltered lee of the gale, 10 The cove at the base of Le-hu-a. The shady groves there enchant them, The scarlet plumes of lehua. Love-dalliance now by the water-reeds, Till cooled and appeased by the rain-mist. 15 Pour on, thou rain, the two heads press the pillow: Lo, prince and princess stir in their sleep!

The scene of this mele is laid on one of the little bird-islands that lie to the northwest of Kauai. The _iwa_ bird, flying heavily to his nesting place in the wiry grass (_kala-pahee_), symbolizes the flight of a man in his deep-laden pirogue, abducting the woman of his love. The screaming sea-birds that warn him off the island, represented as watch-guards of the shark-god Kuhai-moana (whose reef is still pointed out), figure the outcries of the parents and friends of the abducted woman.

After the first passionate outburst (_Puni’a iluna o ka Halau-a-ola_) things go more smoothly (ola, ...). The flight to covert from the storm, the cove at the base of Le-hu-a, the shady groves, the scarlet pompons of the lehua—the tree and the island have the same name—all these things are to be interpreted figuratively as emblems of woman’s physical charms and the delights of love-dalliance.

_Mele_

PALE III

(Ai-ha’a)

Ku aku la Kea-aú, lele ka makani mawaho, Ulu-mano, ma ke kaha o Wai-o-lono. Ua moani lehua a’e la mauka; Kani lehua iluna o Kupa-koili, 5 I ka o ia i ka lau o ka hala, Ke poo o ka hala o ke aku’i. E ku’i e, e ka uwalo. Loli ka mu’o o ka hala, A helelei ka pua, a pili ke alanui: 10 Pu ia Pana-ewa, ona-ona i ke ala, I ka nahele makai o Ka-unu-loa la. Nani ke kaunu, ke kaunu a ke alii, He puni ina’i poi na maua. Ua hala ke Kau a me ka Hoilo, 15 Mailaila mai no ka hana ino. Ino mai oe, noho malie aku no hoi au; Hopo o’ ka inaina, ka wai, e-e; Wiwo au, hopohopo iho nei, e-e! [Page 78]

[Translation.]

_Song_

CANTO III

(In turgid style)

A storm, from the sea strikes Ke-au, Ulu-mano, sweeping across the barrens; It sniffs the fragrance of upland lehua, Turns back at Kupa-koili; 5 Sawed by the blows of the palm leaves, The groves of pandanus in lava shag; Their fruit he would string ’bout his neck; Their fruit he finds wilted and crushed, Mere rubbish to litter the road— 10 Ah, the perfume! Pana-ewa is drunk with the scent; The breath of it spreads through the groves. Vainly flares the old king’s passion, Craving a sauce for his meat and mine. The summer has flown; winter has come: 15 Ah, that is the head of our troubles. Palsied are you and helpless am I; You shrink from a plunge in the water; Alas, poor me! I’m a coward.

The imagery of this mele sets forth the story of the fierce, but fruitless, love-search of a chief, who is figured by the _Ulu-mano_, a boisterous wind of Puna, Hawaii. The fragrance of upland lehua (_moani lehua, a’e la mauka_, verse 3) typifies the charms of the woman he pursues. The expression _kani lehua_ (verse 4), literally the sudden ending of a rain-squall, signifies the man’s failure to gain his object. The lover seeks to string the golden drupe of the pandanus (_halo_), that he may wear them as a wreath about his neck (_uwalo_); he is wounded by the teeth of the sword-leaves (_o ia i ka lau o ka hala_, verse 5). More than this, he meets powerful, concerted resistance (_ke poo o ka hala o ke aku’i_, verse 6), offered by the compact groves of pandanus that grow in the rough lava-shag (_aku’i_), typifying, no doubt, the resistance made by the friends and retainers of the woman. After all, he finds, or declares that he finds, the hala fruit he had sought to gather and to wear as a _lei_ about his neck, to be spoiled, broken, fit only to litter the road (_loli ka mu’o o ka hala_, verse 8; _A helelei ka’pua, a pili ke alanui_, verse 9). In spite of his repulse and his vilification of the woman, his passion, still feeds on the thought of the one he has lost; her charms intoxicate his imagination, even as the perfume of the hala bloom bewitches the air of Pana-ewa (_Pu ia Panaewa, ona-ona i ke ala_, verse 10).

