EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 117 



passed from one incumbent of the throne to another. The practice 

 of appropriating the mele inoa composed in honor of another king 

 and of another line was one that grew up with the decadence of honor 

 in times of degeneracy. 



Mele 



O Kalakaua, he inoa, 



ka pua uiae pie i ka la ; 

 Ke pua mai la i ka mauna, 



1 ke kuahiwi o Mauna-kea ; 

 5 Ke a la i Ki-lau-e-a, 



Malamalama i Waliine-kapu, 

 I ka luna o Uwe-kabuna, 

 I ka pali kapii o Ka-au-e-a. 

 E a mai ke alii kia-manu ; 

 10 Ua Wahl i ka huhi o ka mamo, 

 Ka pua nani o Hawaii ; 

 O Ka-la-kaua, lie inoa ! 



[Translation] 



Song 



Ka-la-kaua, a great name, 

 A flower not wilted by the sun ; 

 It blooms on the mountains. 

 In the forests of Mauna-kea; 

 5 It burns in Ki-lau-e-a, 



Illumines the cliff Wahine-kapu, 

 The heights of Uwe-kabuna, 

 The sacred pali of Ka-au-e-a. 

 Shine forth, king of bird-hunters, 

 10 Resplendent in plumage of mamo. 

 Bright flower of Hawaii : 

 Ka-la-kaua, the illustrious ! 



The proper names Wahine-kapu^ Uwe-kahuna, and Ka-au-e-a in 

 the sixth, seventh, and eighth verses are localities, cliffs, bluffs, preci- 

 pices, etc., in and about the great caldera of Kilauea, following up 

 the mention (in the fifth verse) of that giant among the world's 

 active volcanoes. 



The purpose of the poem seems to be to magnify the prowess of 

 this once famous king as a captivator of the hearts and loving at- 

 tentions of the fair sex, 



Mele 



Kona kai opua" i kala i ka la'i ; 

 Opua hinano ua i ka malie; 

 Hiolo na wai uaoa a ke kehau, 



" Opua means a distinct cloud-pile, an omen, a weather-sign. 



