Happy Mele Monday!
Today’s featured composition is performed as a hula paʻi umauma, or a chest-slapping hula. Starting in Hilo, this mele journeys through various scenic points across the Hawaiian Islands.

(Mele translation by Mary Kawena Pukui)

A Hilo wau e hoʻolulu ka lehua … I saw at Hilo, the many lehua

A Wailuku lā i ka lua kanaka … At Wailuku the pit where man falls in

A Leleiwi lā au i ke kai … At Leleiwi I swam in the sea

A Panaʻewa lā i ka ulu lehua ē … At Panaʻewa, amid groves of lehua

A Molokaʻi lā i ke ala kahi … On Molokaʻi I walked its single road

A Haili lā i ke kula manu ē … At Haili, the haunts of birds

Ke kula o Kalaʻe, wela i ka lā … I saw the plain of Kalaʻe scourched by the sun

Maunaloa lā i ka lua koʻi … And the adze quarry at Maunaloa

Nā hala o Nihoa, he māpuna lā … The hala of Nihoa such a fragrance gives

A Koʻiahi au i ka maile lauliʻi … Koʻiahi land of the small leaved maile

A Mākua lā i ke one ʻōpiopio … At Mākua, the virgin sand

E holu ana ke kai o lalo … And the ocean surging below

He wahine ʻāpoʻipoʻi e noho ana … A woman crouched by the sea

A Kīlauea i ke awa ʻula … Of Kīlauea, a brick red bay

[Call number: MS SC Roberts 5.3, Pg. 49]