EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 99 



Here, again, is another song in argot, a coin of the same mintage 

 as those just given: 



Mele 



E kau-kan i bale maim, e ! 

 Ike oe i ka lolo hiiluhulu, e? 

 I ka huluhnlu a we'uwe'u, e? 

 I ka piinohu," e, a ka la e kaii nei? 

 5 Walea ka manu i ka wai, e ! 

 I ka wai lolii o ke kini, e ! 



[Translation] 



Song 



Let's woi'sliip now the bird-cage. 

 Seest tbon tbe fnrzy woodland. 

 Tbe sbag of herb and forest, 

 Tbe low earth-tinting rainbow, 

 5 Child of the Sun that swings above? 

 O, happy bird, to drink from the pool, 

 A bliss free to the million ! 



This is the hmguage of symbolism. When Yenns went about to 

 ensnare Adonis, among her other wiles she warbled to him of moun- 

 tains, dales, and pleasant fountains. 



The mele now presented is of an entirely different character from 

 those that have just preceded. It is said to have been the joint com- 

 position of the high chief Keiki-o-ewa of Kauai, at one time the 

 kahu of Prince Moses, and of Kapihe, a distinguished poet — haku- 

 mele — and prophet. (To Kapihe is ascribed the prophetic and orac- 

 ular utterance, E iho ana o luna^ e pit ana o lalo; e ku ana ha paia; 

 ( moe ana I'arda; e Iriu ana kan-hvhn — o lani Uima, o honua Halo — ■ 

 " The high shall be brought low, the lowly uplifted ; the defenses shall 

 stand; the prophet shall lie low; the mountain walls shall abide — 

 heaven above, earth beneath.") 



This next poem may be regarded as an epithalamium, the celebra- 

 tion of the mystery and bliss of the wedding night, the Iwdo ana of a 

 high chief and his high-born hajju sister. The murmur of the breeze, 

 the fury of the winds, the heat of the sun, the sacrificial ovens, all are 

 symbols that set forth the emotions, experiences, and mysteries of the 

 night : 



" Punohu. A compact mass of clouds, generally lying low in the heavens ; a cloud- 

 omen ; also a rainbow that lies close to the earth, such as is formed when the sun is 

 high in the heavens. 



