He Mele No Kāne
He ui, he nīnau
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i ka hikina a ka lā
Puka i Haʻehaʻe
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne.
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i Kaulanakalā
I ka pae ʻōpua i ke kai
Ea mai ana ma Nihoa
Ma ka mole mai o Lehua
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne.
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i ke kuahiwi, i ke kualono
I ke awāwa, i ke kahawai
Aia i laila ka wai Kāne.
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i kai, i ka moana
I ke Kualau, i ke ānuenue
I ka pūnohu, i ka uakoko
I ka ʻālewalewa
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne.
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i luna ka wai a Kāne
I ke ao ouli, i ke ao ʻeleʻele
I ke ao panopano
I ke ao pōpolohua mea a Kāne lā ē
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne.
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i lalo, i ka honua, i ka wai hū
I ka wai kau a Kāne me Kanaloa
He waipuna, he wai e inu
He wai e mana, he wai e ola
E ola nō a.
_____________________________________
A query, a question
I put to you:
Where is the water of Kāne?
At the eastern gate
Where the sun comes in at Haʻehaʻe
There is the water of Kāne.
A question, I ask of you:
Where is the water of Kāne?
Out there at Kaulanakalā
Where cloud forms rest on ocean’s breast,
Raising their forms at Nihoa,
This side of the base of Lehua,
There is the water of Kāne.
One question I put to you:
Where is the water of Kāne?
Yonder on mountain peak, on the ridges steep,
In the valleys deep, where the rivers sweep
There is the water of Kāne.
This is the question I ask of you:
Where, pray, is the water of Kāne?
Yonder, at sea, on the ocean
In the driving rain, in the heavenly bow,
In the piled-up mist-wraith, in the blood-red rainfall,
In the ghost-pale cloud-form,
There is the water of Kāne.
One question I put to you:
Where, where is the water of Kāne?
Up on high is the water of Kāne,
In the heavenly blue, in the black piled cloud,
In the black-black cloud,
In the black-mottled sacred cloud of the gods,
There is the water of Kāne.
One question I ask of you:
Where flows the water of Kāne?
Deep in the ground, in the gushing spring,
In the ducts of Kāne and Kanaloa,
A wellspring of water, water to quaff
A water of magic power, the water of life!
Life! Long may it live!