THE LAME FISHERMAN—HIS EPIC RECITAL CELEBRATING PELE
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
Thou mountain wall all swathed in mist,
Now groans the mountain-apple tree;
I see a fire of blazing rocks;
I see an aged dame, who snores
On lava plate, now hot, now cold;
Now ’tis canoe in shape, well propped,
A chock ’neath bow, midships, astern;
Needs bail the waist where drains the bilge,
Else salt will crust like staring eye—
Gray roving eye of lawless Niheu.
Wonder and awe possess me!
On famed Moloka’i of Hina,
At the pali of Unu-ohua.
Where burn the lamps of Haupu,
Assemble the throng of little gods.
Then comes forth Pele, a great god,
Haumea and Hiiaka,
And Kukuena and Okaoka:
If the small fire burns, let it burn!
’Tis the beaming of Pele’s eye,
The flashing of heavenly fire.
Wonder and awe possess me!
Now to Nana’i of Ka-ula-hea;
At Mauna-lei Pele plaits her a wreath;
She plaits it of í-e-íe;
Hiiaka pelts head with ginger cone;
Haumea anoints her body;
And Pele eats with zest the flesh
From the turtle of Poli-hua—
A young thing, short in the neck,
Backed like a crab from the sea,
Like a sea-turtle plated and patterned—
Turned into meat for Pele,
Food for the heavenly flame.
Wonder and awe possess me!
From the ether above Kaua’i
To the blossoms afloat at Wailua
Ranges the flight of Pele’s gaze.
She sees Oahu floating afar;
Feels thirst for the wat’ry mirage;