It is difficult to interpret verses 12 to 18 in harmony with the story as above given. They may be regarded as a [Page 79] commentary on the passionate episode in the life of the lover, looked at from the standpoint of old age, at a time when passion still survives but physical strength is in abeyance.

As the sugar-boiler can not extract from the stalk the last grain of sugar, so the author finds it impossible in any translation to express the full intent of these Hawaiian mele.

_Mele_

PALE IV

Aole au e hele ka li’u-lá o Maná, Ia wai oupe-kanaka[194] o Lima-loa;[195] A e hoopunipuni ia a’e nei ka malihini; A mai puni au: lie wai oupe na. 5 He ala-pahi ka li’u-lá o Maná; Ke poloai[196] la i ke Koolau-wahine.[197] Ua ulu mai ka hoaloha i Wailua, A ua kino-lau[198] Kawelo[199] mahamaha-i’a’[200] [Page 80] A ua aona[201] mai nei lio oiwi e. 10 He mea e wale au e noho aku nei la. Noho. O ka noho kau a ka mea waiwai; O kau ka i’a a haawi ia mai. Oli-oli au ke loaa ia oe. 15 A pela ke ahi o Ka-maile,[202] He alualu hewa a’e la ka malihini, Kukuni hewa i ka ili a kau ka uli, e; Kau ka uli a ka mea aloha, e.

[Footnote 194: _Wai oupe-kanaka_. Man-fooling water; the mirage.]

[Footnote 195: _Lima-loa_. The long-armed, the god of the mirage, who made his appearance at Maná, Kauai.]

[Footnote 196: _Poloai_. To converse with, to have dealings with one.]

[Footnote 197: _Koolau-wahine_. The sea-breeze at Mana. There is truth as well as poetry in the assertion made in this verse. The warm moist air, rising from the heated sands of Maná, did undoubtedly draw in the cool breeze from the ocean—a fruitful dalliance.]

[Footnote 198: _Kino-lau_. Having many (400) bodies, or metamorphoses, said of Kawelo.]

[Footnote 199: _Kawelo_. A sorcerer who lived in the region of Maná. His favorite metamorphosis was into the form of a shark. Even when in human form he retained the gills of a fish and had the mouth of a shark at the back of his shoulders, while to the lower part of his body were attached the tail and flukes of a shark. To conceal these monstrous appendages he wore over his shoulders a _kihei_ of kapa and allowed himself to be seen only while in the sitting posture. He sometimes took the form of a worm, a moth, a caterpillar, or a butterfly to escape the hands of his enemies. On land he generally appeared as a man squatting, after the manner of a Hawaiian gardener while weeding his garden plot.

The cultivated lands of Kawelo lay alongside the much-traveled path to the beach where the people of the neighborhood resorted to bathe, to fish, and to swim in the ocean. He made a practice of saluting the passers-by and of asking them, “Whither are you going?” adding the caution, “Look to it that you are not swallowed head and tail by the shark; he has not breakfasted yet” (_E akahele oukou o pau po’o, pau hi’u i ka manó; aohe i paina i kakahiaka o ka manó_). As soon as the traveler had gone on his way to the ocean, Kawelo hastened to the sea and there assumed his shark-form. The tender flesh of children was his favorite food. The frequent utterance of the same caution, joined to the great mortality among the children and youth who resorted to the ocean at this place, caused a panic among the residents. The parents consulted a soothsayer, who surprised them with the information that the guilty one was none other than the innocent-looking farmer, Kawelo. Instructed by the soothsayer, the people made an immense net of great strength and having very fine meshes. This they spread in the ocean at the bathing place. Kawelo, when caught in the net, struggled fiendishly to break away, but in vain. According to directions, they flung the body of the monster into an enormous oven which they had heated to redness, and supplied with fresh fuel for five times ten days—_elima anahulu_. At the end of that time there remained only gray ashes. The prophet had commanded them that when this had been accomplished they must fill the pit of the oven with dry dirt; thus doing, the monster would never come to life. They neglected this precaution. A heavy rain flooded the country—the superhuman work of the sorcerer—and from the moistened ashes sprang into being a swarm of lesser sharks. From them have come the many species of shark that now infest our ocean.

The house which once was Kawelo’s ocean residence is still pointed out, 7 fathoms deep, a structure regularly built of rocks.]

[Footnote 200: _Maha-maha i’a_. The gills or fins of a fish such as marked Kawelo.]

