110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [blll. 38 



addressed to the Princess Victoria Kamamalu, whom he sought in 

 marriage. Both of them inherited high chief rank, and their off- 

 spring, according to Hawaiian usage, would have outranked her 

 brothers, kings Kamehameha IV and V. Selfish and political con- 

 siderations, therefore, forbade the match, and thereby hangs a tale, 

 the shadow of which darkens this song. Every lover is one part 

 poet; and Lunalilo, even without the love-flame, was more than one 

 part poet. 



The poem shows the influence of foreign ways and teachings and 

 the pressure of the new environment that had entered Hawaii, in its 

 form, in the moderation of its language and imagery, and in the 

 coherence of its parts; at the same time the spirit of the song and 

 the color of its native imagery mark it as the product of a Polynesian 

 mind. 



According to the author's interpretation of the song, AlekoJd 

 (verse 2), a name applied to a portion of the Nuuanu stream lower 

 down than the basin and falls of Kapena {Kahi wed a o Kapenci — verse 

 14), symbolizes a flame that may once have warmed the singer's im- 

 agination, but which he discards in favor of his new love, the pool 

 of Kapena. The rain, which prefers to linger in the upland regions 

 of Nuuanu (verses 3 and 4) and which often reaches not the loAver 

 levels, typifies his brooding affection. The cold, the storm, and the 

 tempest that rage at Mamala (verse 21) — a name given to the ocean 

 just outside Honohilu harbor — and that fill the heavens with driving 

 scud (verses 27 and 28) represent the violent opposition in high quar- 

 ters to the love-match. The tale-bearing wind, rtiakani ahai-lono 

 (verse 29), refers, no doubt, to the storm of scandal. The use of the 

 place-names McCemcHe and Maiina-ala seem to indicate Nuuanu as the 

 residence of the princess. 



Mele 



PALE I 



Auhea wale oe, e ka Makaui Inu-wai? 

 Pa kolonahe i ka ili-kai, 

 Hoohiii rue ka Nauln, 

 Na iilu hua i' ka hapapa. 

 5 Auo ail ike i ke ko Hala-li'i, 

 I keia wa naua ia Lehua. 



PALE II 



Aia i Waimea kn'u haku-lei ; 

 Hui pu me ka wai ula ili-ahi, 

 Moliala ka pua i ke one o Pawehe; 

 10 Ka lawe a ke Koolau 



Noho pu me ka ua punonohu ula i ka uahele, 

 Ike i ka wai kea o Makaweli; 



