EMEBSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 125 



[Translation] 

 Song 



Kahiki-mil, land of wind-driven smoke! 



Mine eyes gaze with longing on Kona ; 



A fire-wreatli glows aback of the district, 



And a robe of wonderful green 

 5 Lies the sea that has aproned my loins 



Off the point of Hana-malo. 



A dark burnished form is Hawaii, 



To one who stands on the mount — 



A hamper swung down from heaven, 

 10 A beautiful carven shape is the island — 



Thy mountains, thy splendor of herbage: 



Mauna-kea and Loa stand (in glory) apart. 



To him who looks from Maile-hahei ; 



And Kilohana pillows for rest 

 15 On the shoulder of Hu'e-hu'e. 



This love-song — mele hoipo'tpo — which would be the despair of a 

 strict literalist — what is it all about? A lover in Kahiki-nui— of the 

 softer sex, it would appear — looks across the wind-swept channel and 

 sends her thoughts lovingly, yearningly, over to Kona of Hawaii, 

 which district she personifies as her lover. The mountains and plains, 

 valleys and capes of its landscapes, are to her the parts and features 

 of her beloved. Even in. the ocean that flows between her and him, 

 and which has often covered her nakedness as with a robe, she finds a 

 link in the chain of association. 



