328 HAWAIIAN ROMANCE OF LAIRIKAWAI [ETH. ANN. 38 
Paraphrased, the song may mean: 
The sea has enroached upon the shore of Puna and Hilo so that the hala ~ 
trees stand out in the water; still they stand firm in spite of the flood. So love 
floods my heart, but I am braced by anger. Alas! my wife, have you forgotten 
the days when we dwelt in Kalapana and saw the sun rise beyond Cape Kumu- 
kahi? I burn and freeze for your love, yet my body is engaged to the princess 
of Kohala, by the rules of the game. Come back to me! I am from Kauai, in 
the north, and here in Puna I am a stranger and friendless. 
The first figure alludes to the well-known fact that the sinking of 
the Puna coast has left the pandanus trunks standing out in the 
water, which formerly grew on dry land. The poetical meaning, 
however, depends first upon the similarity in sound between Ave kua, 
“to eut,” which begins the parallel, and He kokua, which is also 
used to mean cutting, but implies assisting, literally “bracing the 
back,” and carries over the image to its analogue; and, second, upon 
the play upon the word ola, life: “'The sea floods the isle of life— 
yes! Life survives in spite of sorrow,” may be the meaning. In 
the latter part of the song the epithets anwanu, chilly, and hapapa, 
used of seed planted in shallow soil, may be chosen in allusion to the 
cold and shallow nature of her love for him. 
The nature of Polynesian images must now be apparent. A close 
observer of nature, the vocabulary of epithet and image with which 
it has enriched the mind is, especially in proverb or figurative verse, 
made use of allusively to suggest the quality of emotion or to convey 
a sarcasm. The quick sense of analogy, coupled with a precise 
nomenclature, insures its suggestive value. So we find in the lan- 
guage of nature vivid, naturalistic accounts of everyday happenings 
in fantastic reshapings, realistically conceived and ascribed to the 
gods who rule natural phenomena; a figurative language of signs to 
be read as an implied analogy; allusive use of objects, names, places, 
to convey the associated incident, or the description of a scene to 
suggest the accompanying emotion; and a sense of delight in the 
striking or phenomenal in sound, perfume, or appearance, which is 
explained as the work of a god. 
5. CONSTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS OF STYLE 
Finally, to the influence of song, as to the dramatic requirements 
of oral delivery, are perhaps due the retention of certain constructive 
elements of style. No one can study the form of Hawaiian poetry 
without observing that parallelism is at the basis of its structure. 
The same swing gets into the prose style. Perhaps the necessity of 
memorizing also had its effect. A composition was planned for oral 
delivery and intended to please the ear; tone values were accordingly 
of great importance. The variation between narrative, recitative, and 
formal song; the frequent dialogue, sometimes strictly dramatic; the 
