Unwritten Literature of Hawaii

XXX.—THE HULA KOLEA

Reading edition

I aha mai nei?

E aha kakou?

No Kahiki mai.[415]

Hiki mai ka Lani,[415]

Olina Hawaii,

Mala’ela’e ke ala,

Nou, e ka Lani.

Puili pu ke aloha,

Ka puana a ka moe?

Moe oe a hoolana

Ka hali’a i hiki mai;

Ooe pu me a’u

Noho pu i ka wai aliali.

Hai’na ia ka pauna.

Hiki mai kou aloha, mae’ele au.

[Translation.]

A plover at the full of the sea— What, pray, is it saying to me? It keeps bobbing its noddy. To do what would you counsel? 5Why, eat its plump body! Whence comes the sweet morsel? From the land of Kahiki. When our sovereign appears, Hawaii gathers for play, 10Stumble-blocks cleared from the way— Fit rule of the king’s highway. Let each one embrace then his love; For me, I’ll keep to my dove. Hark now, the signal for bed! 15Attentive then to love’s tread, While a wee bird sings in the soul, My love comes to me heart-whole— Then quaff the waters of bliss. Say what is the key to all this? 20The plover egg’s laid in Kahiki. Your love, when it comes, finds me dumb.

The plover—kolea—is a wayfarer in Hawaii; its nest-home is in distant lands, Kahiki. The Hawaiian poet finds in all this something that reminds him of the spirit of love.

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Footnote 411: (return) The plover.Note 2 · Footnote 412: (return) Kolea kai piha. The kolea is a feeder along the shore, his range limited to a narrower strip as the tide rises. The s Note 3 · Footnote 413: (return) Usually the bobbing motion, ku-nou, is the prelude to flight; but the snared bird can do nothing more, a fact which s Note 4 · Footnote 414: (return) E ai kakou. Literally, let us eat. While this figure of speech often has a sensual meaning, it does not necessarily i Note 5 · Footnote 415: (return) To the question Nohea ka ai?, whence the food? that is, the bird, the poet answers, No Kahiki mai, from Kahiki, from Note 6 · Footnote 416: (return) In the expression Pili me ka’u manu the poet returns to his figure of a bird as representing a loved one.Note 7 · Footnote 417: (return) O ka hua o ke kolea, aia i Kahiki. In declaring that the egg of the kolea is laid in a foreign land, Kahiki, the poet Note 8 · Ku-nou 413 mai nei.Note 9 · E ai kakou. 414 Note 10 · Nohea ka ai? 415 Note 11 · Pili me ka’u manu. 416 Note 12 · O ka hua o ke kolea, aia i Kahiki. 417