[Footnote 201: _Aona_. A word of doubtful meaning; according to one it means lucky. That expounder (T—— P——) says it should, or-might be, _haona_; he instances the phrase _iwi paoa_, in which the word _paoa_ has a similar, but not identical, form and means lucky bone.]

[Footnote 202: _Ka-maile_. A place on Kauai where prevailed the custom of throwing firebrands down the lofty precipice of Nuololo. This amusement made a fine display at night. As the fire-sticks fell they swayed and drifted in the breeze, making it difficult for one standing below to premise their course through the air and to catch one of them before it struck the ground or the water, that being one of the objects of the sport. When a visitor had accomplished this feat, he would sometimes mark his flesh with the burning stick that he might show the brand to his sweetheart as a token of his fidelity.]

[Translation.]

_Song_

CANTO IV

I will not chase the mirage of Maná, That man-fooling mist of god Lima-loa, Which still deceives the stranger— And came nigh fooling me—the tricksy water! 5 The mirage of Maná, is a fraud; it Wantons with the witch Koolau. A friend has turned up at Wailua, Changeful Kawelo, with gills like a fish, Has power to bring luck in any queer shape. 10 As a stranger now am I living, Aye, living. You flaunt like a person of wealth, Yours the fish, till it comes to my hook. I am blest at receiving from you: 15 Like fire-sticks flung at Ka-maile— The visitor vainly chases the brand: Fool! he burns his flesh to gain, the red mark, A sign for the girl he loves, oho!

_Mele_

PALE V

(Ai-ha’a, a he Ko’i-honua paha)

Kauhua Ku, ka Lani, i-loli ka moku; Hookohi ke kua-koko o ka Lani; He kua-koko, pu-koko i ka honua; He kua-koko kapu no ka Lani; [Page 81] 5 He ko’i ula ana a maku’i i ka ala, Hoomau ku-wá mahu ia, Ka maka o ke ahi alii e a nei. Ko mai ke keiki koko a ka Lani, Ke keiki he nuuhiwa ia Hitu-kolo, 10 O ke keiki hiapo anuenue, iloko o ka manawa, O hi ka wai nui o ka nuuhiwa a Ke-opu-o-lani, O ua alii lani alewa-lewa nei, E u-lele, e ku nei ma ka lani; O ka Lani o na mu’o-lau o Liliha, 15 Ka hakina, ka pu’e, ka maka, o Kuhi-hewa a Lola— Kalola, nana ke keiki laha-laha; Ua kela, he kela ka pakela O na pahi’a loa o ka pu likoliko i ka lani O kakoo hulu manu o o-ulu, 20 O ka hulu o-ku’i lele i ka lani, O hiapo o ka manu leina a Pokahi, O Ka-lani-opu’u hou o ka moku, O na kupuna koikoi o Keoua, o ka Lani Kui-apo-iwa.

[Translation.]

_Song_

CANTO V

(To be recited in bombastic style, or, it may be, distinctly)

Big with child is the Princess Ku; The whole island suffers her whimsies; The pangs of labor are on her; Labor that stains the land with blood, 5 Blood-clots of the heavenly born, To preserve and guard the royal line, The spark of king-fire now glowing: A child is he of heavenly stock, Like the darling of Hitu-kolo, 10 First womb-fruit born to love’s rainbow. A bath for this child of heaven’s breast, This mystical royal offspring, Who ranks with the heavenly peers, This tender bud of Liliha, 15 This atom, this parcel, this flame, In the line Kuhi-hewa of Lola— Ka-lola, who mothered a babe prodigious, For glory and splendor renowned, A scion most comely from heaven, 20 The finest down of the new-grown plume, From bird whose moult floats to heaven, Prime of the soaring birds of Pokahi, The prince, heaven-flower of the island, Ancestral sire of Ke-oua, 25 And of King Kui-apo-iwa.

[Page 82]

The heaping up of adulations, of which this mele is a capital instance, was not peculiar to Hawaiian poetry. The Roman Senate bestowed divinity on its emperors by vote; the Hawaiian bard laureate, careering on his Pegasus, thought to accomplish the same end by piling Ossa on Pelion with high-flown phrases; and every loyal subject added his contribution to the cairn that grew heavenward.

In Hawaii, as elsewhere, the times of royal debasement, of aristocratic degeneracy, of doubtful or disrupted succession, have always been the times of loudest poetic insistence on birth-rank and the occasion for the most frenzied utterance of high-sounding titles. This is a disease that has grown with the decay of monarchy.