legory represents himself
as a stranger sitting in a pandanus grove, _ulu hala_ (verse
2); sheltering himself from a rain-squall by crouching behind
a rock, _ua pe'epe'e pohaku_ (verse 4); shifting about on
account of the veering of the wind, _luli-luli malie iho_
(verse 6). Interpreting this figuratively, Hamakua, no doubt,
is the woman in the case; the grove an emblem of her
personality and physical charms; the rain-squall, of her
changeful moods and passions. The shifting about of the
traveler to meet the veering of the wind would seem to mean
the man's diplomatic efforts to deal with the woman's varying
caprices and outbursts.

He now takes up a parable about some creature, a child of the
cliff--Hamakua's ocean boundary is mostly a precipitous
wall--which he represents as a hand with five buds.
Addressing it as a servant, he bids this creature twine a
[Page 124] wreath sufficient for his love, _kui oe a_ _lawa_ (verse 9),
_I lei no ku'u aloha_ (verse 10). This creature with five
buds, what is it but the human hand, the errand-carrier of
man's desire, _makemake_ (verse 11)? The _pali_, by the way,
is a figure often used by Hawaiian poets to mean the glory
and dignity of the human body.

That is a fine imaginative touch in which the poet
illustrates the power of the human hand to kindle love in one
that is cold-hearted, as if he had declared the hand itself
to be not only the wreath-maker, but the very wreath that is
to encircle and warm into response the unresponsive loved
one, _I lei hooheno no ke aloha ole_ (verse 12).

Differences of physical environment, of social convention, of
accepted moral and esthetic standards interpose seemingly
impassable barriers between us and the savage mind, but at
the touch of an all-pervading human sympathy these barriers
dissolve into very thin air.

_Mele_

Kahiki-nui, auwahi[257] ka makani!
Nana aku au ia Kona,
Me ke kua lei ahi[258] la ka moku;
Me ke lawa uli e, la, no
5 Ku'u kai pa-u hala-ka[259]
I ka lae o Hana-ma