EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 133 



Mele 



E pi'i ka wai ka nahele, 



U'ina, uakolo i na Molo-kama ; « 



Ka ua lele inawabo o Mauiala-hoa. 



He manao uo ko'u e ike 

 5 I na pua olii'a o Kiipa-koili,* 



I hoa kaunu no Mann'a-kepa ; c 



Ua like laua me Maha-moku. ^ 



Anapa i ke kai o Mono-lau.® 



Lalau ka lima a noa ia ia la, 

 10 I lioa pili uo Lani-buli. f 



E huli oe i ku'u makemake, 



A loa'a i Kau-ka-opua.fi' 



Elua no pua kau 



A ka manao i makemake al. 

 1.5 Hoohilii oe a liihi 



I lei kohu uo ueia kino. 



Aliea oe hiki maiV 



A kau ka La i ua pali ; ^ 



Ka huli a ka makani Wai-a-ma'o,* 

 20 ]Makemake e iki ia ka Hala-mapu-aua, 



Ka wai Iialana i Wai-p^.-' 



[Translation] 

 Song 



Up to the streams in the wildwood, 

 Where rush the falls Molo-kama, 

 While the rain sweeps past Mala-hoa, 

 I had a passion to visit 

 5 The forest of bloom at Koili, 



Note. — The proper names lielong to localities along the course of the Wai-oli stream. 



<^ Moloknma (moi'e often given as Na Molo-kama). The name applied to a succession of 

 falls made by the stream far up in the mountains. The author has here used a versifier's 

 privilege, compressing this long word into somewhat less refractory shape. 



'> Kupa-koili. A grove of mountain-apples, ohia ai, that stand on the hank of the stream 

 not far from the public road. 



'^ Manu'a-kepa. A sandy, grass-covered meadow on the opposite side of the river from 

 Kupa-koili. 



<* Maha-moku. A sandy beach near the mouth of the river, on the same bank as Manu'a- 

 kepa. 



^ Mono-la u. That part of the bay into which the river flows, that is used as an 

 anchorage for vessels. 



f Lani-hnU. The side of the valley Kilauea of Wai-oli toward which the river makes a 

 bend before it enters the ocean. 



" Kau-ka-opua. Originally a phrase meaning " the cloud-omen hangs," has come to be 

 used as the proper name of a place. It is an instance of a form of personification often 

 employed by the Hawaiians, in which words having a specific meaning — such, for instance, 

 as our " jack-in-the-box " — have come to be used as a noun for the sake of the meaning 

 wrapped up in the etymology. This figure of speech is, no doubt, common to all lan- 

 guages, markedly so in the Hawaiian. It may be further illustrated by the Hebrew 

 name Ichabod — " his glory has departed." 



''A kau ka La, i na pali. When stands the sun o'er the pali, evening or late in the 

 afternoon. On this part of Kauai the sun sets behind the mountains. 



* Wai-a-ma'o. The land-breeze, which sometimes springs up at night. 



i Wai-pd. A spot on the bank of the stream where grew a pandanus tree, hala, styled 

 Ka-liala-mapu-ana, the hala-breathing-out-its-fragrance. 



