Chapter XVIII: Canto I

Lo, Pele’s the god of my choice:
Let heaven and earth in silence wait
Here is awa, potent, sacred,
Bitter sea, great Hiiaka’s root;
5 ’Twas cut at Mauli-ola—
Awa to the women forbidden,
Let it tabu be!
Exact be the rite of your awa,
O Pele of the sacred land.

[Page 200] 10 Proclaim it, mother. Haumea,
Of the goddess of Kilauea;
She who dug the pit world-deep,
And Mau-wahine and Kupu-ena,
Who prepare the awa for drink.
15 A health to the stranger gods!