PAOA SEEKS OUT THE BODY OF HIS DEAD FRIEND LOHIAU
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
Ma Puna ka hiki’na mai
A ka ua makali’i,
Ka ua a’ala ai laau,
I ka hiki, i ka pa’a,
I ke ahu a ke Akua.
Eia ho’i au, la.
O ka maka o ke ahi;
Aole ho’i na la,
O ka lawakua1 a ke Koolau.
E, aloha o’u hoa,
I ka ua a ka lipoa,2
Lihau anu, ko’eko’e, ka-o-ú—
He ahi ke kapa e mehana ai,
E lála3 ai kaua i Oma’o-lala.4
I pili wale, i ha’alele la, e.
Ha’alele i Puna na hoaloha, e,
Ka aina i ka houpu a Kane5
He aikane ka mea aloha, e
He-e!
TRANSLATION
You’ve encased him tight in a lava shell,
Scorched him with tongues of flame.
Puna, the place of thy landing,
First impact of winter rain—
Sweet rain, feeding the perfume,
Drunk by vine and firm-rooted tree—
The wilderness-robe of the gods.
Here am I, too, eye-flash of flame;
As for them, no friends they of mine:
Companions mine of the stormy coast,
My love goes forth to my toil-mate
Of the mist, cold rain and driving storm;
A blazing hearth our garment then,
And to bask in the sun at Oma’o-lála.
Those seeming friends, they went with us,
And then, they left us in Puna—
Land dear to the heart of Kane:
Who eats of your soul is your true friend.
Woe is me, woe is me!
Hiiaka, not yet come back from her adventures in the underworld, heard this lament of Paoa and wondered at his performance—that he, a handsome man, should be standing out in the open with not even a malo about his loins to hide his nakedness, “I wonder what is his name,” she said aloud.