f--the body of the
goddess was being despoiled, and the despoiling must be done
with all tactful grace and etiquette.

It must not be gathered from this that the occasion was made
solemn and oppressive with weight of ceremony, as when a
temple was erected or as when a tabu chief walked abroad, and
all men lay with their mouths in the dust. On the contrary,
it was a time of joy and decorous exultation, a time when in
prayer-songs and ascriptions of praise the poet ransacked all
nature for figures and allusions to be used in caressing the
deity.

The following adulatory prayer (_kanaenae_) in adoration of
Laka was recited while gathering the woodland decorations for
the altar. It is worthy of preservation for its intrinsic
beauty, for the spirit of trustfulness it breathes. We remark
the petitions it utters for the growth of tree and shrub, as
if Laka had been the alma mater under whose influence all
nature budded and rejoiced.

It would seem as if the physical ecstasy of the dance and the
sensuous joy of all nature's finery had breathed their spirit
into the aspiration and that the beauty of leaf and flower,
all of them familiar forms of the god's
metamorphosis--accessible to their touch and for the
regalement of their senses--had brought such nearness and
dearness, of affection between goddess and worshiper that all
fear was removed.

_He kanaenae no Laka_

A ke kua-hiwi, i ke kua-lono,
Ku ana o Laka i ka mauna;
Noho ana o Laka i ke po'o o ka ohu.
O Laka kumu hula,
5 Nana i a'e ka tvao-kele,[3]
Kahi, kahi i moli'a i ka pua'a,
I ke po'o pua'a,
He pua'a hiwa na Kane.[4]
[Page 17] He kane na Laka,
10 Na ka wahine i oni a kelakela i ka lani:
I kupu ke a'a i ke kumu,
I lau a puka ka mu'o,
Ka liko, ka ao i-luna.
Kupu ka lala, hua ma ka Hikina;
15 Kupu ka laau ona a Maka-li'i,[5]
O Maka-lei,[6] laau kaulana mai ka Po mai.[7]
Mai ka Po mai ka oiaio--
I ho-i'o i-luna