EMEnsoN] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 171. 



Then, of a sudden, it swells upward, as if lifted by some wave of emo- 

 tion ; and there for a time it travels with the same fluctuating move- 

 ment, soon descending to its old monotone, until again moved to 

 rise on the breast of some fresh impulse. The intervals sounded may 

 be, as already said, a third, or a fifth, or a fourth; but the whole 

 movement leads nowhere ; it is an unfinished sentence. Yet, in spite 

 of all these drawbacks and of this childish immaturity, the amateur 

 and enthusiast finds himself charmed and held as if in the clutch of 

 some Old-World spell, and this at what others will call the dreary 

 and monotonous intoning of the savage. 



In matters that concern the emotions it is rarely possible to trace 

 with certainty the lines that lead up from effect to cause. Such is 

 the nature of art. If we would touch the cause which lends attrac- 

 tiveness to Hawaiian music, we must look elsewhere than to melody. 

 In the belief of the author the two elements that conspire for this 

 end are rhythm and tone-color, which comes of a delicate feeling for 

 A^owel-values. 



The hall-mark of Hawaiian music is rhythm, for the Hawaiians be- 

 long to that class of people who can not move hand or foot or per- 

 form any action except they do it rhythmically. Not alone in poetry 

 and music and the dance do we find this recurring accent of pleasure, 

 but in every action of life it seems to enter as a timekeeper and regu- 

 lator, Avhether it be the movement of a fingerful of poi to the mouth 

 or the swing of a kahili through the incense-laden air at the burial 

 of a chief. 



The typical Hawaiian rhythm is a measure of four beats, varied 

 at times by a 2-rhythm, or changed by syncopation into a 3-rhythm. 



These people have an emotional susceptibility and a sympathy 

 with environment that belongs to the artistic temperament ; but their 

 feelings, though easily stirred, are not persistent and ideally cen- 

 tered; they readily wander away from any example or pattern. In 

 this way may be explained their inclination to lapse from their own 

 standard of rhythm into inexplicable syncopations. 



As an instance of sympathy Avith environment, an experience with 

 a hula dancer may be mentioned. Wishing to observe the movement 

 of the dance in time with the singing of the mele, the author asked 

 him to perform the two at one time. He made the attempt, but 

 failed. At length, bethinking himself, he drew off his coat and 

 bound it about his loins after the fashion of a pa-ii, such as is worn 

 by hula dancers. He at once caught inspiration, and was thus ena- 

 bled to perform the double role of dancer and singer. 



It has been often remarked by musical teachers who have had ex- 

 perience with these islanders that as singers they are prone to flat 

 the tone and to drag the time, yet under the stimulus of emotion they 

 show the ability to acquit themselves in these respects with great 

 credit. The native inertia of their being demands the spur of ex- 



