HIIAKA CONTINUES HER PRAYERS
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
Ilaila ke kia’i ho’iho’i aina.
Ala a moe i ke ka’i o ko haku;
Ala mai no, e!
Eia au o Hiiaka.
Ala mai, ho’i!
(I e! Holoe!)
TRANSLATION
On the heights about Kilauea;
With the sacred dame in the Pit —
Five tabu strata has Kilauea;
Tabu’s the Pit through the Goddess’ fire;
Tabu hedges round Moho-alii—
A tabu god was he from his birth.
To these will I go with my lord.
The heavens above are in turmoil;
The earth beneath is riven;
The Sea-powers of earth are sleeping;
The Torch of Kane has risen:
O God of the Night, inspire me!
Thy sleep needs a sacred waking.
Awake, O Kahiki-ku!
Awake, O Kahiki-moe!
I, too, will awake at thy coming.
The heavens are awake, and the earth
Is astir from mountain to sea.
To-day comes the first pang of love;
My heart, my heart, how wildly it moves!
My breast is torn, torn by God Kane.
In the breast lurks the mischief of Kane—
The heart is the fortress of Honor’s guard.
Awake! repose in thy sovereign’s care.
I pray thee awake!
Here am I, Hiiaka.
Awake, I beg and entreat thee!
Let my prayer speed its way!
To the grist of prayers which Hiiaka, with chanting tone, had already brought to the prayer-mill of the gods, she now added, or—following the figure employed by the Hawaiian narrator—laid on the altar of the gods33 (uhau) the following; her mental attitude being that of one who was angling—again to borrow the Hawaiian figure—literally, fishing (paeaea)34 for a favor, a benefit:
Ke hooulu au, e Kane-kapolei, i mua,
I o ulu Kini o ke Akua;
Ulu mai o Kane, o Kanaloa.
O Hiiaka au la, o ke kaula, a ke kahuna,