HIIAKA UTTERS MANY PRAYERS TO RESTORE LOHIAU TO LIFE
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
A lele, e, na Hoalii,15
O Ku-wa’a,16 o Ku-haili-moe,17
O ka naele18 o Hawaii.
E hi’i kapu o Kanaloa,
O Kui-kui,19 o Koli-koli,20
O Kaha-ula,21 o ka oaka kapa ulaula,
Kapa eleele, o Kapa-ahu, o Lono-makua,22
O ke oahi maka a ka Ua la, e-e!
I e, holo e-e!
TRANSLATION
Ho, comrades from the sacred plateau!
Ho, comrades from the burning gulf!
Hither fly with art and cunning:
Ku, who fells and guides the war-boat;
Ku, who pilots us through dream-land;
All ye Gods of broad Hawaii;
Kanaloa, guard well your tabus;
Candle-maker, Candle-snuffer;
Goddess, too, of passion’s visions;
Lightning red all heaven filling—
Pitchy darkness turned to brightness—
Lono, come, thou god of all fire;
Come, too, thou piercing Eye of Rain:
Speed, speed my prayer upon its quest!
“How is my prayer?” said Hiiaka, turning to her companion. The answer was the same as before.
Hiiaka devotes herself to gentle ministrations of healing; but without intermitting the chanting of prayer-songs, the burden of whose petition is that the Spirit of Health shall prevail in Lohiau and restore him completely. After again sprinkling the body with water from the calabash, she breaks forth:
Ia ho’uluulu ia mai au,
E Kane-kapolei23 imua e-e;
Ia ulu Kini o ke Akua, la;
Ulu mai o Kane, o Kanaloa—
O Hiiaka, kaula mana ia, e-e,
Nana i ho’uluulu i na ma’i—
A a’e, a ulu, a noho i kou kuahu.
Eia ka wai la, he Wai Ola, e-e!
E ola, ho’i, e-e!
TRANSLATION
Come, enter, possess and inspire me;
Thou first, God of the flowery wild;
Ye roving sprites of the wildwood;
And master gods, Kane and Loa;—