Hole Waimea i ka ihe a ka makani
Hao mai nāʻale a ke Kīpuʻupuʻu
He lāʻau kalaʻihi ʻia na ke anu
I ʻōʻō i ka nahele o Mahiki
Hui:
Kū aku i ka pahu
Kū a ka ʻawaʻawa
Hanane`e ke kīkala o kō Hilo kini
Hoʻi luʻuluʻu i ke one o Hanakahi
Kū aku la ʻoe i ka Malanai
A
ke Kīpuʻupuʻu
Holu ka maka o ka ʻōhāwai a Uli
Niniau ʻeha ka pua o ke koaiʻe
Ua ʻeha i ka nahele o Waikā
| Waimea strips the spears of the
wind
Waves tossed in violence by the
Kīpuʻupuʻu rains
Trees brittle in the
cold
Are made into spears in Mahiki
forest
Chorus:
Hit by the thrusts
Hit by the cold
The hips of Hilo's throngs
sag
Weary, they return to the
sands of Hanakahi
Pelted
and bruised by
The Kīpuʻupuʻu rains
The petals of Uli sway
The
flower of koaiʻe droops
Stung by frost,
the herbage of Waikā
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Source: This is a mele inoa (name chant)
for Kamehameha I, that was inherited by his son, Liholiho.
This is a tale of the Kîpuʻupuʻu, a band of runners
whose name is taken from the cold wind of Maunakea that
blows at Waimea on the big island of Hawaiʻi. They were
trained in spear fighting and went to the woods of Mahiki, a
woodland in Waimea haunted by demons and spooks, and
Waikā to strip the bark of saplings to make spears.
Hole means to handle roughly, strip or caress passionately.
In the forest they sang of love, not of work or war.
Hanakahi is the district on the Hamakua side of Hilo, named
for a chief whose name means profound peace. Malanai is the
name of gentle wind. Pua o Koaiʻe is the blossom of the
Koaiʻe tree that grows in the wild, a euphemism for delicate
parts. Parts of this old chant, full of double entendre or
kaona, was set to music by John Spencer and entitled
Waikā.
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