f Kailua the deep.
A mat spread out narrow and gray,
A coigne of land by the sea where the fisher drops hook.
Now looms the mount Kilohana--
Ah, ye wood-shaded heights, everlasting your fame!
15 Your tabu is gone! your holy of holies invaded!
Broke down by a stranger!

The intricately twisted language of this mele is allegorical,
a rope whose strands are inwrought with passion, envy,
detraction, and abuse. In translating it one has to choose
between the poetic verbal garb and the esoteric meaning which
the bard made to lurk beneath the surface.

_Mele_

PALE II

Kauo pu ka iwa kala-pahe'e,
Ka iwa, ka manu o Kaula i ka makani.
E ka manu o-u pani-wai o Lehua,
O na manu kapu a Kuhai-moana,
5 Mai hele a luna o Lei-no-ai,
O kolohe, o alai mai ka Unu-lau.
Puni'a iluna o ka Halau-a-ola;
A ola aku i ka luna o Maka-iki-olea,
I ka lulu, i ka la'i o kai maio,
10 Ma ka ha'i-wa, i ka mole o Lehua la, Le-hu-a!
O na lehua o Alaka'i ka'u aloha,
O na lehua iluna o Ko'i-alana;
Ua nonoho hooipo me ke kohe-kohe;
Ua anu, maeele i ka ua noe.
15 Ua mai oe; kau a'e ka nana, laua nei, e-e,
Na 'lii e o'oni mai nei, e-e!

[Translation]

_Song_

CANTO II

The iwa flies heavy to nest in the brush,
Its haunt on windy Ke-ula.
The watch-bird, that fends off the rain from Le-hu-a--
[Page 77] Bird sacred to Ku-hai, the shark-god--
5 Shrieks, "Light not on terrace of Lei-no-ai,
Lest Unu-lau fiercely assail you."
Storm sweeps the cliffs of the islet;
A covert they seek neath the hills,
In the sheltered lee of the gale,
10 The cove at the base of Le-hu-a.
The shady groves there enchant them,
The scarlet plumes of lehua.
Love-dalliance now by the water-reeds,
Till cooled and appeased by the rain-mi