EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LlTEEATXJRE OP HAWAII 105 



In Puna was I, in Ku-ki'i, in Ha'e-ha'e, 

 I saw a wraith of lehua, a burning bush, 

 A fire-tree beneath the lava plate. 

 Magnificent Puna, fertile from rain, 

 5 At all times weaving its mantle. 

 Aye Puna's a land of splendor, 

 Proudly bedight with palm and lehua ; 

 Beauteous above, but horrid below. 

 And mliy the plain of Mau-kele. 

 10 Apua ui)turned, plod on to Mau-kele. 



Mcle 



Kau lilua i ke anu Wai-aleale; 



He maka halalo ka lehua makanoe ; ° 



He lihilihi kuku ia no Aipo,'^ e; 



ka hulu a'a ia o Hau-a-iliki ; " 



5 Ua i)ehi 'a e ka ua a eha ka nahele, 



Maui ka pua, uwe eha i ke anu, 



1 ke kukuna la-wai o Mokihana.'* 



Ua haua ia aku ka pono a ua pololei ; 

 Ua hai 'na ia aku no ia oe; 

 10 O ke ola no ia. 



O kia'i loko. kia'i Ka-ula,<' 

 Nana i ka makani, hoolono ka leo, 

 Ka halulu o ka Malua-kele: f 

 Kiei, halo i Maka-ike-ole. 



15 Kamau ke ea i ka halau s a ola ; 



He kula lima ia no Wawae-noho,'' 

 Me he puko'a hakahaka la i Waahila 

 Ka momoku a ka uuu-lehua o Lehua. 

 A lehulehu ka hale pono ka noho ana, 



20 Loaa kou haawina — o ke aloha, 



Ke hauna ^ mai nei ka puka o ka hale. 

 Ea! 



'^ Lehua makanoe. The lehua trees that grow on the top of Wai-aleale, the mountain 

 mass of Kauai, are of peculiar form, low, stunted, and so furzy as to be almost thorny, 

 kuku, as mentioned in the next line. 



'' Ai-po. A swamp that occupies the summit basin of the mountain, in and about which 

 the thorny lehua trees above mentioned stand as a fringe. 



<■ Hau-a-iliki. A word made up of hau, dew or frost, and iliki, to smite. The a is merely 

 a connective. 



<> Mokihana. The name of a region on the flank of Wai-aleale, also a plant that grows 

 there, whose berry is fragrant and is used in making wreaths. 



^ Ka-uJa. A small rocky island visible from Kauai. 



' Malua-kele. A wind. 



» Halau. The shed or house which sheltered the canoe, wa'a, which latter, as we have 

 .seen, was often used figuratively to mean the human body, especially the body of a 

 woman. Kaiiiau ke ea i ka halau might be translated " persistent the breath from her 

 body." " There's kames o' hinny 'tween my luve's lips." 



f' Waicae-noho. Literally the foot that abides; it is the name of a place. Here it is 

 to be understood as meaning constancy. It is an instance in which the concrete stands 

 for the abstract. 



* Hauna. An odor. In this connection it means the odor that hangs about a human 

 habitation. The hidden allusion, it is needless to say, is to sexual attractiveness. 



