Aia i Laila ka wai a Kāne
He mele no Kāne
He Mele No Kāne (The Water of Kāne) is an ancient Hawaiian mele (chant) that is laudable example captured by the work of kilo masters. Composed in honor of and about Kāne, a Hawaiian God who shape shifts into water as one of this forms, the mele was passed on through oral tradition. Nathaniel B. Emerson documented this mele, and you can further explore its depth in the book, “Unwritten Literature of Hawaiʻi, The Sacred Songs of the Hula“.
Paukū ʻEkahi
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
Verse One
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
Paukū ʻElua
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 Nīhoa
Ma ka mole mai o Lehua
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne
Verse Two:
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 Nīhoa
This side of the base of Lehua
There is the water of Kāne
Paukū ʻEkolu
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 a Kāne
Verse Three:
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
Paukū ʻEHā
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 ʻānuenue
I ka pūnohu, i ka uakoko
I ka ʻālewalewa
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne
Verse Four:
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-wrath, in the blood-red rainfall
In the ghost-pale cloud-form
There is the water of Kāne.
Paukū ʻElima
E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe:
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne
Aia i luna ka wai a Kāne
I ke ao ʻōuli, i ke ao ʻeleʻele
I ke ao panopano
I ke ao pōpolohua mea a Kāne lā ē
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne
Verse Five:
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 piles cloud.
In the black-black cloud,
In the black-mottled sacred cloud of the gods,
There is the water of Kāne.
Paukū ʻEono
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
Verse Six:
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!