Chapter VII: Canto III: (Bombastic style)

Haunt of white tropic-bird and big ruffled owl,
Up rises the firstborn child of the pali.
He climbs, he climbs, he climbs up aloft,
Kaholo-ku’-iwa, the pali of Ha’i.
5 Accomplished now is the steep,
The ladder-like series of steps.
Malu-ó is left far below.
[Page 68] Passed is Ka-maha-la’-wili,
The very ridge-pole of the rain—
10 It’s as if the peak cut it in twain—
An arched roof the peak’s crest Hale-hale-o-ú.
A twisted cord hangs the brook Wai-hilau;
Like smoke from roasting bird Ocean’s wild dance;
The shark-god is swimming the sea;
15 The rocks leap down at Big-leaf[174] and Flat-leaf—[174]
See the ocean charge ’gainst the cliffs,
Thrust snout like rooting boar against Windy-cape,
Against Koholá-lele.

[Footnote 169: _Koa’e-kea, Pueo hulu-nui_. Steep declivities,
_pali_, on the side of Waipio valley, Hawaii. Instead of
inserting these names, which would be meaningless without an
explanation, the author has given a literal translation of
the names themselves, thus getting a closer insight into the
Hawaiian thought.]

[Footnote 170: _A’e_. The precipices rise one above another
like the steps of a stairway, climbing, climbing up, though
the probable intent of the poet is to represent some one as
climbing the ascent.]

[Footnote 171: _Ha’i_. Short for _Ha’ina-kolo;_ a woman about
whom there is a story of tragic adventure. Through eating
when famished of some berries in an unceremonious way she
became distraught and wandered about for many months until
discovered by the persistent efforts of her husband. The pali
which she climbed was named after her.]

[Footnote 172: _Maka’u-kiu_. The name of a famous huge shark
that was regarded with reverential fear.]

[Footnote 173: _Pohaku lele_. In order to determine whether a
shark was present, it was the custom, before going into the
clear water of some of these coves, to throw rocks into the
water in order to disturb the monster and make his presence
known.]

[Footnote 174: _Big-leaf_. A literal translation of _Lau-nui_.
_Laupahoehoe_, Flat-leaf.]

MAHELE IV

Hole[175] Waimea i ka ihe a ka makani,
Hao mai na ale a ke Ki-pu’u-pu’u;[176]
He laau kala-ihi ia na ke anu,
I o’o i ka nahele o Mahiki.[177]
5 Ku aku la oe i ka Malanai[178] a ke Ki-puu-puu;
Nolu ka maka o ka oha-wai[179] o Uli;
Niniau, eha ka pua o Koaie,[180]
Eha i ke anu ka nahele o Wai-ka-é,
A he aloha, e!
10 Aloha Wai-ká, ia’u me he ipo la;
Me he ipo la ka maka lena o ke Koo-lau,[181]
Ka pua i ka nahele o Mahule-i-a,
E lei hele i ke alo o Moo-lau.[182]
E lau ka huaka’i-hele i ka pali loa;
15 Hele hihiu, puli[183] noho i ka nahele.
O ku’u noho wale iho no i kahua, e-e.
A he aloha, e-e!
O kou aloha ka i hiki mai i o’u nei.
Mahea la ia i nalo iho nei?

This mele, _Hole Waimea_, is also sung in connection with the
hula _ipu_.

[Footnote 175: _Hole_. To rasp, to handle rudely, to caress
passionately. Waimea is a district and village on Hawaii.]

[Footnote 176: _Kipu’u-pu’u_. A cold wind from Mauna-Kea that
blows at Waimea.]

[Footnote 177: _Mahiki_. A woodland in Waimea, in mythological
times haunted by demons and spooks.]

[Footnote 178: _Mala-nai_. The poetical name of a wind,
probably the trade wind; a name much used in Hawaiian
sentimental poetry.]

[Footnote 179: _Oha-wai_. A water hole that is filled by
dripping; an important source of supply for drinking purposes
in certain parts of Hawaii.]

[Footnote 180: _Pua o Koaie_, The koaie is a tree that grows in
the wilds, the blossom of which is extremely fragrant. (Not
the same as that subspecies of the _koa_ (Acacia koa) which
Hillebrand describes and wrongly spells _koaia_. Here a
euphemism for the delicate parts.)]

[Footnote 181: _Koolau_, or, full form, _Ko-kao-lau_. Described
by Doctor Hillebrand as _Kokolau_, a wrong spelling. It has a
pretty yellow flower, a yellow eye—_maka lena_—as the song
has it. Here used tropically. (This is the plant whose leaf
is sometimes used as a substitute for tea.)]

[Footnote 182: _Moolau_. An expression used figuratively to
mean a woman, more especially her breasts. The term
_Huli-lau_, is also used, in a slang way, to signify the
breasts of a woman, the primitive meaning being a calabash.]

[Footnote 183: _Pili_. To touch; touched. This was the word
used in the forfeit-paying love game, _kilu_, when the player
made a point by hitting the target of his opponent with his
_kilu_. (For further description see p. 235.)]
[Page 69]
The song above given, the translation of which is to follow,
belongs to historic times, being ascribed to King
Liholiho—Kamehameha II—who died in London July 13, 1824, on
his visit to England. It attained great vogue and still holds
its popularity with the Hawaiians. The reader will note the
comparative effeminacy and sentimentality of the style and
the frequent use of euphemisms and double-entendre. The
double meaning in a Hawaiian mele will not always be evident
to one whose acquaintance with the language is not intimate.
To one who comes to it from excursions in Anglo-Saxon poetry,
wandering through its “meadows trim with daisies pied,” the
sly intent of the Hawaiian, even when pointed out, will, no
doubt, seem an inconsequential thing and the demonstration of
it an impertinence, if not a fiction to the imagination. Its
euphemisms in reality have no baser intent than the euphuisms
of Lyly, Ben Jonson, or Shakespeare.

[Translation.]

_Song—Hole Waimea_