EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 155 



of those who will read these words, in the beginning are given the 

 words of the oli with which he prefaced the song, with a translation 

 of the same, and then the niele which formed the bulk of the song, 

 also with a translation, together with such notes and comments as 

 are necessary to bring one into intellectual and sympathetic relation 

 with the performance, so far as that is possible inider the circum- 

 stances. It is especially necessary to familiarize the imagination 

 with the language, meaning, and atmosphere of a mele, because the 

 Hawaiian approached song from the side of the poet and elocution- 

 ist. Further discussion of this point must, however, be deferred to 

 another division of the subject : 



He Oli 



Halau ° Hanalei i ka nini a ka ua ; 

 Kumano ^ ke po'o-wai a ka liko;'' 

 Nalia ka opi-wai ^ a Wai-aloha ; 

 t3 ke kahi koe a liiki i Wai-oll.® 

 Ua ike 'a. 



[Translation] 



A Song 



Hanalei is a ball for the dance in the pouring rain ; 

 The stream-head is turned from its bed of fresh green; 

 Broken the dam that pent the water of love — 

 Naught now to hinder its rush to the vale of delight. 

 You've seen it. 



The mele to which the above oli was a prelude is as follows : 



Mele 



Noluna ka hale kai, e ka ma'a-lewa, 

 Nana ka maka ia Moana-nui-ka-Lehua. 

 Noi au i ke kai e mali'o. 

 Ane ku a'e la he lehfla ilalla — 

 5 Hopoe Lehiia ki'eki'e. 



Maka'u ka Lebua i ke kanaka, 

 Lilo ilalo e hele ai, ilalo, e. 

 Keaau iliili nehe; olelo ke kai o Puna 

 I ka ulu hala la, e, kaiko'o Puna. 

 10 la hoone'ene'e iu pili mai kaua, 



" Halau. The rainy valley of Hanalei, on Kauai, is here compared to a halau, a 

 dance-hall, apparently because the rain-columns seem to draw together and Inclose the 

 vqlley within walls, while the dark foreshortened vault of heaven covers it as with a roof. 



* Kumano. A water-source, or, as here, perhaps, a sort of dam or loose stone wall 

 that was run out into a stream for the purpose of diverting a portion of it into a new 

 channel. 



■^ Liko. A bud ; fresh verdure ; a word much used in modern Hawaiian poetry. 



<< Opiwai. A watershed. In Hawaii a knife-edged ridge as narrow as the back of a 

 horse will often decide the course of a stream, turning its direction from one to the 

 other side of the island. 



« Waioli (icai, water; oli, joyful). The name given to a part of the valley of Hanalei, 

 also the name of a river. 



